New Year, Fresh Start for your home - January Flylady thread

[HazelNotHungryLC]

Are you looking to finally getting into a new routine with housework? Something simple to start that can be easy to add to over time? Flylady may be the answer for you!

This is a long running thread, but we are a friendly bunch and all are welcome to join in.

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - it's an excessive amount sent every day.
There are Baby Steps for starting out, add one thing at a time to start good habits and routines.
There are 5 zones that we will rotate through, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism!

Daily missions: each day of the week has a different mission.

• Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
• Tuesday: plan & play
• Wednesday: anti-procrastination
• Thursday: errand day
• Friday: clean car & purse out a week. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
• Saturday: family fun day
• Sunday: renew your spirit

Common acronyms we use:

• LOL: load of laundry (washing is certainly NOT funny!)
• DW: dishwasher, we are not rotating wives by any means, although an extra pair of hands could come in handy sometimes 😆
• LMS: lose/lost my shit
• DNLMS: did not lose my shit

There are more, feel free to ask us to explain something. I'll try to update links every day, although if you can, it's worth downloading the app, you can even have it send you notifications (although I only have it for when the zones change). You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle.

Links are below 👇 if I happen to not add links in time, they do update at midnight for you:
Launch Pad: https://www.flylady.net/d/new-links/
Zones: https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/
Baby Steps: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Nellieinthebarn

I have a health condition that flares up, and today was the day!

Poor you. I don't know how long your flares last but hope you start feeling better soon🫰
I suppose that's one of the good things about Flying. If you keep up with it when you're able to it means that things can coast a bit when circumstances mean you're not up to cleaning or have other plans.

RockingBroccoli, you're amazing!
In awe of everything you while also having little Broccolini.

Scourgify, I totally empathise. I go through periods of being unwell and everything (not just housework) goes to the wall for weeks not days.
I find comfort in reflecting on the fact that the house took ages to get as bad as it was (basically, from DH buying it until I moved in hardly anything was done) so the Flying I'd already done meant I was never going to start from such a bad baseline ever again.

Morning all

Happy weekend!

Bare minimum done during the week 😫 now playing dance music catch up 🤣

Sorry I didn't post anything last night. I decided to have a nice relaxing bath, but instead when I got in I was all kinds of emotional, thinking about various things with certain family members, getting emotional remembering what they did (or didn't do) for my 40th birthday last year. I was certain I must be coming up on my TOTM. I checked. Nope. Very weird!

Anyway, today is family fun day!
No missions in any zones (although for me it's a great catch up time for what I've missed).

Baby Step 11: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-11/
Add another page to your control journal: inspirational page.
Keep doing morning & before bedtime routines.

Well done to you all for all that you've accomplished!

Nellie are you feeling any better today?

Broccoli that's a lot of laundry for you to rewash, I'm sure! How frustrating!

THAT turning up music loud is a great motivator and distraction. I may have to do the same today (but not dance music!).

LaMarschallin that's a great achievement to be guest ready any time. Isn't that such a great feeling? Enjoy your family time this weekend.

70 I need to utilise grocery pick up more often. There's extra savings to use it, but I don't seem to be able to organise myself lately and get an order in 🤦‍♀️ people seem so rude and self absorbed lately that I really dread going inside.

Yogachick do you go to yoga class or do online videos? Also, you did achieve something! Keeping up on laundry is good, making sure food is in the house is good (and can be time consuming if a big shop!). I would say you had a productive day 😊

ED I have to get my mound of paperwork sorted and filed. Since it's the beginning of a new year I must empty the fling cabinet from last year's paperwork. I can finally file our fire folder! 🥳

Conquerer something is better than nothing! You got healthy food in the house, that's an accomplishment.

My plan for this weekend:
☕️ put away more Christmas stuff I came across that got dumped on the hallway on the shelves, when I was needing to create more space in the living room 🤦‍♀️
☕️ sort out paperwork, shred what I can, file everything else
☕️ clear out fridge
☕️ meal plan
☕️ grocery shopping
☕️ meal prep
☕️ redo my nails again

TaDa
2 bags (jumbo sized) deposited at Charity Shop
Booked appointment
Went shopping with DD as she wanted some clothes (so that counts as Family Fun Time )

To Do
Clean kitchen floor - I'll do it tonight as the cats don't like the steamer

Much better today, still tired, but not wiped out. Managed LOL x 1 and a quick wipe round the bathroom and kitchen. And we ate well, which is a priority over housework tbh! DH is a star on my bad days, he picks up as much as he can with his own health issues. The joys of getting older!

Nellie good to hear you're doing better. You're right, eating well is more important than housework.

70 I would definitely count clothes shopping with DD as family fun!

Ta das:
🧚‍♀️ sorted the shelves in the hallway, one shelf at a time. Rehomed a few things, tidied it up a lot. It looks so much better!
🧚‍♀️ emptied 6 boxes we hadn't emptied from when they took our fabrics to be washed after the fire. Some went out, others put away.
🧚‍♀️ reorganised storage shelves in furnace room
🧚‍♀️ decluttered a few more things (craft related)
🧚‍♀️ sorted and filed paperwork (I hadn't done it since June 😳)
🧚‍♀️ shredded all the shred pile
🧚‍♀️ cleared out the fridge, it's pretty empty now!
🧚‍♀️ rotated DW
🧚‍♀️ cleared out my wallet
🧚‍♀️ DH vacuumed

I got so much accomplished today!
We do still need to do the same in the laundry room. I know there's things I can get rid of, others that need to be put away elsewhere, but not today.

We are currently on our way to ILs house for dinner. I'm looking forward to relaxing with a glass or 2 of mojito!

Great work @HazelNotHungryLC ! You are doing better than me with the filing/shredding, I did a pile of sorting in the week and added it to the filing pile which never got put away last year, I really need to start considering if I need to keep so much. Despite many things being online now I still get a lot of letters from my multiple pension providers (I’ve got several from different jobs), HMRC etc. In fact that is on my big To Do list this year, get some of the pensions merged into one.

Tada!

Yesterday
✅cleared out fridge
✅1 x LOL
✅shifted 10 barrowloads of manure at the allotment (we get it delivered in bulk but have to wheel it from the gate to our plots).
✅coffee with friends
✅lazy evening with a takeaway which was nice and included easy nail-painting (I had a pale colour on last week which has lasted well so I put some sheer gold on top instead of taking it off an starting again).

Today
✅got all the Christmas decs up into the loft with DH
✅DW rotated
✅1 x LOL on

I have tidied out a couple of containers of pens / stationary . Went through all the pens and threw out any that didn't work .

Cleared a shelf in the Utility last night , any part empty bottles were decanted into other ones as I had a load of half empties .

I like having at least 4 detergents on the go ( I know - Bio/Non Bio/ Colour in different formulations .
At the moment I have an Aldi Coconut powder smells lovely) , an EcoEgg , a bottle of Ecover liquid for darks where I don;t want powder marks and some capsuals ( which are for the DC when they use the WM as so many people use the more is more theory and put a mugfull in ! I reckon my DS would be this type . Not keen on the capsuals as they aren't good for the machine but they have a place .

Meditation
yoga(online Sarah Beth Yoga & Yoga with Adriene)
dog walk
made bed
LOL dried &folded
cooking & clearing up
thats it for today !

To Do ( which I always remember this time of night on a Sunday ) is to clean the outside bins . Our bins are picked up on a Monday ( last couple of weeks was Tuesday due to Christmas / NYD )

I am going to Play A Substitute and strongarm DS into doing this tomorrow ( best day as they;ll be empty )

Friday
🏊‍♀️took Cagletini to her swimming lesson
🏊‍♀️dropped her off with her dad at his work
🏊‍♀️made dinner
🏊‍♀️DW? Probably?

Not sure I actually did anything else that day 🤣

Saturday
🧹cleaned kitchen door
🧹cleaned front door
🧹tidied living room a fair bit

Sunday
🧽scrubbed counters in kitchen
🧽swish and swipe bathroom
🧽tidied bathroom
🧽scrubbed floor in kitchen
🧽cleared living room floor
🧽made dinner
🧽put Cagletini to bed

I had friends over today for the first time since October 2023! It was really nice. Definitely gave me a good incentive to clean up (especially when one asked if she could use my washing machine!) and I felt really relaxed and happy after. Very nice day 🫶

@70isaLimitNotaTarget read this about the EcoEgg...https://nappysciencegang.wordpress.com/2016/05/21/nappy-leaks-golden-eggs-or-rotten-eggs/ we've been using one for years. No more!

ED it would be nice to only have one pension to keep track of and to draw from when the time comes.

70 well done for clearing a shelf!

Yogachick I really need to get back to doing the YouTube videos for yoga. I've tried a few of Adrienne, but I haven't heard of Sarah Beth, so I'll need to look into that one as well.

Sing well done for having friends over. It's great that you were able to relax and enjoy the moment as well.

Ta das:
😴 LOLs x5
😴 sorted out the laundry room a little bit
😴 rearranged the shelves again a little bit in the hallway. Looks much better now.
😴 organised the spare bedroom a bit better & put a couple pictures up on the wall!
😴 put a picture up in the hallway and our bedroom
😴 grocery shopping done for the week
😴 finally cooked my hard boiled eggs and got a couple of lunches ready

Monday is home bleugh day. Quick vacuum, change sheets, empty bins etc.

It's a new week, so we're moving to a new zone. The bathroom & one other room (the laundry room, per flylady, but can be a different room if needed).
Monday's mission is to declutter the empty bottles in your bathroom. Do the same thing in the laundry room.

Baby Step 12 (oops, I don't think I added a link for Sunday, I'm sorry!): https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-12/
Baby Step 13: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-13/
Both days: continue with your routines. Today the baby step is to do the mission. I forget that if you're starting out, just focus on the baby steps, then add the rest as it becomes routine. I think even flylady herself took 8 months to establish the routines!

Home bleughs done, I did the bins yesterday because our bin day is Monday, wiped round kitchen and ensuite, and did a quick hoover round the ground floor.

The main bathroom isn't too bad, so that had a wipe and polish, and mopped the floor, so that's half the mission done.

We had to go into to town today, so I haven't started the utility room, or changed the sheets, but did do LOL. Quite pleased with myself.

Tadas:

• changed my bed sheets.
• took loads of bags to the charity shop today - whoopee 🤪
• 2 xlol
• 1x dried
• a laundry basket full of more stuff for the charity shop.

Nellie well done for getting the home bleugh done!

Conquerer that's fantastic you were able to get a few bags taken to the charity shop!

No ta das from me, I just worked all day, then came home and cooked the sides to go with the pork chops DH was cooking.

Tuesday is plan & play day.

Tuesday's mission is to toss any old towels and linens that are worn out. These can be donated to animal shelters.
I actually did this mission on Saturday, but the towels were all hands towels and very worn out, so had to just throw them away. I do want to buy new towels for us all keep a couple for my dogs, and donate the rest.
In the laundry room, head behind the washer & dryer and fish out any old socks, dust bunnies, fluff etc that has gathered back there.

Baby Step 14: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-14/
Today's mission is to read the essay about using a calendar

Still sticking to my baby steps routine which I'm really chuffed with.
Tadas are
Dishes done every evening
On top of laundry
Getting morning ready the night before
Decluttering one thing a day
The next few days I have to get on top of rubbish, my bin area was not accessible due to the frost and things being slippy. I'll feel a lot better when the tied off rubbish is gone

Hip all those baby steps really do add up and become second nature eventually, so it's great you're able to continue with them.

I'm super tired today. I stayed up too late last night, just reading on mn and I'm struggling to get going this morning 😴 I've already napped on the couch after dropping DS off at school.
I'm currently drinking my 3rd cup of coffee, and I usually only have 2!
I will soon need to get going with the dogs to the groomer, but I still need to do my morning skincare routine. That will probably help wake me up actually.

I don't have much of a plan yet today, other than laundry, washing sheets etc. I do want to get my nails done again though so may put a movie on while I do them. 🤷‍♀️ I'll see how today goes!

Had an actual tantrum at the weekend :-(( If I didn’t have arthritis I’d probably have lain on the floor and kicked and screamed. Back to my normal rut now.

Does anyone lie in bed and picture themselves getting the house in order and it being calm and peaceful, then get up and go downstairs and want to walk out and never look back? I never thought I’d be this hopeless!

I’ve come to the conclusion that I should throw myself on the mercy of the family solicitor, and possibly a forensic accountant. I want someone to say they’ve taken care of everything, and I can concentrate on the here and now and not worry all the time. Do such ppl exist?

Anyway, I tidy out my shoulder bag after every errand, and keep the van clear of rubbish - mostly drive-thru - e ery few days. I also hide my best work gloves and rubble bags in there, to stop dh from helping himself. Now that the cold snap’s over I want to get the garage straightened out.

Yoga
dog walk
huge bulk cook,washing up 3 times as I went along
cooked dinner
load dishwasher
tired on sofa with blankie now😁

Scourgify

I don't think I've anything useful to offer. I've not kept up with how things are for you and I quite see how you'd want to throw everything into a professional who could sort things out.
Just be careful.
I wasn't and now my ex's wife is having a great time on the money I wanted my children to have.
Not her fault but I do feel bitter about it.

Scourgify I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. Sometimes a tantrum is exactly what we need! Are things any better for you now?

Yogachick that's lots of cooking & cleaning up! It makes it nice though to have everything prepared in advance.

LaMarschallin that's so thoughtless of your ex to not want the best for his children and spending money they could use later in life. It's so sad 😞

My day was less than productive 😫
I ended up taking multiple naps on the couch today, barely getting anything done. I didn't even touch the bathrooms!
Oh well, I'm sure I'll make up for it this weekend. No point in planning to do anything after work as I'm to exhausted!

That's so terrible, since I'm the thread leader! I'm not exactly leading by example am I?!