💕Longer days, shorter month: February Flylady thread 💕

[HazelNotHungryLC]

Love is in the air! But do you love your housework/cleaning routine?

Whether you're starting to build a new routine, stuck in a rut, or been around for years, join us on the Flylady thread. I'll try to keep us on track for the month, with baby steps, daily missions and weekly zones.

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:
🩷Entryway, porch and dining room
🩷Bathroom & one other room
🩷Kitchen
🩷Master bedroom & master bathroom
🩷Living room

Don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism!

Daily focus: each day of the week has a different focus.

• 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 😆
• S&S: Swish & Swipe (wipe the bathroom sink & toilet)
• 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, if I can get them to work, she's updated the website! Although if you can, it's worth downloading the newly updated 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 👇

Daily missions (for the zone we are in): https://beta.flylady.net/daily-mission

Baby steps (on a different website, since the link isn't working on the new site yet): https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/

Feel free to ask any questions you may have, some of us have been doing Flylady for a very long time, as well as others just starting out. We may have other things to add that we have found works for us that could help you too!

What us it with pens @EnchantingDaytime? It's the same here!
I've also signed up to a health app. Tracking water, steps, exercise etc and with added daily tai chi video.
Done my flylady tasks today, fridge is full of freshness and it's clean. Did my cutlery drawer last nightI've been good abkut the evening routine this week, and shining my sink, and it does help!
The essay today is about how being organised and clutter free helps the finances, and I've found it to be true previously, but I did need the reminder. Just need to dust then the home bleugh is done for the week.

I always feel much calmer when I'm back on board with the system.

ED I've moved my to do list from Notes to Finch so I get points for completion!

I know it's not real but I am fond of my finch.

Oh I'm so sorry for being a terrible thread leader this week! It seems I'm running out of hours in the day 😫

Weary I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble getting rid of books. Isn't there an app or two who actually give you money and you send them your books? Have you liked into them at all?

Hello there @WinterFrogs 👋 good to see you again! You've been doing well, jumping right back in.

ED I'm enjoying the new app as well, although not utilizing it as much as I should!

Wednesday was anti-procrastination day.
Wednesday's mission was to clean out your fridge. Well done WinterFrogs for keeping on task!
Baby Step 11: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/11/
Write down inspirational quotes in your control journal.

Thursday is errand day.

Thursday's mission: https://www.flylady.net/daily-mission
Declutter cling film, foil, bags etc that don't get used. Reorganise the drawer or cupboard you store them in.

Baby Step 12: wasn't loading on the page, I'm sorry! If you scroll to the bottom of the page of the link above (baby step link in the comment above), you can find the different days of the month. Click on 12 and hopefully it will load for you!

In just getting the hang of Finch. I didn't like it very much to begin with. I think I could be using it better,.eg, making sure it's empty at the end of the day, skipping or snoozing undone tasks as I forgot them the next day otherwise.

Thank you @HazelNotHungryLC 💐

I've never managed a proper control journal but I'd like to start one in case I'm ever incapacitated and DH could take over. The apps are great ( off to look at Finch shortly) but they are very private aren't they?

DH is as good as gold and always pulls is weight but I think he'd forget to medicate the cat!

@Zippedydodah I stumbled on flylady when I read a book called In Praise Of Slow by Carl Honoré about twenty years ago, and then went looking for slow living blogs. Came across several minimalist blogs and flylady then. One of the big messages they all share is to get on and simplify/declutter your own stuff. Do the routines for your own peace of mind, etc. It's possible that the people you life with will follow suit, but they also point out that many of us procrastinate on the decluttering that would really help our peace of mind, by blaming everyone else around us.

I have found in my case that just doing the routines ( on and off because I am very far from perfect) means that grot never really builds up and that is why there are no fights about who cleans the bathroom etc. Cleaning it when you're in it and swish and swipe are inspired! I really wish I'd found the system when my kids were little. By nature I'm a 'sidetracked home executive' and my mother, grandmother and best friend were all 'born organised' and I had no clue about maintaining a house because they seemed to do it invisibly. I was often in chaos and then do mad dashes when people were due round.

I've written an essay, sorry 😳 I am quite zealous 🙈

Right, off to get dressed to my lace up shoes 🤣

I've had a busy couple of days. I'm sorry I dropped the ball Wednesday!

Tuesday I got everything done that I wanted to, as well as vacuuming the couch and washing the blankets on the couch. I even painted my nails!

Wednesday and today I worked. This evening I stayed longer to take minutes at a meeting for my boss, so I'm really tired tonight. I'll be working tomorrow, then I have a 4 day weekend, I'm so ready!

Friday is clean out your car and handbag day. It's also date night.

Baby Step 13: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/13/
Set your timer for 15 minutes and complete a mission (any mission).

Friday's mission: https://www.flylady.net/daily-mission it's not updated for me yet, but hopefully will update in time for you.

WinterFrogs I hadn't thought about the dogs getting their meds if something happened to me! I probably should have it written somewhere!

What does Finch help with? I've never heard of it, and not sure it's available to me to be honest!

Finch is a free app, advertised as a sort of self care tamocochi. Basically it's a to do list, but when you do them it helps a little pet grow and go on adventures, and you get points to dress them and do up the nest. At it's core it's like flylady, starting with small regular habits (default is get out of bed and drink water) and building up from there.

Yes, it’s very much about self care, you’d have difficulty putting swish and swipe into any of it’s categories but you get a little friend in your phone with the Finch and it has a name and says cute things. Silly really, but I do like it.

Taken a blue Ikea bag’s worth of stuff to the charity shop and a couple of carrier bags to the clothes bank yesterday, where does it all come from. It’s not as if I have young children outgrowing stuff as an excuse either.

I have made a little transformation in the cupboard where we keep food storage boxes. I have always done it with boxes stacked by type and all their lids on their edges in a big basket but it was always ending up like photo 1 as everyone just shoved everything in randomly and dislodge the stacks while trying to find the right lid. A year or so back I saw a reel saying you should store them all with their lids on instead and I thought ‘but they’d never all fit”. Well, today I proved myself wrong see picture 2. Now will we able to maintain it, that is the question. I have also scrubbed the stove top this week, it had got quite bad.

I have swish and swipe on my finch. But it hasn't helped in me actually doing it

Ah, that's told me then. I try and do at least a bit of swish and swipe every day, loo or basin, but do still forget sometimes.

I downloaded Finch! I figured why not. It might actually help me get on track and bed sooner, or it might not. I guess we'll see!

ED I'm impressed with your transformation! That is quite a difference! Are you sure everything in picture 1 is also in picture 2??

I got the last of my treats delivered today, so I'm all done with that!
DH got me some flowers delivered. Apparently I was supposed to get more than just flowers. I know the owner of the flower shop so texted her to let her know I'm missing a few things. They'll be delivered to my house tomorrow! 🥳

Saturday is family fun day. If course it's also Valentine's day! 🩷❤️🩷
Do you have anything planned as a family or as a couple?
We are doing our normal hosting of ILs at our house for dinner. We are going to be cooking a nice dinner of steak and shrimp 🤤 I'll also be making a cheesecake for dessert.

There are no missions on the weekends.

Baby Step 14: https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/14/
Start using a calendar. Any calendar. On your phone, in a planner, wall calendar, whatever works for you. I use my phone and set reminders. I couldn't function without it!

Sounds amazing hazel...we don't celebrate valentine's really. DH is exhausted, looking at his face the past couple of days I questioned if he should be working. He didn't appreciate the question, said he's tied not ill there's a difference... (he's in denial) Now he's on half term and in working 9-4 at the hospital. And he's got the kids. His ears are blocked and he's got joint pain. There's a rant about my work at the hospital, in my head. But got to go now. So not really a family fun day today. After today I have 4 days off work.

The only things that didn't go back in where a couple of odd things that went on the shelf above see picture and two chinese takeaway boxes and a teeny snack box without lids, also the basket that use to house the lids.

@EnchantingDaytime your tubs look really good like that! I'm always losing lids so it's a much better idea. I'm clearing my mother's house step by step, and I've found some pyrex dishes with plastic lids that she had stacked like yours. My mother is not a lady who ever lost her lids, and now I can see why! I have taken several ( she has no need of them being in a care home but it still feels like theft) She also labelled them using washable sharpie pens so didn't have half stuck stickers on the lids. And of course she didn't lose the pens either. Definitely one of flylady's born organised, my mum!

I haven't dared to get Finch! But it sounds like fun. I'm very happy to say that my home is a much clearer, calmer, shinier place since I jumped back in. I love that this thread is always ticking along in the background. Always someone flying along even when I'm not 💕

Beautiful flowers @HazelNotHungryLC

We went out to dinner last night. We hadn't really thought about valentines day but the table was more romantically set than usual with flowers and candles even a day early. DH and I don't celebrate valentines day as such. We're not really romantic but there's a lot of love every day. I am lucky. We had fun at dinner. We've both just read the same book and we were planning who we'd choose to play each character if it came out as a film. I started that conversation as a direct result of FL talking about date night and it was really worth the effort. DH booked the table as it was his turn to cook and he couldn't be bothered, so we are pretty normal really! I think date night sounds a bit twee and I'd never say it out load, but the premise is good even though we are long past having young children about. Good to keep the spark alive as we get older or we'll get all crusty and boring.

We're seeing mother later. I think I might take her some flowers as my father is no longer around to do it.

Thank you for linking the links @HazelNotHungryLC

Sending support @Alwaysploddingon I don't know your story but it does sound like you have a lot on 💐

Bloody hell

Popped in last week and that was it. Popped off again!

Worst flyer award goes to me 🏆

New job is good. Much better work / home balance.

Booked couple days off this week. Have some studying to do and house shit and some time with the DC

First up today ..... get dressed 😅

Ta da

❤️ dressed to shoes
🌸 dcs fed
❤️ LOL x1

Adding to the list -

🌸 small dc room hoovered
❤️ my bed stripped
🌸 draining board cleaned
❤️ dw rotated
🌸 some random shit in bins
❤️ some (not all) dry washing away
🌸 4 x LOL
❤️ 2 x worktop clear and clean