Flyladies keeping on top of the household in August, it’s going to be a hot one.

[ExtremeDecluttering]

Well, at the start of July it was hot, at the end of July it was still hot (for most of us anyway) and here we are in August with no change in sight, but hopefully we are acclimatising a bit. And now we have holidays, children at home, all the changes of 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. I have taken one for the team but use a junk email address I will check them periodically and report anything interesting / useful
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 day. 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, it's a new website! 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. There is a paid version and a free version. I use the free version. The missions haven't been updating on the app.
Links are below 👇
Daily missions (for the zone we are in):
https://www.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!

Most of this is copied and pasted from previous months but is all correct, I do get the emails and do use the free version of the app, plus the new look but somewhat sparse website. There may be odd days I don’t post but the links do update overnight so click back to the previous ones.

@HazelNotHungryLC hope you feel better soon 💐

It's been a very slow process but I think some of my training of DP has started to sink in lol.
I asked him to remove the basket drawers from the larder cupboard so I could clean up the carrot juice on the bottom.
Not only did he do that, but he cleaned it and put it all back together.
He's even had a wardrobe cull.
Maybe he's planning to leave me 🤷‍♂️🙂

Plan for today is to do as much decluttering and cleaning in the kitchen as I'm physically able to.
Going to buy some trays for the veg drawers for any carrot disasters and annoying onion skins.

Happy flying everyone!

Second lol on the go, cleaned the cat's feeding area, bathroom cleaned and dishes done, and bins emptied. Going to have a cross stitch day as it's raining out and I think I've earned it 😁Have a great Saturday!

Cherry maybe DP has just had a realisation that he needs to help out more! I think that's the case of my DH anyway, as he's doing a lot more to help out.

Pamela you've had a productive morning already! Enjoy your cross stitch!

ED your Friday's always sound so nice 😍 it's also been raining here quite a bit this week, the weather is changing for sure.

unicorn little and often is the way to go, that way it doesn't get overwhelming, hopefully your hard work in the holidays will pay off when school starts back up again 🤞

Peony what would you use the storage pouches for? Frustrating that there was only one in the bag!

I ended up getting to sleep before 10pm last night! Wild times! 😂
I had actually written my previous post before my shower, dozed off on the couch, took my shower and was in bed when I realised I hadn't actually posted it! So I quickly posted that post, put my phone down and went to sleep!

I feel refreshed this morning, which is good, as I have a few things planned.
I stopped by the grocery store on my way home from work last night, so I don't have to go today.

To dos:
🙄 deep clean the main bathroom (I didn't get to it last week and all I keep smelling in there is urine 🤮 - on the shower curtains!)
🙄 wash outer shower curtain in washer on gentle cycle
🙄 soak inner (plastic) shower curtain in the bath, with bleach water
🙄 wipe everything down with bleach water - all surfaces
🙄 scrub sink using an abrasive cream cleaner, like Cif (but we don't have that here), containing bleach
🙄 maybe scrub the grout on the floor (if I have time), to bleach it white again

I also have other things to do today:
🍞 bake zucchini bread (at least one batch)
🍞 admin with DH at the bank
🍞 vacuum the main floor with the big vacuum
🍞 mop floors
🍞 help DH with prepping and cooking ribs for dinner tonight
🍞 decorate/make dining room look nice, as I'm not convinced the weather will be nice enough to eat outside tonight - it's the family night dinner for DHs birthday, SIL & BIL will be over as well as ILs

Time to get moving. Meds have been taken, coffee has been drunk, I'm dressed (in lounge wear!).

I was going to do loads today, but I've had a busy week and had a nap, now it's 4pm. My master bedroom does need doing but my sister is coming to stay tomorrow and I have a shift I couldn't get rid of so other areas are probably more pressing. They are staying up until school starts so to do
👉 Label stationery
👉 Collect vinted package
👉 Hoover
👉 Dust
👉 15 minutes Room rescue of the attic guests are sleeping in. My husband has done a good job, it was a store room with no floor space but I could definitely do a little of decluttering my stuff up there.
👉 Look up next baby step for me.

Tadas:
👍 Hung up two loads of washing, but indoors and used the dehumidifier for the first time in ages as it's raining all day.
That might be it, played and did crafts with kids then napped 🙈

@Alwaysgrowing , sounds like that nap was very much needed! I hope that your sister (and her DH?) are relatively easy guests. You’ve got a lot going on to have people staying over as well, but you didn’t write anything in your post that makes it sound like you are dreading it, so hope you have a good time together.

I caught up with some bedroom stuff today. We have an ottoman bed, and over the last few months whenever I’ve put anything in there, I’ve noticed a growing colony of dust bunnies lurking in all the edges. Finally sucked ‘em all up with the hoover today, and now the whole room honks of dog. We really shouldn’t let her sleep on the bed in the daytime, but that battle was lost long ago.

I've managed to declutter and clean 6 kitchen drawers, DP went to Lidl and got me 2 sets of tupperware type boxes so I've collected all the random sets and odds together to give away.
I recently bought a set of Systema boxes which are great but need more hand strength and dexterity than I have to put the lids on.
I've still got stuff on the sides that I'm sorting through.
I've got a cast iron (Sainsburys version of le Creuset) soup pan which I love but it's very heavy for me, and I'm umming and aahing over keeping it.
I've not long tidied/cleaned the other drawers so it shouldn't take me much longer to finish the kitchen declutter!

Great work on the kitchen drawers, @CherryogDog

That’s two of you mentioning storage solutions in Lidl at the moment. @PeonyBulb’s talk of her ideal size boxes being available piqued my interest. Will see if anything is left next time I go. Did the main shop at Aldi today as I was nearby. I did buy some stick-on hooks which I’m hoping to use to hang my dustpan and brush up. They had lots of different sizes which each take different weights, so I bought a two-pack of the strongest. There were packs of six or even nine of other sizes for lighter things.

Yes, they'll be easy guests, won't mind mess

The storage bag is for DD to use at uni.

These are the storage boxes / tubs I bought from Lidl that I’m finding a useful size. I’ve been using smaller ones but these are more practical

LOL, DW, making sourdough and made loads of guacamole from some very soft / squashy avocados but still green no brown at all so perfect for guacamole. Swishing and swiping after everyone which is annoying but easier to just do it.

Morning! I know today is a day off, but out tomorrow so have done my tasks this morning. My zones for the coming week are bedroom and bathroom, so the shower curtain and mats are in the washing machine with a dishwasher tab, cleaned the bathroom (S&S) and the floor, quick dust in bedroom/landing/hall, and towels waiting to go in the washer.

Been thinking about one of those heated ladder dryers; Dunelm have one for £40, has anyone used one? Currently have the outside line, a folding airer and the tumble dryer which I would like to use a bit less.

Have a good day all 🙂

I'm also flying today @PamelaColmansMustard because we're going out tomorrow.
Currently trying to muster the energy to finish my kitchen cupboards. It's very muggy here and I got back from the dog walk like a wrung out dish cloth.

Today is indeed a day off, or rather Renew Your Spirit day, which means taking time to do something just for you. I have been outdoor swimming again.

So no missions, but it is a good idea to keep the routines ticking over, laundry, swish and swipe, shining your sink etc and then putting clothes out for Monday, although it’s a bank holiday here in England.

Babystep 30 is to have a look at your calendar for next month, update any new appointments etc and check for birthdays and other occasions where you might need to send cards or gifts, then you can plan ahead.

Thank you for the supportive comments re posting the sneak peek of missions, I have found it makes my life easier too, both for planning ahead like everyone else and making it easier to post for the day each morning. I think this might be the first time I have ever got through a whole month of thread-leading without forgetting to post, or being in too much of a rush, my routines do seem to have really kicked in this time.

Tomorrow we move into Zone 5 - the living room, but only for one day as it is the 31st. The mission is to get rid of anything that does not belong in your living room. Then on Tuesday we are back to Zone 1 again. porch, entrance, dining room.

Would anyone else like to take over for September? I don’t mind carrying on if not, but I will be away for a few days midweek twice so might miss a few posts, but Flylady posts these sneak peeks in her weekend emails so I would be able to at least start each week.

Catching up with a few other bits of chat, @PamelaColmansMustard I haven’t seen those ladder dryers, but they sound good if you haven’t got much space. We have got a large heated airer but we really haven’t got space for it (Victorian house and all the rooms are small). I bought it when DS went to uni and we used it in his room but then our tumble dryer broke and we replaced it with a heat pump one which is just as cheap to dry a load as the heated airer so I need to sell that. We do have some tall radiators in the kitchen/diner and a dehumidifier so can do things like bedding on those in winter

Bathroom cloths - I wipe the toilet with toilet paper and flush (and use a brush for the bowl) but for the sink and a quick wipe of the bath I use a microfibre cloth, we have one of those hanging things with pockets for clean towels etc on the back of the door so as it is only damp I just tuck it in there after use and change it every few days. I use a scrubby sponge and pink stuff once a week to give it all a proper clean.

At the start of the month I said my motto was going to be “just do it” and I have indeed been grabbing a duster, bin bag or whatever and just doing it. As a result I do feel more on top of things. Still got a few things I wanted to do and didn’t like my sock drawer but I will get them done at some point.

Tada!

DW emptied (slowly single-handed by DH)
Hand washing up and shine sink
2 x LOL on line (it’s sunny again after a properly wet day yesterday)
Kitchen floor swept and mopped (quickly not properly into corners etc)
Menu planning done and calendar checked.

DW, LOL so far.

@ExtremeDecluttering I’m enjoying the missions too. Very handy.

@PamelaColmansMustardMy dryer is only a year old and it’s a heat pump dryer and I chuck everything in there. It dries very quickly and uses much less electricity than the usual condensed dryers and doesn’t shrink clothes to a crisp.

I also have a Meaco dehumidifier which dries clothes overnight. I had to buy it a few years ago before the roof finally got properly fixed over DS room. It actually has a laundry setting so turns off automatically after 6 hrs although I just let it run.

I forgot to pick up the second half of a JL order which had a second set of Duvet covers for DD going to uni 🤦‍♀️. She already bought her own set and I bought another new set so she doesn’t really need another one but I’m annoyed I forgot to collect. It’s already been returned and the item is now sold out.

Thank you @ExtremeDecluttering and @PeonyBulb; our house is old (1930s) and hasn't a lot of space either. My current tumble dryer is a vented one; I gather they're all replaced by heat pump models now so when it finally dies, I'll have to have one of those. Thinking the heated airer would be good for at least partially drying towels as we only have one radiator that we can hang stuff on, all the others are behind furniture.

YesTaDas:
🍑 gentle wash done, including outer shower curtain
🍑 bleached both bathrooms, including soaking inner shower curtain in the bath (DH & DS use this shower, and the curtain was stinking of urine - much better now!)
🍑 vacuumed main floor with the big vacuum
🍑 mopped
🍑 rotated DW
🍑 helped DH with cooking ribs
🍑 sorted out bank admin with DH (in the morning)
🍑 baked a batch of zucchini bread (more to do today)
🍑 put out a hotspot (the main one)
🍑 went to bed early again (10:15pm), ILs were the last to leave at 9:45pm, which is actually early, we don't mind them staying later, but they could tell I was really tired

Ta das so far (8am here):
😇 rotated DW & started it (we had about 3 loads after dinner last night, but couldn't start it until after we ate- there wasn't enough for a full load before then), so yes, I still have some dirty dishes on my countertop, but they are all rinsed
😇 last steroid taken
😇 1st cup of coffee drank

To dos:
🍞 bake more zucchini bread
🍞 sort out fridge
🍞 bathe dogs
🍞 rotate DW
🍞 handwash dishes
🍞 laundry
🍞 paint nails (still haven't redone them yet!)

ED I'm not sure I could volunteer for September. I don't know how I'll be feeling come tomorrow, after stopping the steroid, DSs birthday is next Saturday, and the end of the month is crazy, with marching band starting up as well as ILs anniversary and MILs birthday all the same weekend!
October should be a little calmer though.
I'm sorry!
I do like the sneak peek though, so might have to bite the bullet and sign up for emails!

@ExtremeDecluttering Would anyone else like to take over for September?

I know I am a total newbie to the thread, so I will definitely be stealing pretty much all of the OP, but I’m happy to open September’s thread and see how I get on. I note that in order to get the sneak peeks I’ll need to sign up to the emails - I don’t mind doing that on the basis that I can unsubscribe again when the month is up! I am pretty good at keeping on top of my inbox so I’m prepared to delete anything that doesn’t contain the essential info.

I was inspired by a comment you made that taking on the thread quite often ups your game that month, plus it will force me to be here more often than I have been this month.

So the upshot is I’ll do it if everyone else is ok with that. Of course if someone else is keen then I’ll wait for another month.

Oh that would be brilliant @mixedpeel . Most of the OP has been copied and pasted for years and years, we just tweak it a bit for seasonality. It’s great when someone new has a go because it always refreshes things a bit.

Flylady sends two emails a day, one advertising and one with the useful stuff in it, but be warned, they are very very long and you have to do a lot of scrolling. I use a junky email address which is also my sign up one for MN, Reddit and not much else. The sneak peek things appear on Saturday, I usually stick a flag on that one in my inbox so I can refer back to it.

How about if I post the sneak peek for this week on this thread now and you can c+p it for the rest of the week then pick it up yourself from next week.

@ExtremeDecluttering How about if I post the sneak peek for this week on this thread now and you can c+p it for the rest of the week then pick it up yourself from next week.

Yes please, that sounds like a plan! Thanks also for explaining what to expect regarding the flylady emails.

I’ll open September’s thread tomorrow and put a link in this thread.

I forgot, I usually paraphrase them a bit as

a) they are long
b) in the dim and distant past it was said that Flylady would catch people who C+P her content directly and ask for their posts to be taken down, but didn’t mind links

But as she has removed most of the useful content from her website it is impossible to do it by links any more so I’ll risk it. Also I have added in the daily focus things in brackets.

Zone 5 Mission #1 Monday (Home Blessing Day)

Dear Friends:

Today I want you to spend 15 minutes getting rid of anything that does not belong in your living room. Things that have gotten thrown in a corner, on a chair, or even the floor. The things that you almost don't even see because they have just become part of the room, get it out! If it does not belong there then out it goes!This does not mean that you have to spend three hours in your living room, do what you can do for 15 minutes.

Zone 1: Mission #1 Tuesday (Plan and Play Day)

Dear Friends:

We are in Zone 1 this week! This Zone includes the Entrance, Front Porch and the Dining Room.

Today your mission is to sweep off your front porch, shake out your door mats and wipe down your front door. Hopefully today is a beautiful day for you to be outside for a few moments and to enjoy a little sunshine. Get rid of the twigs and dirt on the front porch and use a little general purpose cleaner to clean up your front door. We have a tendency to forget this area and yet it is the first thing that we see when we go through the door.

Reward yourself for a job well done with a tall glass of water and spend a few moments just to enjoy the day.

Zone 1: Mission #2 Wednesday (Anti-Procrastination Day)

Dear Friends,

Your mission for today is to take 10 minutes to get rid of the hotspots that gather in this area. The junk mail, newspapers, shoes, jackets etc, that seem to get stuck in a holding pattern when you set them down and plan to get back to them. It is amazing how inviting the entrance area can be when there is not a bunch of STUFF everywhere. Grab a trash bag first and toss what can be tossed. Then grab the jackets and shoes and deliver them to their homes.

Zone 1: Mission #3 Thursday (Errand Day)

Dear Friends:

We are going to work in the dining room today. Take 15 minutes and work some more on your de-cluttering as we. Toss anything that can be tossed and put away anything that can be put away. We are working towards the dining room being a dining room and not a storage and pile up area.

Keep reminding yourself that you are going to change your home 15 minutes at a time.

Zone 1: Mission #4 Friday (Clear out your bag and car / date night)

Dear Friends:

We have been in Zone 5 and Zone 1 this week!

This Zone includes the Entrance, Front Porch and the Dining Room. Your mission for today is to take 10 minutes to get rid of the hotspots that gather in this area. The junk mail, newspapers, shoes, jackets etc, that seem to get stuck in a holding pattern when you set them down and plan to get back to them.

It is amazing how inviting the entrance area can be when there is not a bunch of STUFF everywhere. Grab a trash bag first and toss what can be tossed. Then grab the jackets and

@HazelNotHungryLC I’m exhausted just looking at your list of Ta DA’s very impressive

Thanks @mixedpeeland @ExtremeDeclutteringand @HazelNotHungryLCfor last months thread, my first one.

I’m adding these from my flylady app hope they help

Plus this weekly one. You just tick them off as you go