September Flylady: Fledglings inspired to make a fresh start at the beginning of a brand new term!

[mixedpeel]

Whether you're starting to build a new routine, stuck in a rut, or been around for years, join us on the monthly Flylady thread! Flylady has created a series of daily and weekly prompts to help anyone who finds it tricky to get or keep their house clean and tidy. She totally gets it if you feel overwhelmed or don't even know where to start - as do we! The best thing about Flylady is that you are never behind - just jump in at whatever point you are at, and do what you can.

This is a long running thread, but as a newbie myself I can confirm everyone is very friendly and all are welcome to join in. We spur each other on, but also commiserate when life gets in the way and we don't get as much done as we might have wanted to.

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
We usually link to the daily missions (jobs to do in whichever zone we're in) every day, but the new website doesn't seem to be working for me right now. I will keep trying, but they should update every day so you can click the link yourself to check. We will post the missions in the thread too so don't worry about missing anything. Most importantly, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism!

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

Flylady also tries to help us get into habits so that eventually we do things without even having to think about them. She has 31 baby steps to gradually pick up (on the previous website, since the link isn't working on the new site yet): https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/

Daily focus: each day of the week has a different focus. It's not all jobs jobs jobs by the way.
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

If you can, it's worth downloading the app (link on the flylady website), you can even have it send you notifications. You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle. There is a paid version and a free version, though the missions haven't been updating on the free app.

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

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 probably more, feel free to ask us to explain something!

Thanks all. I have had burnout once, over 10 years ago, so I see what you mean. I also recently did a session at work called protection from burnout. So on the one hand I think it's just 4 weeks of work I have left at work, to just keep up the momentum and power on through, but my experience I know to take it easy.

Weirdly, almost anti-SAD I struggle more when it's sunny, esspecaly the past few days as I feel like it's the end of the summer sun and I'm not at work but I haven't the energy to get out and appreciate it.

My husband has been great, not mentioned any of the mess tonight. I do think I need to do some cleaning things to make me feel better, like my car, and cleaning the sink.

actually @Alwaysgrowing I missed the part that you’re pregnant, I’d prioritise rest tbh and I think you have a child already? no need to get on top
of the house if you’re feeling exhausted

I was away for the weekend so feel a bit behind but have given my bedroom a good dust, lol and s&s, and I have done 2 parts of the house 'blessing' so will have to finish off tomorrow.

Kitsy I'm not sure where your DP lives, but in these parts it's not standard to have a cleaner/ dog walker/ gardener! Maybe in a big city??
Good luck with your interview! I'm sure it's scary to try something new and get back into a career, but clearly they saw something good in your application and they want to find out more about you! Don't forget to have questions for them as well!

WattTheHell I'm not sure how orange it is, but could your DS use purple shampoo to tone down the orange? Or will it need to be redone?

I have to be honest, I couldn't stop thinking about if DD wanted to at least look through the cards, so I asked her today. She said yes, she would like to look through them, but we would need to keep them at our house 🙄 I told her no, because I'm throwing stuff out! Soooo, I had to get the box out of the wheelie bin to get them, but thankfully nothing nasty got thrown in there!
I did end up holding onto some wedding cards from family, but that was it, so not very many at all. I will put them in a memory box, so might see if I can find one tomorrow. Well 3 actually. One for us, and one for each DC. Nothing expensive.

Meteorite you are never behind with Flylady, just jump right in where we are! I always include my 2 furry babies when listing my ta das. Whether I'm bathing them/ washing their bedding etc, it counts!

Always take it easy! You're growing another human!! 💐

Cherry off-chicken that smells like pork 🤮 gross! I had to get after my DH for putting black fingerprints on my white surfaces yesterday! He said it was me 🙄 (he was joking!).

Hedgehog the meeting with a new boss sounds promising. Let's hope they follow through.

mixedpeel you are doing such an awesome job of running the thread, and it's very busy this month!

I was going to add more, but my eyes say no, it's bedtime!

Welcome to Tuesday 22nd September!

Babystep 22: continue adding to your control journal
https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/22/
This is the idea to have a folder or notebook where you keep all the information you’ve learned about Flylady in one place. Again there’s not much I can say about this as it’s not something I’ve done. I can see how it could really work for some people. I know when I’m learning new things I really benefit from taking my own notes. Somehow putting things into your own words and writing it down does embed the learning, and of course then you’ve always got that record to look back on. Plus the idea here is to customise it so you end up with your very own bespoke version of Flylady that suits you, your life and your home.

Tuesday is Plan and Play day. Don’t get caught out by upcoming important dates! Check through your diary and calendar, and make plans for anything that needs to happen in the run-up to certain events etc. Plan in some fun times too, your life is much more than making everything into a job.

Zone 4, still in the Master Bedroom. Mission 2
Today is the day to deal with the clothes pile of doom. Almost everyone ends up with a pile on a chair, at the foot of your bed or the infamous floordrobe.
Take 15 minutes (use a timer) and hang up, fold away or chuck in the wash. And don’t waste clothes space on something that you hate or no longer fits. This is your opportunity to let it go, so have a charity bag ready too.

And the sneak peek for the rest of the week is below:

Zone 4: Mission #3 Wednesday
Time to take a critical look at your bedside tables. Take everything off, wipe and dust the surface and only put back what you actually need. You might even have made space to put something small that you enjoy looking at - a favourite photo in a frame or a pretty candle.

Zone 4: Mission #4 Thursday
Yesterday it was bedside tables, now do the same job on your dressing table if you have one. For me this is the top of my chest of drawers. Just get rid of anything that is not necessary, and put as much as is practical away in the drawers.

Aim to keep this space neat and clutter free, you will love to wake up to the flat surfaces in your bedroom decluttered. It’s so much easier to keep up with the dusting this way too.

Zone 4: Mission #5 Friday
A full remake of your bed today.
I’ll say a bit more about this nearer
the time!

@HazelNotHungryLC you mean he didn't blame the cheese grease?
I tried to think about what I do almost subconsciously with cheese yesterday, like I automatically wash my hands when I come home, before handling food, to see if I washed my hands after handling the cheese.
Failed because I'd already got a sink of soapy water ready to wash the grater and wipe down the sides.
Then I looked under the bottom of the fridge door which is where I open it, that's a level of contortion I'm too old for, but definitely no black marks.
If I get an urge to be sarcastic I'll ask DP if he carries a piece of cheese round the house to wipe on the light switches and door knobs.

Anyway, I'm feeling a bit smug because I'm a day ahead of the bedroom mission, but I will start a new charity bag.
Happy flying everyone.

@CherryogDog the cheese grease has made me laugh 😀Definitely want to try @Alwaysgrowing 's suggestion of random missions, genius!

Wiped the rest of the kitchen cupboard doors, quick house blessing/bleurgh (dust and swiffer), 2 lols done, dinner time dishes done. It's the autumn equinox tomorrow so I've been rootling round for things for that, including some fruit from the garden and three sprigs of rosemary and a nice PreRaphaelite postcard. Have got some butter to make, but might do that tomorrow - we had a meeting this morning with mother's new care agency and while I felt that Phew feeling after, for some reason I felt drained. Onwards. Happy Flying!

@WattTheHell wow, a real life dog fosterer! You guys do such a good job for those canines that need you. Are you connected to one of the national charities like Dogs Trust,
or is it more of a local thing?

(and yes, it was me with the nuisance cardboard box table hogging the gangway…now dealt with thanks to this thread! One less hotspot for people to leave their things on)

@Frumpyunicorn it seems lots of us were away over the weekend! I can see why Flylady pushes us to try and mostly Fly during the week, to avoid that feeling of getting behind if we go away. It’s supposed to be our free time after all! Hope you are getting back to where you want to be with the house.

@HazelNotHungryLC what a great mum you are (I guess you are a mom in fact!) in terms of doing that final check about the cards with DD. And you’re an even better Fledgling for standing firm against her marvellous idea that you’d be her storage solution!

I was typing my post while yours came in, @PamelaColmansMustard. Thanks for mentioning the autumn equinox. I absolutely love this time of year (October baby) but I’ve never thought to mark its arrival. Your posts are so often evocatively scented somehow, this time with rosemary from the garden!

I’m not surprised you feel drained after the meeting regarding your mother. These things often carry an additional emotional charge even if you don’t think you notice it. I hope all the equinox preparations refill your cup!

Thankyou @mixedpeel - if I had to choose a favourite season, Autumn would definitely be it. I love the colours and the slightly melancholic feel as the wheel turns and the days get shorter - I used to dread the long dark nights but now I embrace them. Will make butter in the morning then use the buttermilk for scones (yum) and have one in the afternoon with a glass of mead (more yum). That's the plan! The rosemary smells quite strongly; I picked three sprigs to represent: a person we both miss, our beloved cat who died a couple of years back, and the third to represent the year that's gone, as we tend to think of this as a New Year rather than January 1st.

What about 100% wool socks that are knitted in thin yarn? Fulfills all your criteria plus don't need to wash often, just air.

Cherry surprisingly, no, he didn't blame the cheese grease! I was actually looking around my kitchen trying to figure out your DHs reasoning and nope, couldn't figure it out!

mixedpeel I do find that taking notes does help me retain information. I've never tried it with Flylady either 🫣
The cards will end up staying at our house until we see her next. For her it really is a matter of no space, so may have her box under the spare bed so it's out of the way. She really has taken just about everything, so one little box is okay.. for now!

Pamela I love the idea of the autumn equinox being the beginning of a new year! What do you do with the rosemary? I love the meaning behind it. You sound very grounded/ connected to the earth and I love that! (I apologise if I'm wrong, but it's not a bad thing!)

To dos:
☕️ morning skincare routine/ makeup
☕️ kind of tame my hair
☕️ bank
☕️ hair appt (roots and trim)
☕️ call vet about Coco (to see when I can pick her up)
☕️ meal planning
☕️ grocery shopping
☕️ pick up Coco from the vet
☕️ go to store for memory boxes and a storage box for DH. He had asked me for one, which I had until Saturday! I used the couple I had laying around for plumbing stuff and door handles. We did hunt around the house and we do not have anymore. He has a need for one, so I'll look.
☕️ maybe make caramels (experimenting with a different butter that I can get for free) 🤞hoping it works
☕️ quick home bleugh
☕️ wipe bedside tables and fan in bedroom
☕️ S&S both bathrooms

Might be a little hopeful that I can get that all done, but we'll see. Coco went to the vet yesterday to have some "old lady warts" (as they call them!) removed. A couple of them keep bleeding and they're bothering her. They wanted to keep her overnight, so I'll have to call them today to find out when I can pick her up.

I should add that it's not quite 9am here, so I still have the whole day to get it all done!

I think this zone is the hardest. I cannot be the only one who hides "stuff" into MAIN bedroom to keep more public areas presentable.

timoteigirl our dumping ground is the spare bedroom! Thankfully we don't have anyone stay over!
I have to have calm in my bedroom, so I can sleep, but we also don't have much room in ours.
The bed is enclosed with a couple of drawers underneath, so towels in one and my pajamas in another, have to fit.
Do you have things in there that belong elsewhere, so need to just put them "home"? Or do you have things in there that don't have a home?

@HazelNotHungryLC It's in a little vase - incidentally given by the person being commemorated, so it has that connection. I'll just keep it in the vase as a little symbol - don't want to use it in cooking as it's next to a rose bush the birds sit in. I do have a lovely grounded spiritual practice - we're lucky to have a fair sized garden and live near to some gorgeous countryside and moorland.

@HazelNotHungryLC not enough storage space so need to declutter including good stuff I could still use

Today Flylady is musing/ranting about the need to declutter https://flylady.net/morning-musing/we-all-have-5-minutes-no-excuses

Oh good heavens timotei, Flylady is haunting you with her musings! We were posting at the same time, I promise you it’s not a reply to your post above…

timoteigirl that does make it hard! I'm realising we have way too much stuff in the house, but some of it could bring us some money back in our pockets so I'm reluctant to just donate it without trying to sell it first.

Ta das so far:
🍁 bank
🍁 sheets in the washer
🍁 currently at the hairdressers, waiting for the colour to develop in my hair. I should now try to call the vet..

Woohoo, quick update on Coco today (yesterday I had to wait a few minutes each phone call). She is good to come home! So once I'm done with my hair appt, I'll head that way to pick her up, stop of at the store to get the few things I need, and pick her up! Yay!

Good news on Coco Hazel!

Wow such a busy thread.

My bedroom is OK - I tidy all of the upstairs as the dc are dressing in the mornings and again as needed when they go to bed at night. Just needs a hoover under the bed which is a nasty task that I've been putting off (it's heavy to pull out and no wheels)

I am focusing on getting stuff out of the house this week. One baby bank bag with some bulky things and a charity shop bag of winter clothes I'll never wear have gone out. I need to take my electrical recycling to the library but it isn't open until Thursday.

Juat checking in, it is lovely to see the thread so busy, there have been times in the last couple of years when it’s all gone a bit quiet and I’ve worried it would fizzle out (they’ve been going for I reckon 16 or 17 years and I’ve been on them for most of that time, they have change my life very much for the better).

Had a lovely time away and I was very good when I got home (9pm Sunday eve) and unpacked and put everything away/in the wash straight away).

Someone asked about my weekly coffee/diary catch-up habit. My day off is Friday, I always seem to have a lot of admin and I journal, so whenever I can I take myself off out for a coffee by myself, catch up with the journal, go through the weeks emails and delete all the junk, read all the ones I need to read, add any actions to my to do list and update my calendar. I have so much admin because I do all of our household stuff (DH is useless at it), a lot for my parents, and I’m a school governor so often have to do online training, write reports, reply to emails etc. I find it easier to focus away from home and a coffee out is a nice treat.

@DillyDeclutter My bedroom is OK - I tidy all of the upstairs as the dc are dressing in the mornings and again as needed when they go to bed at night.

Love this. A perfect example of a regular habit that takes just a few minutes each time and keeps on top of things. Exactly what we’re all aiming for. Good work on stuff leaving the house this week.

Here is the info for Wednesday 23rd September:

Babystep 23: start an afternoon routine
https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/23/
So we’ve had Flylady’s personal recommendations for a morning routine (make bed, get dressed, 2 minute hotspot, do a LOL etc) and an evening routine (shine sink, plan outfit for next day, go to bed at a good time). Now you get to think about your own afternoon routine. This will obviously depend on your current life stage, so if you have school age DC you may be picking them up from school, dealing with homework, feeding them snacks in a vain effort to prevent squabbling… what things do you really need to happen for life to run a bit more smoothly? School uniform into washing basket, lunchboxes cleaned out, bookbags checked…whatever it is, make sure it’s not all on you when other people, be that DC or DPs, are involved. Each of us will have different things going on at this time of day, so take a moment to figure out what needs to go on your list.

Wednesday has rolled around again so it’s already Anti-Procrastination Day.
Such a useful reminder to crack on and just Do The Thing. I have a stash and dash hotspot to sort in DS’s room, where I chucked a load of random stuff pre-visitor the other week. He’s coming back for the weekend and I’d rather he didn’t feel like we already forgot he ever lived here. @timoteigirl, if his room wasn’t downstairs I would’ve shoved this stuff into our bedroom, so I know exactly what you mean about the current zone.

On which note, we are still in zone 4, the master bedroom. Mission 3:

Time to take a critical look at your bedside tables. Take everything off, wipe and dust the surface and only put back what you actually need. You might even have made space to put something small that you enjoy looking at - a favourite photo in a frame maybe.

Read on for a sneak peek at the last two days of this zone.

Zone 4: Mission #4 Thursday
Yesterday it was bedside tables, now do the same job on your dressing table if you have one. For me this is the top of my chest of drawers. Just get rid of anything that is not necessary, and put as much as is practical away in the drawers.

Aim to keep this space neat and clutter free, you will love to wake up to the flat surfaces in your bedroom decluttered. It’s so much easier to keep up with the dusting this way too.

Zone 4: Mission #5 Friday
Let’s go for a full remake of your bed today, ready for a blissful night’s sleep into the weekend.

Strip off all the bedlinen and if possible flip or turn the mattress. This may be a two person job!

If it’s a nice day you may get the bedlinen all washed and dried today ready to put on super fresh. If not, take your favourite clean set and make the bed up as best as you possibly can.

Tuck those corners properly in and fluff all the pillows. According to Flylady those of you with tumble dryers could try tumbling your pillows for a while with a dryer sheet to freshen and fluff them even more. I’m not sure if this means American tumble dryers are larger, and I take no responsibility for anyone’s decision to try this!

Look forward to reaping the rewards of your hard work with a beautiful night’s sleep and maybe even a Saturday lie-in…

ED like you, I'm happy to see the thread picking up again, I was also worried it would just die off, and that would be a sad thing!

Thank you Dilly we are very glad to have Coco back home again!
Is there another access point to under the bed, so maybe you don't have to move it? Drawers that can pull out? Don't hurt yourself trying to move it!

Ta das:
🍁 shop, didn't quite have everything I went on there for
🍁 picked Coco up, got her instructions for aftercare & scheduled stitches removal for in 2 weeks
🍁 got towels washed & dried
🍁 remade the bed with help from DH
🍁 S&S both bathrooms
🍁 vacuumed main floor
🍁 cleaned mirrors
🍁 used brush attachment on vacuum to clean the grooves in the windows (master bedroom & bathroom)
🍁 wiped ceiling fan
🍁 wiped bedside tables
🍁 put clean towels back out
🍁 meal planned - utilised freezer meats
🍁 grocery shopping & put away
🍁 cooked dinner, it turned out delicious
🍁 rotated DW
🍁 handwashed dishes
🍁 wiped countertops

I ended up getting a lot done, but I still wanted to do more. It's hard when I'm out of the house a couple times though.
Back to work for the rest of the week, so not sure what ta das I'll have, if any.