Fledgling flyers October 2009

[Countingthegreyhairs]

Everyone welcome!

Here you can, for one month:

• repeat or start baby steps

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering

As we are coverning more ground, to avoid confusion, I'll be posting links early in the morning on the relevant day.

Good luck!

Good morning everyone.

Didn't manage to get the floors steamed, so that stays on the list for today.

Thanks for the links CTGH and PA

Todays list:
Clear and clean windowsill and worktop in kitchen
wash dishes and shine sink
tackle hotspot(not sure which one, most of the house is a hotspot)
Steam kitchen and living room floors

This should be achievable.

Morning all

I've got a day off in lieu today so hopefully should get some stuff done for once!

Will be back with a list later but am sorting out our finances first

Oh dear - chiropodist cancelled - that was my incentive to get the house tidy - oh well, been on here for an hour.....really must go and tidy tidy tidy!

Right, here we go...

This morning

Stack and put on dishwasher
Put on washing machine
Clear cardboard box clutter in the kitchen
Put away online shop

Taking it easy today as I'm feeling quite tired.

Dealing with a 2 year old is enough for today I think!

at work today so had to be super fast this morning and will do my babystep tonight!

I feel in the mood for internet shopping though! has anyone any tips for wonderful cleaning clobber? I love all that stuff but have thrown out my lakeland catalogue while in de-clutter mode! What do you all recommend?

Right, really going to get going now - just done finances so really no more excuses not to get going - my list:

Empty dishwasher
Hang up washing on airer
clear kitchen
tidy hall
tidy lounge
tidy dining room (these three rooms are actually quite tidy, so I am cheating a bit
clean downstairs loo
wash floor
clean en-suite
wash floor

Then I will let me sit down for a cuppa!

hmm not really done much on list -

tidied hall
tidied living room
tidied dining room (lillies still looking and smelling lovely )
Made study messier by dumping bits in there
Wrapped two Christmas presents (ordered brown paper bags, red tissue paper and red and green ribbons from e-bay, which arrived whilst tidying, so tried out "the look")

Got friend popping in for coffee at 2pm, so need to:

empty dw (still)
hang washing out (still)
tidy kitchen (still)
now will need to tidy playroom (mine at school but friend has 3 year old)

OK - off I go rushes off quickly to make up for lost time

oh - why didn't my italic's work? I did shift 6, is that not right?

Hi all!

How are we getting on today? I just wanted to say I love looking at everyone's to do lists as when I have a spare 5 mins I look around at all the mess and just don't know where to start, so invaribly do nothing!

Anyway, I'm fresh back from shining my sink and putting out my hotspot for a few mins (more than the prescribed 2 but not more than 10 - taking it easy!). That consisted of throwing out old till receipts that OH dumps in a basket I bought to keep the clutter off the dining table. There are till receipts back to April and I think there are older ones further down the pile! Anything less than a month old is being binned. Hurrah can't believe how good it feels to just do a little but of decluttering!

Shoppingveggie - You have to put ^'s round every word. Doesn't work on a whole sentence unfortuneately.

Same with crossouts, underlines and bold

Thank you GS

testing testing one two three

YES!

back to cleaning .......

Hello all,

Just in from work - couldn't find out anything more about interview - I only know they only started looking at applications Friday. I know my boss has put a good word in for me but I am hearing "over qualified" whispers!

Alfie the puppy was a star at the vets and had so many cuddles from vet nurses etc.

Managed to wash the hall and sitting room carpet before I went to work.

I don't keep much on my kitchen surfaces and wiped them down first thing but I will go and more the toaster - bound to create a crumb mountain!

Got about and hour before the dc's come home to do some cleaning.

DD has a secondary school open evening this evening so want to get straight as ds PA is coming to sit with him while we are out - and she is so houseproud (but a lovely person to have around and would never comment on the mess!)

Should've stuck to playing with DS! Cleaned the bathroom and have ended up breaking the loo brush which snapped in half as I cleaned the loo! and the toilet seat, which twisted and snapped off while I was rehanging the shower curtain whch I'd washed!!

D'Oh!

You ladies are really keeping me on the straight and narrow and for all I know you could all be telling us all these things you're doing and actually watching Murder, She Wrote

Anyway, today i have continued with my zone cleaning and cleared out 2 more kitchen cupboards, not much to chuck but they are nice and tidy. Morning routine done as well and was just about to continue in 'The Kitchen Zone' but little monkey is awake. Mind you he sounds happy so can't complain.

Hi all, I'm still here, still flying & making slow progress, but it's a little tedious reporting on it in detail each day. However, the routines are working OK so far and hopefully getting more ingrained. I have been doing some 'deeper' sorting out in the kitchen this week - this afternoon I went through my recipe drawer, tossed out all the ones I'll never do again & filed the others in sections according to type with new dividers between them. Hopefully I won't have to rummage through the whole heap in future trying to find the right recipe.

just had a productive hour after work. many ticks for my weekly list in my journal!!!

However, washed the kitchen floor and just as I finished the cat decided to come through the back door with muddy, wet paws. I was not quite the gorgeous, catloving female from the Felix advert, who says "oh Felix" giggle, giggle, and feeds him! I was more like a screaming fat fairy and the cat soon decided that outside in the rain was a better option than having a mop up his behind!

Glad everyone seems to be doing well. Don't worry if you arent. It really doesn't matter! If the only thing you do for a month is clean your sink, then relax - you have a clean sink!! It will be a cleaner sink than last month!

Happy flying!

hello all! (and a little wave to tibni - haven't 'seen' you for aaaaages!)

it's just after breakfast here and all the kids are at school. no work this week, so i'm spending the morning in the kitchen. i've got stuff piled up everywhere - as we've just moved and i've got no cupboard space i definitely need to rationalise a bit! i'm aiming to be able to do today's mission after lunch lol, but currently can't get near the worksurfaces to clean them due to the teetering piles of everything i own... so i'm calling each surface a hot spot and trying to spend a few minutes on each to get rid/ re-org a bit.

and i neeeeeeeeed a dishwasher. for the first time in ten years i'm living without one and i could cry! how pathetic is that?! i managed without one for the first 28 years lol.

anyway, i think it's going to be really motivating logging on and seeing all the good stuff you guys have done each day - it makes me want to play catch-up!

Well said PA!!

Waves to everyone!! You are doing really, really well. Just a general note today as things very busy on office/home front with dh away.

You are doing brilliantly, but before we get bored and burn out, remember - for those of us at that stage - that we are only doing baby-steps + 15mins of decluttering or cleaning. Nothing more!!

The whole point of this is not to spend the day cleaning or thinking about doing the cleaning... The point is to clean in as focused and quick and efficient way as possible to enable us to spend the rest of the time doing what we REALLY want to do such as spending more time with the dc.

Take the kitchen for example - don't worry if 15 mins a day "won't do it"" - ie you won't declutter the entire kitchen while we are in the kitchen zone this week. IT DOESN'T MATTER!! We will be coming back to the kitchen again in a month or so and we will finish it then, and if you don't, DON'T WORRY, it will be coming around again. So you see, you can relax and expunge that awful "I am constantly behind" feeling because with this system, there will be another opportunity.

Obviously - to make this work - we have to work as hard as humanly possible during the all-important 15 mins!! But it is surprising what you can get done in that short amount of time.

If all else fails, just shine your sink and do the "before bed routine" (starting in tomorrow's baby-step). That is the most important routine of all.

Just one word to Snitch - cleaning until you snap the loo brushes is not my definition of "taking it easy"!!! Put your feet up PLLLLEAAASSSEEEE!!! [peers sternly from screen] [offers cup of camomile tea ]

OOhh, I can't resist ....I love "talking" to all you lovely lot

Would die without my dishwasher Madwoman - could you sneak one in anywhere? Well done with your kitchen surfaces.

Waves to snorkie havingaG pushmepullyou and anmar - well done!!!

Glad the puppy wasn't too traumatised tibni Jumbs - I could have written exactly what you said a month ago

"I look around at all the mess and just don't know where to start, so invaribly do nothing!" That was exactly my problem. I was particularly stressed with various things (we run our own business) and the more stressed I got, the less I could focus on prioritising. The Flylady system has really helped me calm down and get stuck in, instead of "flapping about attempting to get stuck in and not achieving very much"!! Once the baby-steps become second nature, you don't even really have to think about them, they just become second nature and the zzone cleaning I am sure will eventually help me keep on track although I am not there yet. WELL DONE with your receipts!!

Hellesbelles Ahh, a fellow Lakeland lover .... I tend to use as few cleaning products as poss but I'm no expert. Microfibre clothes seem very popular and white vinegar is my all time favourtie for everything (but am not in UK and readily available here) use it to shine sink, scrub tiles, clean bath, clean and de-clog dishwasher and washing machine, and wash windows. Also great to put a bit in last rinse of woollens to retain colour and texture. I think the more important thing is possibly where you keep your cleaning equipment and products and how accessible they are, ie best to keep bathroom cleaning stuff in or near bathroom and I live in a house with lots of stairs so I have several hoovers (else I wouldn't bother hauling them up and down)!! Others may have more ideas ....

ShoppingVeggie - How could you???? be so organised as to have even bought a Christmas present yet, never mind to trial the wrapping!!! [sob] [panic] [wail]

Oh no! I've forgotten to say

"hello" to Elliepac - hope you have had a better day today and get more sleep tonight!! No head hanging allowed (from down thread) - give yourself a bit of slack!!

Waves to Droitwichmum Minimarmite Pushmepullyou * Optimistic and MommyupNorth (top marks everyone)

Madwoman are you clear on 'reminder' front now? TBH I tend to miss those out until we get to the control journal stage (coming up in baby steps) Here's a link to the baby-steps if you want to sneak a look at what's coming up or catch up from before

baby-steps

Flaps wings at anyone I have missed!!

See you all tomorrow!

CTGH - how very dare you nearly forget me .

Much better day today, will post in detail later but have been in an hour and have:-

general tidy and floorsweep in living room and dining room.
Sink shined
Worksurfaces cleared.
load of washing on
DC's fed
Potatos peeled

We'll see how i get on with the rest of it.

Oh dear. Mega busy day here with teething and over-tired nearly 8 month old so no time to do anything house wise yet - so now I've got to:

Get supper made

Packed lunch for tomorrow

Do babystep (hot spot is whole of loft room and a particular worktop in the kitchen

Tidy up baby stuff in living room

Shine sink

Pack swimming stuff for baby and me tomorrow

I am going to be as fast as possible to get this all done NOW as baby is having a bit of shut eye (at last) and dinner should have been on the table now (6pm) or the rest of the evening becomes really protracted with DS1 - it's much better when I can defrost something from the freezer!

CTGH thanks for the reassuring pep talk. I do find I get overwhelmed easily by the mountain of crap that is my home .

So far the main thing I have liked about the fly system is that it doesn't try to get you to do everything at once.

Anyway I have done all my morning jobs plus hoovering the kitchen stairs, sweeping the floor and doing a 'proper' clean and declutter of the work surfaces. Am feeling very proud!

Ooh and the grout is (nearly) dry so I have also shined my sink. It's a thing of beauty

CTGH - thanks! I shall get hold of some of that white vinegar - sounds brilliant!