Weekly Flylady Thread 14th January 2008

Welcome to the weekly Flylady thread. If you need help organising your week when it comes to housework, or just the motivation to do the dreaded housework tasks you have to do, come and join us, hopefully make it a little easier. You never know, you might start to enjoy it!

Following requests to start things steadier for new members who did not realise the tasks list wasn’t a must do, just an encouragement. There will now be level 1, 2 and 3. Level 1 being very basic it has been requested that this is just one task per day, level 2 in the middle, up to 3 which is more advanced and time consuming. If you want to do level 2 you add the tasks on level 1 with the level 2 tasks, if you want to do level 3 you add the tasks on, easy peasy. Choose a level to aim for but be realistic, if you’ve got a busy day on or are just starting etc aim for level one, if you get higher then great, if not then not to worry its only suggestions. Every room comes back around next week. Trust me some days I'll only be doing level one myself.

THESE LISTS ARE ONLY SUGGESTIONS AND NOT A MUST DO LIST, ALWAYS WELCOME TO POST AND FOLLOW YOUR OWN.

Also adding a declutter mission each day. Another one where it’s up to you if you want to do it or if you need to. This follows requests from members who are looking to declutter. Fling boogies, hotspot clearing, cupboard sorts, drawer sorts etc will all be on this list. Any problems with this of any suggestions do please let me know.

A few of the basics before we start the week

Hotspots are any areas which if one thing gets put there, loads of other things follow!

Daily routines are anything you need to do on a daily basis like washing, swish and swipe kitchen and bathroom, ironing, making beds, vacuuming high traffic areas, making meals etc

Night-time routines are all things which make getting ready in the morning easier, preparing clothes for the next day, making lunches, swish & swipes of the kitchen and tidying the living room before you go to bed plus personals like shower/brush teeth etc.

27 Fling Boogie - stick on some loud music, grab a binbag and whizz around the house finding 27 items that can go out with the rubbish, recycling, for charity shop, basically anything that will stop it cluttering your home.

Swish and swipe means have a quick wipe over an area such as a sink or toilet to prevent the build up of dirt. This is usually done on a daily basis

Ok here goes this week!

Manic Monday- Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One
Clear and wipe those surfaces, even if around things!
Wipe dining table (clean table cloth if necessary)
Level Two
Clean floors
Sort fridge bringing what needs using soon to the front, wipe any spills
Dust any other dining room furniture, check for cobwebs on the way round
Level Three
Wipe & replace small appliances such as kettle, toaster etc (wipe under too, especially the toaster!)
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances, don't forget those kick boards
Check those washing machine, tumble dryer, cooker hood and dishwasher filters
Extra Mission
Choose one or more of:

• Wipe window sills and clean windows in these rooms
• Wipe down any tiled areas
• Clean the inside of cupboard doors
• Clean microwave inside and out
• Clean one cupboard out, what is that in there? anything out of date? Sort through it and clean it before putting everything back

Tuesday Living Room, Hall and Stairs

Level 1
Vacuum floors and sofas
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Level 2
Dusting, even if around everything
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
Level 3
Wipe light switches and banister
Clean any other glass like mirrors etc
Tidy shoes, coats and bags
Vacuum under furniture (only if you won't hurt yourself doing it, no injuries, no pregnant people moving sofas please!!)
Extra Mission:
Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• Clear one hotspot, or just spend at least 5 minutes tackling it
• Phone a friend or loved one, catch up on the gossip or just to tell them you care x
• Clear one shelf, dust and replace items after giving them a wipe
• Clean a window, only need to do one but if you manage more then well done
• Using the idea Shirley suggested (where is she anyway?), get yourself a bag or box, go around collecting things that are not in the place they should be, then put them back where they should be. You could delegate and give everyone their own misplaced things to deal with

Wednesday - Master Bedrooms and Landings
Level One
Strip bed linen and wash, replace with clean linen
Check fire alarms are working
Level Two
Remove floordrobe from the floor!
Vacuum floors in these areas
Level Three
Vacuum mattress
Clean tops of drawers and wardrobes
Extra mission tasks, as always if you fancy an extra challenge try one or more of these

* Clean windows in the bedroom, make sure you wipe the sill too
* Check through a drawer, throw out what should have gone ages ago and organise that drawer
* Sort through anything that is 'stashed' under the bed, might aswell give it a vacuum under there while it's empty
* Clean out that vacuum cleaner, make sure it's not clogged up with hair/fluff. Clean the filers if they are washable (after you have vacuumed and allow to dry completely before replacing!!!)
* Clean doors including handles downstairs

Thursday Bathroom and Study/Pc Area

Level One
Clean floors in these rooms (even if it is around the clutter)
Level Two
Clean baths, toilets and sinks
Clear any clutter from desk
Dust PC and desk, wipe with damp cloth if grimey
Wipe keyboard, house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three
Clear clutter from floor
Wipe down tiles in bathroom
Tidy up the desk top on your PC
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required

Extra mission:
Pick whichever you want to attempt:

* Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
* Clean downstairs loo if you have one, or ensuite for the lucky ones!
* Clean the outside of the toilet
* clean the radiators in these rooms
* Do a disc clean up on PC

Finally Friday - those terrible kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One
Vacuum Floor (even if it's just where you can see)
Level Two
(kids rooms) Strip beds, vacuum mattress and replace with fresh linen
(spare rooms) Check if linen or curtains need a wash
Level Three
Dusting and cobweb checking inc the high reach places if safe to do so
Put anything back in it's place that isn't where it should be - if this task is huge just spend 10 minutes on it
Extra Mission Task Choices

• Time for the Friday Flylady Fling, aim for 27, if you can't find that many, well done, you are obviously making a difference
• Sort through some toys/books/clothes even if it's just for 10 miutes, making sure any broken ones are dealt with/flung, dirty ones get wiped/washed before putting them back and anything that should be parted with is gone!
  
• Clean kids rooms windows and the sills!
  
• Wipe any sticky marks off doors and walls in the kids rooms, may aswell wipe the lightswitches and handles over too
• Spend 10 minutes making any important calls or doing paperwork filing
  

Apart from the dailies and night time routines that's the lot for the week, of course if you still want to join us over the weekend you are more than welcome. I will be back tomorrow with the weekend list for those crazy enough (or desperate enough) to want to do extra

FRIDAY EXTRA - Don't forget your ME time this weekend, even if it's just a nice relaxing bath or catching up with an old friend, go on you deserve it!!

Weekend Lovely List - for those mad enough to want to do more! You can pick one of these if you like.

1. Level 3 any one room you didn't manage to level 3 during the week
2. Dust the door frames, yep the top, are yours as icky as mine? (as long as it's safe to do so, no bumps on ladders please!!!)
   
3. Thorough clean on the pans or oven trays, try and get those marks/icky bits off you have been ignoring/hoping will go away themselves
4. Check through freezers and fridge, see if you can plan some meals for the week using what you have in
   
5. HHE - maybe some want to try Pigpen's Half Hour Exercise this weekend, thought I would include it here just incase
   
6. Spend 15 minutes tackling one cupboard/storage area/dumping ground you've been avoiding
   
7. Move one piece of furniture or appliance that hasn't been moved for months and clean behind it (another one not for pregnant ladies or anyone who would hurt themselves doing so, maybe delegate that one instead)
   
8. Do one DIY job this weekend you wanted to get done! Fixing something? Decorating? Making something?
   
9. Clean a window or 2 that you didn't do during the week
10. HHI - for those brave enough, do Half Hour Ironing (I'd rather stick pens in my eyes but some enjoy it:rolleyes:)