My home is a mess

snookey

Hi Em thank goodness Im not the only one who hates putting washing away. Mind you Iv a mountain of dirty washing to get through thanks to the machine breaking down.OH thinks he has fixed it now, will see later.
I keep thinking that Ill get a boost of energy and do a big clean up, when though I dont know, lol.
Ill catch up with everyone later. Take care.

rosie383

Emm- well done you. It's nice to find stuff you'd forgotten you had! Even better to find a fiver in the pocket tho!!!

rosie383

I have been a bit scared by flylady thread, as I know some of my fellow messies have too.
I thought it might be an idea to have a thread of tips that we messies use that work for us, but wouldn't necessarily be 'good enough' to go in a cleaning thread IYKWIM.:D

My tip to get the ball rolling......
I have taught all the family to chuck their dirty clothes down the stairs when they take them off. This means that I don't end up with a laundry bin upstairs full of dirty laundry that I have to then lug downstairs. Also, rather than waiting til there is a full basket and hence a load or 2 of washing, each day there are wee bits to add to the washbasket beside the washing machine. I am trying to teach them to also pick up said dirty washing when they next come down the stairs and actually put it in the basket, but usually I just pick it up.

BitterAndTwisted

That sounds like a lot of work. You should get them trained to understand that if they don't bring their own dirty laundry downstairs and put it in the laundry-basket it won't get washed. I wouldn't tolerate the mess or the trip-hazard of dirty laundry strewn down the stairs.

My own? A waste-paper-basket within easy reach in every room. That way, the temptation to put rubbish down and maybe tidy it up later is removed.

Never leave a room without taking something to put away in your hand

rosie383

I don't find it a lot of work TBH. If I waited until they all brought their laundry downstairs, it would be me who would end up finding it strewn everywhere upstairs and it would never get done. No-one has tripped on anything yet, as I pick it up within usually seconds of it being chucked down. As I say, it works for me.
The waste paper bin is a good idea. Funny though, it works in my room, Because I use it. In the kids' room, it gives a target area for the rubbish to go, so to speak. Makes it easier to pick off the floor if it is mostly around the bin rather than all around the room.
Eventually I will get them all trained the way I want them, but baby steps!!

Jo84_2

Everyone in our household has their own 'jobs' to do on a daily basis. If one person cooks, another washes the dishes and another dries and puts away the dishes.

I also have a little bin in bedrooms and bathrooms.

Bath towels: to use only one at a time and they are to be hung up after each use!

The rule in my house is to basically clean up as you go along! The house is always clean that way and the mess doesn't accumilate and I don't have to spend a whole day cleaning!

JoJo

gunsandbanjos

Flylady isnt scary, unless you imagine us with shiny immaculate homes which i can assure you the majority of us dont have.

The reason we are on flylady is because we are messy! Or we live with messies.

My one tip - dont walk around empty handed there is always something needing rehomed.

rosie383

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

Flylady isnt scary, unless you imagine us with shiny immaculate homes wich i can assure you the majority of us dont have.

The reason we are on flylady is because we are messy! Or we live with messies.

My one tip - dont walk around empty handed there is always something needing rehomed.

I just keep seeing on the messies thread that lots of us feel more at home there, and we probably don't visit the flylady thread to pick up tips.
What I should have done was to name the thread ' Tips from one messie to another'!!

Taadaa

I think the flylady thread is fab but I wouldn't be able to stick to it as I am usually at work full time. Seeing others posting striking through all the jobs they have done would make me feel like a bit of a failure tbh. i know that some only strike through a couple, but some of the posters are a lot more regular than I would normally be. It's not a 'them and us' thing though, nor would I wish it to be; each to their own.

I keep my laundry bin downstairs so no lugging, and dirty washing gets put at the top of the stairs last thing at night. First thing, I scoop it up and take it to the utility room. DS has a bag I made from some scrap fabric too. Not that he ever empties it!

miasnanny

Awwwwwwwwwwwww Don't feel scared by the Flyladies they are so helpful. I fall between the 'Messies' and 'Flying'. By following Flylady level 1/2 I have really seen a big difference and hh here and hh there has really helped me stay motivated.

My top tips are:

make all those odd socks that the wm monster eats the mate of earn a place. I keep one in my pocket and when I see something dusty I whip it onto my paw wipe offending surface.

Deal with one small area at a time, and don't just move it deal with it cs, reC, bin it or find it a permanant home and keep an eye on it so it doesnt build up again.

Everytime you go to the fridge check the stuff on a shelf, in a day of going to and fro the fridge you can clear the whole fridge.

While the kettle is boiling load or unload w/m, d/w or sort a drawer, or fold washing.

These are tiddly little steps but done regularly they really help. Its amazing what a difference these little things make. Once you start its great motivation. I started off by setting my cooking timer for 15minutes and doing a particular task for 15 minutes ONLY. I did a shelf unit in our bedroom first, that encouraged me to do the b/side tables and sort out the drawers that was my 15 minutes. The next day we attacked the coffee table in the sittingroom ( dreadful dumping site) we cleared it and the shelf underneath it that was also 15 minutes and produce a bin bag of carp/reC. I am now in my 3rd week of 'flying' and the results are amazing.

Don't be intimadated, just take baby steps, don't set yourself targets that aren't realistic (over achieve on your target rather set yourself to fail) and just plod away, its a marathon not a sprint.:)

Sorry for the essay but I hope this helps x