Weekly Flylady Thread 24th October 2011

pigpen

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!

There are levels 1, 2 and 3. Level 1 being very basic it has been requested that this is just vital tasks for basic cleanliness, level 2 usually has some decluttering and clearing, level 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. Then for our super high flyers there are the extras.. a mixture of decluttering, cleaning and general improvement of your home. Don't feel you have to do any of it, just do what you can, anything you do which you didn't before is a step forward and to be rejoiced!

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. Binbag dances, hotspot clearing, cupboard sorts, drawer sorts etc will all be on this list. Any problems with this or any suggestions do please just ask.

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/todailies are anything you need to do today and every day stuff like laundry, 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.

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

Swish and swipe/S&S 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

HHE/HHC/HHI Half Hour exercise/challenge/ironing ... run around for 30 minutes to the Benny Hill music frantically cleaning, exercising or ironing.. other music may be used if you prefer!

5GC five minutes gardening.. make it lovely for your family and enjoy it!

Other abbreviations you may find useful

WM ~ Washing machine
TD ~ Tumble dryer
SC ~ Slowcooker
BM ~ Breadmaker
DW ~ Dishwasher
SOAADFA ~ Sit on 'bottom' and do 'nothing'
KH/XH/FW ~ Ex-husband and other not so polite versions
DH/DD/DS/DW/DP ~ Dear husband/daughter/son/wife/partner/whatever
OH/SO ~ Other half/significant other
NN ~ nice neighbour
Toxic (friend/mother/sister/whoever) ~ person in your life that seems to exist to make your life miserable
AF ~ Aunt Flo 'time of the month'.. nothing to do with flying but it comes up often.
ETA ~ Edited to add
gibble ~ miscellaneous crap that appears forever homeless
Dot-to-dot ~ this is a AnW'sMum's way of tidying - pick a small area (not a whole room) like a chair/coffee/table/shelf/worktop or wherever- thats your first 'dot' - totally clear it - clean it - and only put back what should be there - deal with what you have removed (not just move it somewhere else) then if you have time move on and do the same to another 'dot' -the idea is just like a dot to dot puzzle, you aim to join up all the dots and have a tidy room. The trick is to keep each dot tidy until you get them all joined up!
RoD ~ Room of Doom, the one room that feels like it is a permanent pit and cannot be used to its potential!

here goes another week

Monday ~ Living room, Hall and Stairs
Level One
Declutter the floors
Vacuum said decluttered floors!
Level Two
declutter and dust the mantle putting back only what should be there
Wipe the sofas if needed
Wipe and water plants, dust and deweb
Level Three
Wash any soft furnishings that are in need
Clear and wipe window sills, and any electricals and picture frames etc
Empty and clear out a cupboard or drawer..
Extras

1. HHI
2. Check all the winter coats are clean and ready to wear.. and put away all the summer ones! Polish your wellies!!
3. binbag dance
4. Wash any windows that have been neglected

Tuesday ~ master bedroom and landing
Level One
Declutter floors
Strip bedding, wash sheets and remake the bed.. BEFORE BEDTIME!!
Level Two
Vacuum floors
Tidy away floordrobe/chairdrobe and top of chest of drawersdrobe!
Sort through one cupboard of clothing
Level Three
Sort out the airing cupboard or linen cupboard.. wha t can go? What do you need to keep?
wash any curtains/nets that need it
Sort through one box of junk!
Extras

1. Do a small job you have been putting off forever
2. check all the smoke alarms are working as they should!
3. Sort out the junk from your favourite/most used handbag!.. Get rid of those receipts from 1982 from your purse! lol
4. Fill a binbag for charity shop (or the bin if you prefer!)

Wednesday ~ Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One
Declutter and mop/vacuum the floors
Find and wipe the worksurfaces
Level Two
Wipe the big appliances and units.. don't forget kickboards!
Wipe small appliances and replace.. do one thoroughly.. descale or decrumb or degunge!
Clear a sticky dishevelled cupboard
Level Three
Wipe the table and replace the cloth if necessary.
HHI
Clean the oven and hob..

Extras

1. Clean out the fridge.. make use of anything almost past its best
2. Wash the windows
3. Binbag dance
4. clean door deals, filters and deterrgent drawers!

Thursday ~ Childrens pits, spare or neglected rooms!
Level One
Strip, wash and replace bedding
Declutter and vacuum the floor
Level Two
Sort through a cupboard.. any cupboard, could even be a kitchen one!
Drag out and sort all the gibble from under the bed!
Straighten the toy boxes and shelves
Level Three
Wash any soft furnishings that need it.. or the duvet!
Dust and deweb
Wipe sticky grotmarks from the walls, doors and paintwork

Extras

1. Binbag dance
2. 15 minutes filing
3. List 1 item to sell
4. sort the shoes, coats and bags!

Friday ~ Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One
Clean floors in these rooms (even if it is around the clutter)
Dont forget your half hour of YOU-time!
Level Two
Clean baths, toilets and sinks
Clear any clutter from desk
Dust PC and desk and wipe off those cup rings!!
Wipe keyboard, house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three
Clear clutter from floor
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment the pc while doing this (programs.. accessories..system tools.. defragment!.. if you do the disc cleanup as well it clear all the cookies and temporary files too.
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Clean the brushes/dust box/filters on the vacuum cleaner!!!! .. make sure they are completely dry before using it though.. I don’t want anyone electrocuted!!
Extras

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains etc
• Sort a wardrobe or part of, a drawer or set of drawers making sure it has what needs to be in it and any 'extras' are put where they should be
• Give the pc desk a right good clean! Pull out the case, defluff and degrot it all!!

pigpen

I hope you will find the following helpful but please dont be afraid to ask anything -no matter how silly it might seem.We all have the t-shirt!
If you want to get your house ship-shape then you have definitely come to the right place!
Dont worry if you dont have time to post or read all the thread.

Hope we see more of you!

WELCOME TO THE WEEKLY FLYLADY(& GENTS) THREAD

1. A new thread starts on a Sunday evening via a link from the current thread so keep a watch out and dive in! (Click on the big writing)
2. Make sure you read the first post carefully as it contains all the info and abbreviations that we use!
3. A new list is added to the 1st post every evening by pigpen-the order changes every week
4. Dont get stressed with the mess just try to do the list to whatever level you can manage depending on your home circumstances - work, children, OH's!
5. Even if you only manage level 1 everyday when you come back to that room next week you will find it is easier and as time goes on it becomes more manageable and you will see huge differences. I know it sounds impossible but I can vouch for the fact it works!
6. Remember your home didnt get in a mess overnight so dont expect it to get tidy in a day!! Dont try to do the whole house at once - you will tire yourself out and sicken yourself -we have all tried it! BABYSTEPS -little and often and you will be amazed at the improvement.
7. Post what you have done and forget about what you missed. There is no such thing as failure here!
8. If you want to post a list and strike out what you have done -choose the 'go advanced' (its down at the bottom of the messages) and then highlight the line you want to strike out -press the S with the line through it (its near the end of the list of symbols above your page) and it will say'strike' at each end -when you post your message it will show with a line through it!
9. If you want to answer a particular post then press 'quote' and you will then be able to type a reply. To help keep the thread tidy & short if there is only a small bit of the post that you want to reply to then just delete the bits you dont want but be sure to leave the 'quote' at each end.
10. Dont worry if you cant keep up with the thread it moves very fast -just pop in and post so everybody know hows you are doing!
11. To defrag your pc (it appears on the list!) go to Start>>All progs>> Accessories >>System tools >>Disk defragmenter. You should do both C &D discs but 'C' is the important one - the more often you do it the less time it will take.
12. All posts should include some mention of the flying you have been doing - except at the weekend when we can chat more!
13. Frog list - this is a short term list of annoying or horrid jobs that you have been putting off doing for too long - stop procrastinating! watch this for a better explanation!
    http://www.eatthatfrogmovie.com/
    
14. originally posted by Mudbath .."A 60 in 60 is putting away or chucking or charity bagging 60 things in 60 minutes ... a genius idea:rotfl:xx"
15. Toots'list this is a master list of absolutely everything you want to get done in the house and garden and your life in general - I went through each room and noted everything - this is a long term list - some things could take you up to a year!

The support, encouragement and friendship on here is simply THE BEST! ask any questions and we will give you our tuppence worth - sometimes sensible sometimes totally insane!

We dont bite -well most of us dont -have fun!!
WELCOME to the totally bonkers mad house!!
toots:D

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

We went to the pub.

One giant roast beef and one giant roast pork meal later, they bring out the free profiteroles. :j Was just finishing a drink and looked away.

Then a bloke leaned over and whispered 'keep your eyes on that one, she's just nicked one of yours'.

And the cheeky mare had!!!!!!

pigpen

ANNOUNCEMENT..

I need to hand over the thread to a willing party.. I am busy and cant do everything.. though I do try! Housework hasnt been done in here for 2 years so I feel a complete hypocrite running the thread when I live in a pit!

Anyway... would anyone like to take over? If it would help there is a username which has only been used to do the thread so a few people could jobshare?

I can do next week but that will be the last one I am doing.. if noone takes over I am afraid the thread will cease to be which would be sad as I has been going a very long time now.

Thanks all for playing along over the last 3 years I have really enjoyed doing the weekly lists but there just arent enough hours in the day now.

Love you all lots..

Pigpen

michbright

pigpen wrote: »

ANNOUNCEMENT..

I need to hand over the thread to a willing party.. I am busy and cant do everything.. though I do try! Housework hasnt been done in here for 2 years so I feel a complete hypocrite running the thread when I live in a pit!

Anyway... would anyone like to take over? If it would help there is a username which has only been used to do the thread so a few people could jobshare?

I can do next week but that will be the last one I am doing.. if noone takes over I am afraid the thread will cease to be which would be sad as I has been going a very long time now.

Thanks all for playing along over the last 3 years I have really enjoyed doing the weekly lists but there just arent enough hours in the day now.

Love you all lots..

Pigpen

I would be willing to help on a 'jobshare' basis. Although I don't participate much, I try to read the thread on a daily basis. With 3 children, it would be difficult to run on my own but I'd certainly share the task if someone else were willing.

I also have to say that I think you've done a FAB job with this each week!

decogecko

I appreciate that I have only been part of the thread for a few months, but I too wouldn't mind doing it on a jobshare basis.

Maybe if it was started like the daily thread - but still on a Sunday. The 1st person after 7pm starts the thread? Just my tuppence worth and an idea.

Thanks for taking charge for last few years Pigpen x

msgnomey

Piggers! Well done and thank you :T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

I can't commit to running the thread as I'm such an irregular poster but I'd hate to see it go :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

adamantine

i would love to help out but i forsee a busy few months for me so dont want to commit if im not sure i can fulfill it

i baked gluten free yorkies tonight!!! i was so so pleased! ive tried toad in the hole a few times and its never worked so i decided to google a few recipes and used a different one tonight and i actually stood infront of the oven and i was dancing when they started rising! DS2 has never had yorkies ever in his whole 2.5 years of life and he scoffed 3! there was an argument when i asked "does mummy make good yorkies then?" DS2 replied "my yorkies" and then DS1 piped up "no they are my yorkies". my dad then threw in his tuppence worth and told everyone they were his yorkies before giving the boys his ones *rollseyes*

tomorrow was meant to be pizza (DS2 can now tolerate some dairy so i got him GF pizza bases to make our own with a little amount of cheese) but i have yorkie batter left so im going to do a gammon to use them up.

PP you are well organised having a full weeks flying posted already! glad tomorrow is living room coz i need to tidy in here.

pigpen

Id hate to see it go too.. I will be staying and plodding along at my inept pace but my hips are so bad at the moment I can barely do anything.. I still cant get in the shower on my own.. and def. cant get out!.. stuff like vacuuming or picking stuff off the floor is impossible.... not that anyone else does it either!

Dustykitten

Evening all

Ironing all done and 3 of the 4 beds changed.

Really busy day tomorrow, especially for DS1 - braces off, bloods to take, retainers to collect. Poor thing feels dire too. Flying plan will be some washing and sorting out the box of DS3 clothes.

I'll consider taking the thread on if you want an 'oldie' to do it.

Off to find a sheet for the bed (and the bed actually under a pile of clothes for trying on).

Oh and all of my ebay items have sold and most have paid so a lot of packing and posting tomorrow - so glad the corner shop post office has reopenned:T

Pernicious

Pigpen, sorry to hear your hips are giving you jip! I've not been a follower of this thread for long but it has really, really helped me to start turning this house around before it got into too much of a state, so thank you so much for everything you have done.

I would volunteer to start the thread but I don't always have the time to catch up with everyone so I wouldn't want to commit to something I'm not sure I'd be able to put the right amount of time into. I would hate to see the thread die though as although I think I'd be able to think up my own personal lists now, I'd hate for this to disappear for all the newbies that need help like I did. Plus I still find your lists come up with things I'd never even thought to do once in a while!

Hope someone with more time than me at the moment can step in.