Weekly Flylady Thread 7th September 2020

Natty68

What is FLYLADY? Well, it's our version of the US flylady idea - but we work on the principle that housework is not fun, it's boring, can be time-consuming, is often thankless but, unfortunately, necessary. It's here on Old Style to provide the support we all need and to make the whole task easier and quicker. We also accept that, sometimes, life just gets on top of us and we can't keep up, maybe because we're time-poor, not in the best of health and/or we have littlies who need us. We are definitely NOT control freaks aiming for perfection and utterly spotless show-homes.

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread. You're more than welcome to join us in the everlasting battle against dust, grime and gibble. The aim of our thread is to make those onerous tasks less daunting, and to support each other - and to make time for the finer things in life!

Please do remember we have to abide by MSE rules; each post should, ideally, include some mention of flying.

Thank you Valli for last week's thread

Please follow the forum rules on this thread as Flylady has been here a LONG time and is a fabulous support and resource for lots of us. All posts should have some Flylady-related (ooh a compound adjective) content!

The idea is that even if you are really busy you don't need to fall off the wagon!

Every room comes back around next week so please don't stress about catching up

These lists are only suggestions and not a must do list; you are more than welcome to post and follow your own lists.

Also adding a declutter mission each day will help to gradually clear the clutter and make flying easier.

A few of the basics before we start the week

Hotspots are areas where 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.

Fling Boogie - stick on some loud music, grab a bin bag and whiz 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!
WM ~ Washing machine
TD ~ Tumble dryer
SC ~ Slowcooker
BM ~ Breadmaker
DW ~ Dishwasher
SOAADFA ~ Sit on 'bottom' and do 'nothing'
WUDUPA ~ washed up, dried up, put away
WUALTD ~ washed up and left to dry
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 ~ 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! All credit to AnW's Mum for this one
RoD ~ Room of Doom, the one room that feels like it is a permanent pit and cannot be used to its potential!
MAD half hour - Mad is the abbreviation for Make A Difference.
The idea is that you have a Forth bridge (ie never-ending - or just huge) task but that you work on it in half-hour bursts. This way you know you ARE stooping, and that you won't get it finished but you will make a difference - so it might be clearing out - the garage or shed, or clothes sorting, or weeding - you get the picture - but rather than keep going until you've lost the will to live you do half an hour...but, eventually those half hours will get the job done!

Mr S/A/T/M/L/Al - supermarkets Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi. You get the picture!!

Click here to read Toots wonderful welcome guide


Monday Mayhem ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One..
Vacuum through the living room, hall and stairs
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean windows and all glass.. including the tv screen
Clear the mantel and only put back the items which are supposed to be there.. and that doesn't include letters, keys or other treasure!
Level Three...
Wipe and water plants
Put all your hotspots in one pile and work your way through it..
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself.

Extra Mission: Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• Have a bit of a tidy in the cupboard under the stairs.

• Wipe down any paintwork that needs it.

• Binbag dance.. Get a binbag.. fill it and bin it!!!

• Wash any cushions, throws or curtains that need it.. Do you need your winter curtains up yet?

Tuesday Bluesdays~ Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Level Two...
Sweep and mop floors
Sort & clean the fridge
Wipe dining table..put a nice vase of flowers on it to make it look pretty!!!
Level Three...
Dust any extra furniture in dining area, checking for cobwebs on way round.
Wipe all your small appliances..toaster, kettle etc..
Wipe & declutter all the windows sills in these areas!!
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Wipe door handles..
Check those washing machine filters and drawers for ickiness!! Tumble dryer, cooker hood and dishwasher filters need to be done too!!
Extra Mission : help yourself

• Wipe down the hob and oven, go on you know you want to!!!!

• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!

• 32 fling boogie..

• GO! buy yourself a treat.. you deserve it!

• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Wednesday warts ~ Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...
Clean floors in these rooms
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks.. shine the taps with a toothbrush
Clear any clutter from desk
Polish the monitor drag out the pc case and dust the top and back!
Wipe keyboard, house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three...
Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains etc
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Empty and clean out all the upstairs bins!
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Pull out the pc desk and clean BEHIND AND UNDER it!!!!!!

Extra mission: Take your pick!

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms

• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes

• Replace any sponges, flannels, toiletries that need it

• Clean the outside of all cupboards in the bathroom

Thursday Throwout!!- Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One...
Check fire alarms are working..
Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers.
Fling open the window and let in the rain/sunnyness
Level Two...
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..
Vacuum & turn mattress before replacing with fresh linen..
Air the duvet
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort through a cupboard and fling everything that is dead
Clear a hotspot.. or spend 15 minutes clearing one.
Extra tasks list, as usual choose one or more

• 32 fling boogie time, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter

• Clean all paintwork on the landing

• Clean windows in these rooms

• Clear out your spare linen.. all those holey sheets, manky duvet covers and stained pillow cases.. FLING!!

Friday Frenzy ~ those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Make an appointment for some ME-time.. hairdressers? manicure? night out with friends? .. whatever just do it!
Level Two..
Vacuum the floor
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Level Three....
Clean 2 windows
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers and get the clothes out which are no longer wearable, too small or out of season!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Extra Task List

• Find 5 things to ebay/freecycle

• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!

• Binbag dance!!! grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!

ionafan

Thank you Natty.  I will be in as much as I can - this week is already looking busy with the decorator coming, lots of admin work to be done, and the garden crying out for attention if the weather holds.

Hope the WAC is deserted tonight xx

Narc0lepsy

thanks for lists.    Only just logged in so today has brought:
- 1st time back at real church, although in our winter quarters of the village school. Strange with no singing, chairs dotted around in 1s or 2s and wearing masks - although as I was doing one of the readings I was allowed to take mine off for a while. There were about 15 of us, including my friend (of the declining memory and the dog); good to see her although seems she spent 1 night in hospital having taken a day's medication all at once. Her daughter is ringing me tomorrow.          I tentatively asked vicar if/when I might be able to use his drums again and he said he will sort it out soon, yippee.
- such a lovely day and Mr N went to Duxford plane-spotting with his friend so I decided to try for a long run, the one I got the wrong route on last time. Success! Got home very tired but pleased 11.36km later, especially as the route was only ploughed in one place for a short distance.
- 1 load washing done
- checked/watered/harvested tomatoes and cucumber
- rang my Mum as it's her birthday: 89 can't believe it.
- rang friend I hope to visit in a couple of weeks, her aunt died yesterday and she is executor; the uncle (ditto executor) died in April.
- did a bit of online course

Tomorrow will be mainly:
- getting rooms ready for my brother who is doing his Tues to Thurs 'lodge'
- setting up the tablet I got for Mum's birthday
- 2 online courses on the go
- start planning 1st lesson for Thursday's workplace student
-visit MIL in the afternoon
- walking friend's dog in the evening
- hopefully time to pick a few more things from my admin list.

Valli

I need to be in...but it's a busy work week so we'll see.  Thanks natty

pigpen

Hi, I have heaps to do this week.. and school runs on Wednesday... 3 hours NO CHILDREN.... I may burst.

ty for Fred.

This is what is left of daily lists!! .. WIERDLY NOT VERY MUCH!! I MUST BE ILL!

Monday Mayhem ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One..
Vacuum through the living room
Level Two...
Clear the mantel
Level Three...

Extra Mission: Pick one or more of the following tasks –

Tuesday Bluesdays~ Kitchen and Dining Room

Level One...
Level Two...
Sort & clean the fridge
Level Three...
Wipe all the windows sills in these areas!!

Wednesday warts ~ Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks..
Level Three...
Wipe down tiles in bathroom..
Extra mission: Take your pick!

• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes

Thursday Throwout!!- Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One...
Level Two...
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort through a cupboard and fling everything that is dead
Extra tasks list, as usual choose one or more

Friday Frenzy ~ those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Level Two..
Vacuum the floor
Level Three....
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers
Extra Task List

BadCat18

Hi all

Back in the WAC... thanks for the thread I will be in!

I may have mentioned that I have a week off work, yippee!  Plan for today is to do the list, DH will do some garden jobs, then this afternoon we will get out for a walk and relax for a while... that sounds like a good day to me!

Hope you are all asleep, back later x

kazwookie

Morning

Thank you for the lists xx

2 eby sales to post

To do

WM

Weeding

Hoovering

Rub down ready to paint kitchen doorway frame

Jazee

Morning all.  Thanks for the thread.  Up early with a poorly Littleydog so having cleaned up I'm going back to bed for a little while.

Have a great day everyone.

Mademoiselle

Morning all

Thank you for the thread which reminds me I have to look after my house.

Took a trailer full of rubbish to the tip on Saturday morning, dozens more trips needed but we've started.  Then took DD1 to get a new office chair as hers has broken/worn out/died of old age.  Then went to the boat and had nice dinner out with DD1 and Sunday was lovely so had a day sail, plenty of fresh sea air which will hopefully clear up our colds.

I am working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so need to sort out lessons, lunches etc.  Also need to look at admin, I'm still managing to ignore it.  Shopping also needs to be on the list for today. 

Sneeking off to get showered then put some washing on.

Have a good day, see you all later

[Deleted User]

Morning all,

Thank you for the thread. Very quick one from me as back to work this morning. Dog walked, pack ups made, showered, dressed and tidied round a bit. Bag packed for work, feel like Im taking half my kitchen with me! Nervous tummy! 

Will report back later happy Monday all xx

YORKSHIRELASS

Good luck at work asb and others returning this week.  Tired this morning, strange dreams last night, anyway up exercise class done, off for a shower next.  Tough week at work this week but 4 weeks to get through then a week off.  WFH today.

Have a good Monday everyone.