Weekly Flylady Thread 21st 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

 Here goes this week:

 

Monday Musings ~ Kitchen and Dining Room

Level One...

Clean floors

Level Two...

Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces

Sort fridge bringing what needs using soon to the front,clean out any spills or manky stuff in there!!!

Wipe dining table.. (clean table cloth if necessary)

Level Three...,,

Dust any extra furniture in dining area, checking for cobwebs on way round

Wipe and replace all those small appliances.. kettle, toaster etc

Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..

Extras..

 

• One load of washing

• Empty bin and make it smell nice

• Wipe window sills and clean windows in these rooms

• Clear and wipe the tops of the wall units!!

• Clean oven if you didn't do it last week

• 30 minutes ironing.

**not sure what has happened to spacing...sorry**

Tuesday Thrills ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs

Level One...

Do something from your Toots list, or at least start something if you have nothing you can do in 15 minutes

Vacuum floors and sofas

Level Two..

Dusting, even if around everything

Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe

Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets

Level Three...

Wipe light switches, sockets (make sure they are not switched on!!) and banister

Clean any other glass like mirrors, pictures etc

Tidy shoes, coats and bags .. wash any that need washing in preparation for cold weather!! See if there are any that don't fit, past their best or just plain uncomfy which could leave the house!

Sort through your handbag and fling all those ancient bus tickets and receipts.. don't forget your purse too!!!

 

Extras…

 

• One load of washing

• Paperwork clearance.. spend 15 minutes minimum sorting through those piles of paper.

• Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself

• Clean a window or two.

• 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, or better still give them to their owners to put away themselves

Wednesday Whiles ~ Master Bedroom & Landing

Level One...

Check fire alarms are working

Remove and wash bed linen.

Level Two..

Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..

Vacuum mattress before replacing with fresh linen

15 minutes floordrobe clearance

Level Three...

Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing

Sort one area of clothes or linen storage making sure only what should be in there is, anything that's had it's day or doesn't belong there is removed

clear out one 'hotspot' drawer/box

 

Extras..

 

27 fling boogie time, time for that midweek fling, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter

Put away those summer clothes from someones cupboard and get out the winter woollies.. don’t store anything that is past its best! Make a list of things you need to buy!!

Clean windows in these rooms

Check house for places where draughts are getting in.. doors, windows etc and see if there are ways to stop it!

Thursday Tinkles ~ 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 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!!

Friday Frills ~ those frightening Friday kids rooms and spare rooms

Level One...

Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see

Level Two...

Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc

Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!

Level Three...

Strip beds and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too

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

Extras…

 

Wash a set of curtains, nets, duvet or throw

Time for the Friday Flylady Fling, in the toy box!!!! aim for 27.. if no toy box you’ll have to choose another area!

30 minutes ironing

Get those uniforms and coats and things in the wash which you will need on Monday

 

ionafan

Thank you natty - I will try to be in xx

Natty68

I've got to be in somehow as we have the builders coming in tomorrow to put a new ceiling above the stairs and landing..as well as paint the stair walls.  I've had to take everything out of a standing cupboard on the middle landing, dump it in Dave's train room, and then tomorrow a quick whizz round moving laundry basket, sewing machine into the bathroom and also moving the cats with the cat tray into our bedroom for the day. And on top of that I have everything still in the living room from our holiday...I literally just dumped it all yesterday when we got home. And now due to not being able to go upstairs tomorrow it is sort of decluttering up the lounge. 

I'm also still recovering from driving back home from Wales yesterday.. 

Oh well if the builders don't like the state of the house - tough!!!!

Oh and I have no idea what's up with the spacing on the list - I've tried several ways, including using HTML, and it still won't go single space for Monday's things to do. So I give up... I'm going to bed to try and sleep...lol

Valli

I've got a busy week ahead but will attempt to fly.  Had the good sense to decutter grey hair this morning so back to full on red for me, I will not see my 60th in looking old!

Dizzy_Imp

It's flat out bonkers at Dizzyland, but even though I now have a splendid cleaning lady, I still need to fly!
Puppies arrived early, over a madly busy weekend, mahoosive row with next door neighbour, who may now be scared of me, football registration fiasco and more!  I need a holiday!

Bear with me, while I catch up on everyone's news throughout the week...

pigpen

TY for fred.. and tshirt help (nmm and iona)
I am just going to do packed lunches and away to my nest.. I shall return with some loony list in the morning.. OH is away to the gym after the school run so I shall have at least a little time to myself!

kazwookie

Morning

Thank you for the lists.

Making a list in my mind of extra things to do

Have a good day

Jazee

Morning.  Thanks for list.  Will report back with progress later but taking DH to the hospital first.

Have a great day everyone.

Fayolle

Morning all,
Thank you for the lists, I’m in after a fashion as always. DW emptied and wm on with towels in it, a mishmash of bits put together and called a pack up for my lunch. I went to bed early last night as I was falling asleep in the chair, then promptly spent the rest of the night propping up the WAC.
I hope this week is kinder to flyladies everywhere x

mooomin

Morning

Kitchen list

• Wipe appliances
• Do remaining dishes and put everything away
• Sort out recycling and put in outside bin
• Quick look through fridge to chuck/use anything near its sell-by

Other things

• Remember the name of the plug-in for my browser that restricts time on certain websites and install it!
• Photograph and list some items for sale
• Meal plan for the week
• Buy milk, bread and onions - and nothing else! - at the shop
• Confirm home insurance information with potential new provider
• At least an hour of studying

Pretty hectic for a Monday, but all very doable.  Have a lovely day, everyone  

[Deleted User]

Morning all,

I went to bed at 8.30 and slept until 6.30! I do have a raging sore throat and snotty nose, I will be amazed if I'm not called to collect DD from school as she's got a heavy cold. I don't know what the policy is now on whether I get paid at work though if one of the kids is ill - we used to get one 'special leave' day a year and that was it. I can't afford to not be paid. 

I've pegged a load out as today looks like it's the last day of good weather for a while. Beds made, cuppa drunk, now I just need to check out my order from the land of Ice then off we go. 

Sending love to all xx