Weekly Flylady Thread 25th October 2021

Valli

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread. - BACK TO BASICS WEEK

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.

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 Natty 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 content! (i.e. it should be on-topic)
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'
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- that’s 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 former Flylady 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 stopping, 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!
Frog (or other amphibian) ~ google 'eat that frog'
Spoons ~ google 'but you don't look sick' and/or 'The Spoon Theory'.

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

This week is back to basics week - we are just posting a simple 'maintainance' list for every room plus some self-care ideas because YOU are more important than housework

Monday - Basically clean kitchen and dining room - 15 minutes should do it

Clear kitchen surfaces as much as possible
Wipe down worktops, hob, handles
Sweep/mop the floor
Empty bins - get the rubbish out of the way.
Rehome anything that should be elsewhere

Extra - meal plan for the week - easy 'cook themselves' meals are in order - utilise the SC; plan a jacket spud day, what can you thaw from the freezer?  Integrate it with your self care aims.  THIS WILL BE THE ONLY EXTRA ALL WEEK AND I'M PUTTING IT IN HERE SO THAT YOU CAN PLAN YOUR -

Self care
Give some thought to what you would like to do at some point this week to take care of you.  Ideally something every day.  You might like to do this while having a long, bubbly bath then slipping into your pjs.
Try and have an early night
Some thoughts - hairdresser?  Manicure? Pedicure? (these might need booking)
Crafting, gardening, reading - have you got what you need to hand?
If the kids are off school - this is a life lesson for them - people are more important than clean houses - this is a lesson they too need to learn.  So plan a no devices day...board games?  a long walk in the fresh air? 

Tuesday - basically TIDY the living room

So - clear sofas and seating, plump up cushions, drape throws 
Clear side and coffee tables of anything that needs to be gone, straighten and tidy
Get rid of any rubbish
Clear out grate and lay fire (if you have one)
If you need to sweep/mop/vacuum floor WITHOUT moving any furniture
take out any rubbish - remove dead flowers - water plants

This is so that you can spend the evening in here, watching TV/reading/whatever and it is tidy enough not to distract and/or distress you and you can relax.

Me time - if you're not going out for any treatments do something indoors - face pack, manicure, read a book, listen to music.  


Wipe Wednesday - bathroom


Slug a generous slosh of bleach round the loo bowl and under the rim and leave as long as possible

Quick wipe round and straighten up

Change the towels - then everyone will think its been cleaned

and do something for yourself in the time you have saved 

this week's mantra - tidy looks clean


Throw it Thursday

Nominate a household member go round with a binbag, emptying all bins and gathering up rubbish.  Offer incentives for full/heavy bags.  Eg buns

Ensure all all beds are made by their occupants.

clear chairdrobe in your room

vacuum floor

Finally FRIDAY pick 1 - any 1 - ONLY 1 

Cursory S&S of bathroom - make sure there's loo roll, soap, wipe loo seat.  THAT'S IT

Empty handbag, shake it outside to remove dust/fluff/crumbs - put stuff back in tidily

Sraighten kitchen - wipe worktop

Make your bed 

Plump cushions in lounge.

And pick at least one of these...

Read a book

Knit

Crochet

Sew

Nap

Watch TV

Listen to some music (whilst not doing anything else at the same time)

Go for a walk

Have a long, lazy bath

Slap on a facepack

pigpen

TY for Fred.. half term so we might not get much done.. dryer being repaired tomorrow though finally

We are going to the inlaws on Tuesday,

ionafan

Thank you Valli for the new thread.  I hope I might be able to keep up this week! 

I definitely want to do gardening and visit my littlest godchildren, but the last of the church bank admin is *still* staring me in the face and must take precedence, or I shall go completely bonkers.  Today I got the final countersignature on the paperwork, so it should not take long to write a covering letter and make sure that I have made copies of everything before I take it all to the PO.

I should have done some work in the garden this afternoon, but (a) it was cold and showery, and (b) a book that I had ordered arrived just after lunch.  DH was on his way out to play more war games, and I sat down with my cup of coffee and started reading.  It isn't a thick book - just 79 pages of fairly light reading - so I read it all.  I haven't got through a whole book in one sitting for a very long time!

Hope everyone has a good week, especially those of you trying to occupy children on half term, and that all poorlies begin to feel better very soon xx

BigSpenderLittleSpender

15 minutes, I wish 😆

pigpen

BigSpenderLittleSpender said:

15 minutes, I wish 😆

you set a timer and you do 15 minutes.. and if you feel up to it you reset the timer after a break and do another 15 minutes.. burn out not allowed, this week is about self love and self care!!

Valli

BigSpenderLittleSpender said:

15 minutes, I wish 😆

Then just do one job...and, FYI a tidy house fools people into thinking it's clean.  

roundtuit

Oops, I thought it was my turn for WAC sentry duty, but Valli has already plumped the cushions and refilled the biscuit barrel. 🙂

Is it me or is it hot?

Sweet dreams 
Rxx

BadCat18

Morning all

Been absent for a while again but have been following, feeling like a failed flylady at the moment… but we have a new week and even with paid stuff I should be able to manage the lists. Thank you for them!

A few of you mentioning mission slinky, I’m also on that train, rejoined SW 6 weeks ago and am 18lb down so far… some way to go but already starting to feel better, just need to keep at it and that’s going to be part of my self care plan.

Today is a day off, I’m taking DH to the station so I can snaffle the car and then I have a list of errands to run. Going to get them all out of the way so I can have some me time this afternoon with my book.

Hugs for all, GWS wishes for the poorlies. Back later on x

[Deleted User]

Morning lovely people

Thank you for the lists - it’s half term here but lots of self care will be involved. Today I am taking the kids on a loooong walk and we will take snacks. I need to deliver some eggs on the way, and the dog will love it.

DS was up very early again, so I have set the DW going and wiped the sides down. Bin day tomorrow so aiming for a big bag full of rubbish to evict the premises. 

BadCat - lovely to see you and well done on your slinky-ness. Don’t be a stranger xx

Have fab days all xxx

Jazee

 Morning all.  Thanks for the list.
Jacket spuds are on our menu tonight with leftover chicken from yesterday's roast.
I am volunteering part of this morning and will see what flying I can fit in before having a lovely soak in the bath later.
Have a great day everyone.

Fayolle

roundtuit said:

Is it me or is it hot?

You and me both! Thought it was just me…

Morning all,
Thank you for the thread. I might even keep up this week.
Today is a day off, as I have to take DH for an eye appointment in small town. I’m hoping to run a couple of errands whilst waiting for him to reappear. DH is in his “new” office. Let’s see how this works out.
Towels are in the wm, kitchen will now get a wipe down as per the list.
DSis and BiL dropped by yesterday afternoon - first time that I had seen them since January, and then it was in a service station carpark to exchange Christmas presents across car boots.
BadCat - lovely to see you back, and well done on the slinky. No F word allowed here, though 😉,  a new week is a new week.
Jazee - thank you for the inspiration. Jacket potato (and slinky salad for me) and leftover roast is now our meal for this evening.
Have a lovely day all. I hope poorlies feel better this morning x