Weekly Flylady Thread 13th January 2025

Jazee

Morning all.  Hugs for Narco.  Thanks for the list.

Up early as I have an extra part day of paid stuff today.  I do need to do flying though, starting with washing the sofa throws.

Wordle in six.

Have a great day everyone.

roundtuit

Oh my days. I suddenly saw the house as L would have seen it yesterday. 😳.  Not that she'd ever say anything as she's a friend but 😳😳😳. Soooo much stuuuuuffff. Toooo much stuuuuffff. Oh my days. Breathe. Breathe. And it's better than it used to be!!!! There's floor in every room for a start. But....
two options: 1. Cry or 2. Do something about it. I'm going for option 2. After all, recognising that there's a problem is the first step to recovery.

My name is Round. I'm a hoarder and I live in a hovel. Qualifier: I don't hoard rubbish and my house does not look like those houses that you see on TV. (In case that's what you're thinking!) It's proper stuff. Not ood food and empty packaging. I have too much stuff. I will do something about it. 

I'll be 65 on 1st September. Target Date for getting rid of the rest of this chubbage and turned the hovel into a home. Shoulders back. Sleeves rolled up. Round is on a mission.

Erm...morning 👋

Thank you for sharing my Epiphany. 

I'm up, made my bed, completed Wordle in five, completed Strands with no hints, completed Connections without losing any lives,  texted Happy Birthday to G, and supped my first brew.

Second brew is required. I was planning on starting a notebook for swallowing of frogs. I guess decluttering is a frog, yeah? I think I'll start that frog at the back of the notebook because it will have a mahoosive number of steps....break it down, break it down... and normal sized frogs can go at the front of the book. There's four frogs midswallow so I'll start with them.

I apologise now for sharing the journey ahead of me. Feel free to skip all future posts. Flying will be involved. 

Right. Brew 2 and notebook. The one with a silver cover that I've been keeping for who knows what purpose! Did I mention that I keep stuff? 😉

Anyone want to join me on the journey? 

Rxx

redofromstart

Round, I feel your pain and am very much with you on the journey. 

Mr Redo didn't keep rubbish, he liked collecting things for his many hobbies and he kept anything that might be useful. The challenge I am facing is that it is not simply throw everything away (or the skip would have been full on day one) but sell, donate or re-home which is far harder to do. And in the meantime the house, garage, workshop and two sheds are full of stuff. I am trying to focus on one area at a time but I also need to fill that skip by Thursday night. 

My plan for today is to focus on outside things again which will help with skip, and then do my cleaning and any inside things once it is cold or dark or raining. 

roundtuit

Redo - thank you for joining me. Glad to have your company.

Same challenge here. It's not trash, it's stuff. In some cases very good stuff. Just too much of it. Donation is the way forward. Mostly cs, but I saw a request for unwanted gifts to help with fundraising from a local bird rescue centre...so that's an option too.

Brew 2 is being supped. Notebook for Frog Progress has been retrieved from stash. Further notebook has been retrieved to write my daily calorie counting in....doing away with random scraps of paper that I've been using since I filled last year's notebook.

BG man is coming between 1 and 5 this afti to fit a smart meter. Nothing else on my calendar until Thursday. 

To Do Today List 
Get dressed
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
Remove dry laundry from radiators 
HH Admin 
Update Frog notebook with frogs already started / steps taken 
Drop off G's birthday card 

🐸
Hang new shower curtain 

Rxx

Honey_Bear

Round and Redo - it's a marathon, not a sprint.  It seems overwhelming at first, but every single item decluttered is a step on that journey.  Well done on knowing it's something that you can deal with.  None of my hoard is rubbish, that all went a long time ago apart from the ood food in the attic which has now went to the tip yesterday (very satisfying) along with my shame at having it and wasting it.  

I'm blessed with a lot of charity shops locally that raise funds for causes I support.  The local hospice shop relatively near the tip gets a visit a couple of times a week as they only take two boxes at a time but the chap who manages it now knows I only donate useable/saleable stuff and is lovely.  And as I'm a tax payer they get the extra 25% too, so we're doing well together.  At the moment they're taking books which they sometimes don't, and that's a huge relief because the books I'm letting go mean something to me.  I was prepared to offload them ALL at the tip I'm so desperate to have some physical space in the house and mental space to think, rather than be confronted everywhere I look by stuff.

The local scrapstore is amazing as well.  It's all good stuff, I wish I could do all of the things I planned to do when I bought the makings but I haven't had the time (or possibly the inclination after all) and I love the fact that a lot of this stuff will be used and valued by other people, but again - I was prepared to take it to the tip because sometimes the scrapstore really can't take any more donations either. 

I've been listening to people on YouTube who each have their own bespoke system and we're all familiar with Marie Kondo's approach. I was surprised to read she reckons it takes six months to deal with one person's stuff, and by that I imagine she means a normal three bedroom (?) family house or maybe she means just one person on their own.  She never quantifies it.  But the six month thing never got mentioned on the telly when we were all watching people declutter, did it. 

One item at a time.  That's all it takes.  Every item decluttered is one less thing to think about later, tomorrow and the next day ad infinitum. 

Today I am dealing with clothing - tops only.  I will raid the chest of drawers and the wardrobe.  I know what's in the wash and at least one thing that's drying outside will be going.

Wordle in five, Strands with no hints, only two lines on Connections so far but I can come back to that later.

sexymouse

Morning all,

One load of washing washed and in TD. All puzzles completed, breakfast for today and tomorrow made (one consumed) and just made calls to the vets and doctors - waiting on a phone call at 11.20am. Thought I was going to get work for this afternoon, but no sooner had the messages come through, than they were withdrawn within minutes sadly. Never mind, at least it has allowed me to be productive.

DS1 has managed to lose his water bottle at school somewhere. I'm really hoping it turns up in lost property (it was quite a pricey one) and that he has the nerves to ask them (he said he'd rather ask with me there, as he gets very nervous about speaking to adults that he doesn't know well, but I told him that the receptionist at his school is very nice, and he should try on his own - he's in secondary school now, so trying to encourage a bit of independence).

On my list today is to also repair yet another tear in our flat sheet - yes I know that I should probably just replace it, and I do intend to, but they were really expensive Egyptian cotton ones, so I am trying to find somewhere that has a flat sheet that feels as soft, but doesn't mean a house remortgage to afford it. I bought the originals many moons ago with my staff discount when working in House of Fraser.

My new mattress is being delivered this Friday, so I'm very excited about the possibility of sleeping a bit better, and hopefully my hip/back problem healing up. I tried last night sleeping with a pillow either under my legs when I was on my back or between them when I was on my side, but I woke up really hot and I am someone who tosses and turns a lot, so kept on having to rearrange the pillow. Little black furry cats being on the bed didn't really help, as I got up to go to the toilet, and found that when I returned, there was nowhere to put my legs. lol

MinnieMousesMummy

Good morning all.

The kids are off to school so I guess I should get moving and get my list done. 

My list for today
Go to uni lectures
Do paid stuff
Do uni prep for tomorrow
Take the dog for a long walk
Sort out travel arrangements for the end of this month
Go into the carpet shop and choose the carpet so I can get a quote, the living room was measured last week so need to get quote. Getting the new carpet fitted next week
Bin the festive flowers as they are now dead. 
Send an email to the solicitor
Fill out the pet insurance paperwork
Declutter 50 emails from personal inbox
Check tracking for the new sofas
S&S kitchen
HH me time (going to make a motivational board to try and keep me on track as struggling for motivation)

I think that is everything I need to try to complete today. I hope everyone has a lovely Tuesday. 

eltee2

Morning All

Beautiful day here again, so am emitting sunny vibes & hugs 🤗

My name is El, I will be 63 in September.    I have minor hoarding tendancies (family trait) but have managed to slowly, very slowly, declutter etc. over the last 3 years or so - still an ongoing mission, not helped by an OH who doesn't throw anything away. 

Over the past year, we have been clearing FILs house to sell it (care home costs), so now we have some of his 70 years worth of dust-gathering stuff too😟 (just keeping it for now apparently)

I do mostly feel proud with what I've managed to achieve, but sometimes get a bit overwhelmed thinking about what needs to be done.  My biggest Foggy-McFrog-Face is the bedroom.  Not too bad on the face of it, but....ooooooh those scary hidden away things in the cupboards and the ottomon (especially the ottoman)

Re-finding the Flylady thread a few months ago has been a godsend.  Especially on the days where I have my overwhelmed head on🙂

Am with Round and Redo all the way, and as HB says, it's a marathon not a sprint. 

Phew, therapy session over, back to today's plan and leaning tower of laundry 🧺

✔️Open windows
✔️Air & remake beds
✔️✔️✔️WM x3
✔️TD if needed
✔️DW x1 & WUDUPA✔️
✔️General tidy as I go 
✔️✔️S&S bathroom and kitchen
❌️FUPA laundry

Living/dining room
✔️Clear gibble
✔️Plump and straighten cushions
❌️Vacuum setee & armchair
✔️Wipe dining/coffee tables and leave tidy
✔️Tablecloth to WM, replace with fresh one
✔️Wipe sticky coasters
✔️Dust high & low
✔️Vacuum floor

Fayolle

Morning all,
Firstly, big hugs to Narc0 x You are doing brilliantly and we all know how difficult it is. My inbox is always open if offloading to a (almost) stranger will help in any way. 

Secondly - ta-da - I managed to dodge the flingage that is Round’s weight loss, which she usually declutters in my direction…1lb struggled off for me. I did have to replace the battery in the scales afterwards so that maybe a false loss, but I am claiming it. So there 🤣.
Thirdly - fully in with Round, Redo and Eltee. Likewise, it is stuff, not rubbish. Eltee - you could have written about me on many points. We have FiL’s, my mum and my dad’s stuff accumulated, mainly in the loft. As my parents were divorced, we picked up double house clearance there. My issue is looking at the house decor through other’s eyes. Once I manage to get DH on board with decorating (and when I say decorate, I actually mean strip right back, replaster and start from scratch, the house is in such a state), I usually manage to instigate flingage and tidiness along the way. There is resistance but it is usually futile on DH’s part 😈. I learnt from DSiL that he can have a room and that he can put whatever he likes in there. I don’t look. He also has a shed and a garage though…
Today is Admin day. I am seeing how this goes as a routine. I have a list and an Admin Only notebook 😉. From my stock of notebooks, naturally.
On the flying front - bedding changed and in the wm. Bed remade. I stuck my finger through the bottom of the duvet cover, so that is on my list of things to mend. New bedding is also on my list, but I haven’t yet found any that suits.

roundtuit

roundtuit said:

To Do Today List 
Get dressed ✅
Feed the birds ✅
Put out the recycling ✅
Remove dry laundry from radiators ✅
HH Admin ✅
Update Frog notebook with frogs already started / steps taken ✅
Drop off G's birthday card ✅

🐸
Hang new shower curtain ✅

👋 to El. Thank you HB - I need to remember how far I've come. Hall, stairs and landing are 100% clear and, as I said earlier, there is floor in every room. Plus kitchen worktop is 50% cleared of extraneous gibble. From door to cooker I can s&s. From cooker to fridge I can't. There was a time when S&S kitchen worktop was 100% impossible. 

I had a brilliant idea 💡.  Do a different room each day, even if it's only 10 minutes each day, at the end of the week that's 70 minutes that wouldn't have been done. Probably more because once I'm started I don't always want to stop after 10 minutes. A different room every day - now where have I heard that before? 🤔 Oh yeah. Here 🤣

Thing is I work 4 days a week. And 10 minutes is probably enough after a day at work. But it'll be 10 minutes more than gets done now. So my cunning plan is:

Saturday- kitchen
Sunday- LR
Monday- bathroom
Tuesday- my bedroom 
Wednesday- bedroom 2
Thursday- bedroom 3
Friday - H/S/L

That fits in with my Saturdailies which is already working well for me, and means what I think of as the 'main' rooms are scheduled on my non- working days. And if all I'm up to is hoovering three stairs on a Friday - well that's all the stairs hoovered each month. 

I've decluttered one item from the targeted 'box' - a container of CD cleaning wipes. Contents binned. Container in recycling. Best before November.....cough... 2000. OK. So there is trash among the treasures. 

Tuesday. My bedroom. OK. I'm going to clear the top of my CoD. Dust it. And only put back what belongs there.

Rxx

ETA 👋 to Fayolle. We crossed xx