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Weekly Flylady Thread 26th May 2025

Natty68
Natty68 Posts: 3,455 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
edited 27 May at 10:55PM in Old style MoneySaving

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread.

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 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 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


Ok here goes this week!

Bank Holiday Monday Pic'n'mix
A simple list to start the week...

S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom
5 - 15 minute room straightening (if more than one room needs your Flylady touch just do 5 minutes in each.

Whatever the room...Stand at the door and look critically at the room -Spend no more than 15 minutes in there and do any of the following that is appropriate or relevant
Open the window for fresh air
Neatly draw back curtains/blinds
Plump cushions and replace
Fold any throws and hang neatly
Empty bins
Vacuum centre of floor
Tidy any piles on coffee/lamp/occasional tables
Put newspapers/magazines away/in recycling
Re-home gibble
Make beds
Pile any coasters neatly

And a new month looms...sometime this week...

Add any cards you need to shopping lists
Check over the Toots list - anything need adding/deleting make sure you know who has appointments for what and when - synchronise calendars and diaries. When is school sports day? When does exams finish, for those that have teenagers taking them.

MAD half hour - Make a Difference
Decide on a project and break it down into half hour chunks...NO LONGER than that. You are to find a timer and do the task for half an hour then stop...
The whole project could be clearing out kitchen cupboards and drawers, for example - or clearing out the linen cupboard, or gardening. But those MAD half hours will make a difference - in manageable chunks and, fingers crossed, you won't lose your enthusiasm for the whole task. My MADS will be half-an-hour in the garden if fine or emptying, wiping out and sorting 

Twinkling Tuesday ~ Living room, hall and stairs!
Level One
Declutter and vacuum!
Spend half an hour doing something for yourself! .. make yourself a hair appointment or something!
Level Two
Wipe sofas
Wash windows
Dust and deweb!.. don't forget anything that is sooty!!!
Level Three
Wash any soft furnishings that need doing
Vacuum right the way up the stairs!
Sort through coats n bags n shoes etc
Extras

  • Sort through a handbag
  • Sort through a cupboard or drawer of junk
  • 29 fling boogie...
  • HHI
  • Peg out some washing
  • MAD half hour - put an alarm on your phone and spend half-an-hour on a bigger project eg paperwork clearance, gardening (weeding), kitchen drawer-and-cupboard sorting, sorting out your linen/airing cupboard BUT ONLY FOR HALF AN HOUR. You can come back to it another day - the idea is that you will see a difference but you won't lose all hope by ploughing on until completion. So this could be something off your Toots list.
  • And, finally, it's school hols. Schedule in some me time - hair or nail appointment perhaps?

Wacky Wednesday ~ Master bedroom and landing
Level One

Strip and wash the bedding
Clear the floordrobe
Level Two
Wash the windows
Clear the landing of gibble
Check those smoke alarms!
Level Three
Dust and deweb
Wipe any grotty paintwork and furniture
Vacuum the floors.. and the mattress before remaking the bed
Extras

  • Binbag dance
  • HHI
  • 15 minutes filing
  • Fill a binbag of stuff for charity shop!!

Mortgage Free as of 20.9.17
Declutter challenge 2023, 2024 🏅 🏅⭐️⭐️
Declutter Challenge 2025
DH declutter challenge award 🏅⭐️
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