Weekly Flylady Thread 2nd October 2017

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!

Right now the thread is looking very quiet...but please do remember we have to abide by MSE rules; each post should, ideally, include some mention of flying.

[/B] 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 (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'
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

ok Here goes this Week...

Kitchen & Dining Room

Level 1
Clear drainer and sink
Open window
clear floor
empty bins
Clear sides and wipe, inc. small appliances and put back only what lives there

Level 2
Wipe cupboard doors, drawer fronts and handles
Clean and wipe/polish table
Wipe/polish chairs - don't forget underneath seats where sticky fingers linger
Wipe mats or wash and replace cloth
Wipe sockets and switches

Level 3
Clean sills
Wipe windows
Dust dressers or other furniture
sweep/mop floors

Extras
Check fridge for use-up stuff
Do a freezer inventory - start using up/creating space for Christmas
MAD half hour - plan to start nibbling away at a big job
New month - do you need any cards? Buy December's cards too - because they mysteriously start to disappear from the shops;)
Check smoke detectors and CO (carbon monoxide) detectors are fully-functional.
HHI - keep on top of it!

Trffic Tuesday - Lounge about

Level 1

Open the windows
Empty bins
Remove anything that doesn't live here
Dust coffee table and tidy
See to flowers

level 2

Dust everywhere
Plump cushions
Wipe sockets and switches
Wipe sills
Clean windows

Level 3

Vacuum all soft furnishings, curtains
sweep/vacuum/mop floor
Dust skirtings

Extras
Vacuum/dust radiators
HHI
Half term this month...start making plans - do you need craft materials for Christmas card making with the littleys?
(laughs hysterically - I have to do it with 26 of them...)
Plan something nice for the weekend




Wonderful Wipey Wednesday - bathroom

simple list - but effective

remove all gibble
fling towels in wash
scrub bath, loo and sink. THOROUGHLY inc under rims and outside...

fling bleach down all holes...

dust everywhere

polish mirrors and any glass

sweep and mop floor

S&S kitchen
MAD half hour...

Thursday Thrills - bedroom

Before breakfast

Clear your floordrobe/chairdrobe
Open window
Strip bed
Eat breakfast

Now for the room...
vacuum/dust headboard/bedframe
remake bed with fresh linen

If you have time

clean windows
dust everywhere
reduce dressing table clutter to what NEEDS to be out
wipe switches/sockets/hairdryer
vacuum floor

Exreas
S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom
MAD half hour

Friday Fling and Fresn'h'up - alittle of what you fancy...

Arm yourself with a damp cloth and a bin bag. 10 minute alarm on your phone.

Walk into a room. Start countdown. Bin rubbish. Wipe anything grim. Staighten up, rehome any strays.
Leave IMMEDIATELY the alarm rings...

next room...

do as many rooms as you have time for.

HHI
S&S kitchen and bathrooms.

ENJOY THE WEEKEND WITH YOUR FAMILY X