Anyone want to try Flylady for 31 days with me? - Page 6

[antannie]

I don't wear lace ups as they are simply not practical for me. I am in and out of the house so often with the animals etc. so I keep a pair for inside that are slip ons but I cal them my Fly Shoes and so when I put them on first thing in the morning I am ready to work. They are also easy to slip off when I put outside shoes on to take dd to school bus or put on my boots to do chores outside.

[Malva]

I just want to say that you are all doing great! s:

I've done flylady on and off for a bit over 4 years now. I haven't been reading the emails in the last couple years but they come to my inbox everyday and I delete them. I like to know that if my house gets out of control again, I can jump right in.

My house used to be a major mess and now, it always can be picked up in a few minutes.

So even tho I don't "do" Flylady anymore, some things stuck with me and make my life much better. To this day, I don't go to bed without first laying out my clothes for the next day because this used to be a major source of frustration in the morning. Also, I pack my lunch the night before, leaving the non perishables on the counter and filling the kettle. In the morning, everything is ready for me.

My house now only has 3 hotspots (from a housefull of them!) and the biggest difference is that I recognize them as just that: hotspots. Makes it easier to deal with them when I see it's getting a bit out of hand. Something else she repeats over and over that stuck is that things rarely take as long as you think they will and big tasks can be broken down in smaller chuncks.

Again, congratulations to all of you!

[nichole]

i dont think we should be ocd about this. just do the best you can. dont be a perfectionist. when the timer goes off or your kids need you give yourself permission to stop b/c you can do a lot in a few minutes.

can someone explain the difference between the 5 min room rescue and decluttering for 15 mins?

i wear slipons in the house and one night this week i didnt shine my sink.

[judejude]

[QUOTE=nichole;7114344]

can someone explain the difference between the 5 min room rescue and decluttering for 15 mins?

My understaning is that the 5 min. room rescue is sort of like the hot spots (or whatever it's called), but it's for 5 min. Also, hot spots are problem areas that stuff get piled up all the time - the dining room table, the table when you first walk in the door, etc. I think the room rescue has to do with any room that needs help. You do 5 min. at a time, with the idea of getting that room into shape. The hot spots are more a quick, keeping mail from piling up by the front door, keeping shoes from piling up by the back door, eyc.

i wear slipons in the house and one night this week i didnt shine my sink.

funny - better get those tie up shoes on

[antannie]

I am starting week 3 tomorrow! it is going pretty well. I am even ready to do a blitz on my fibre room tomorrow evening and Sunday because I will be caretaking our guild floor loom for an indefinite time and I need to make room for it. It is a major motivation for me to clean out all the baskets and piles of fabric, craft stuff, miscellaneous roving, the basket of stuff I never mend and the piles of vintage fabrics I have collected over the years. I know Flylady thinks we should just do it in small spurts but I am on a mission these days and I can see a new future and I want it to be here before I have to spend it all outside in the garden and with the sheep. Our winters are short here and it is only a few weeks before I need to be planting the first things and only two months to lambs!

[nichole]

ok that makes sense about the room rescue.

for the 15 minutes of decluttering, do you really have to throw away things for 15 minutes? how about just taking stuff to the garage? i have some toys i want to rotate and baby stuff i am not ready to part with. what do you guys think? and how do you know when you've thrown away enough stuff?

[KatSG]

Originally Posted by nichole

i have some toys i want to rotate and baby stuff i am not ready to part with. what do you guys think? and how do you know when you've thrown away enough stuff?

There is another school of thought about dealing with clutter, by Julia Morgenstern, an organization expert. She thinks it's okay to keep some things if you're really not ready to part with them as long as they have a home and aren't negatively impacting your family life. I keep lots of things we're not using now--like baby clothes dd2 hasn't grown into yet, toddler toys, toys that don't fit into dd1s room now but will after we remodel, really special memorbelia, etc. I think true "storage" is fine, as long as it's organized, labeled and have room for it and you know where it is. I put mine into big clear bins, put a piece of paper in the bin that lists the contents, and keep it our crawl space.

When I go through our stuff, especially toys, I look at it's value, if I already have one, how someone feels about the item, and then make my decision based on that. Just because it doesn't have a home yet, I don't neccesarily throw it away. I just try to find a place for it. Some things move around until they find their true home.

Something I thought I'd put out there is that I've also hired a professional organizer in the past. I work at home and don't have a dedicated office. My daily folders and such are in cabinets in my dining room/living room. I couldn't have made this all work without her, and I'm usually good at those things. If you get the clutter and housework basically under control and you don't know what to do with the left over stuff you need I highly recommend a pro, or perhaps taking a class yourself. They have tricks that I wouldn't think of otherwise.

[nichole]

Kat

thanks. we are moving soon (a few months) and we move often. so i dunno. i want to gear things toward that. i want to make things easier for our move.

i finished the 15 minutes. it was hard but addicting. 3 bags gone.

[antannie]

I am supposed to read Flyladies 11 commandments today and got to 6 and that is one of my big challenges. Only one project at a time!?!?!?!?! I am a busy working volunteering artistic shepherd mum partner garderner gemini who has never done one project at a time in her life!

[AngelBee]

Still on trying to remember to shine my sink each night

Even that is hit and miss

[Christine&men]

Don't worry, my 31 days with Flylady turn into: try to tackle one project for 15 minutes a day and that's it (or several 15 min intervals), otherwise, I haven't read any further...

[KatSG]

Originally Posted by AngelBee

Still on trying to remember to shine my sink each night

Even that is hit and miss

I still don't get that done. I did do it a week or so ago and I did notice that I kept the kitchen a little cleaner. But in order for dishes to not go in the sink the dishwasher has to be emptied. Dh has always done that and I just can't add to my list now. Some days, the sink will just have dishes in them. They get cleaned up at the end of the day by someone, so I'm just not going to worry about that.

I am finding that just taking 2 minutes to clean up little things is helping my stress level. Sometimes I don't even set the time for 15 min or even 5 if I really don't feel like I have that much time. I set it for 2 and whatever I get done gets done and the rest waits. I at least feel like when I do have 15 or 30 minutes to really clean up there is less to do.

[levar]

I took the list of books on the website and borrowed them from our local library. I'd gotten the "Courage to be Rich" one for hubby but got sucked in and actually read that first. I liked the book vs website version of the "Clean Your Kitchen Sink" better since I cant always spend time one the computer (and I'd rather be here anyway) but infront of the TV or while I am cooking/stirring dinner I can read a page or two. And while I havent tried the recipes in "Saving Dinner" I did feel inspired enough by the concept to pull out an old WW cookbook and make up a weekly menu and shopping list similar to those in the book.

Just thought I'd share since I personally like to read books much more than computer screens. Maybe others do too?

[texaspeach]

the flying isn't going to well for me, but we did manage to clean out the office and throw away two trash bags and two big boxes of stuff! babysteps.. just gotta take babysteps

[antannie]

Well I broke my leg yesterday and I am really disappointed as it is the livingroom zone this week and the last few weeks have been wonderful for me in terms of getting organized. Hopefully after a few more days of my leg being elevated I can get back into it. I actually did all my morning tasks this morning except brush my hair and make my bed. I slept on the couch because I need to keep my foot up and didn't wasnt to keep dp awake. So I have staked claim to the livingroom and figured I could sort several boxes a day as long as they are brought out to me in the morning. I will miss a week of work because I can't really get around just yet.

I also have to have someone come and feed my sheep in the mornings because I am on my own then.

Oh well I hope I don't lose my momentum because even though I thought it was a bit silly, the whole flylady thing really has worked for me and my second thought, lying in the mud in agony was "how am I going to fly my house now?" (The first thought was "poop I broke it!"

[KatSG]

antannie--I'm so sorry about your leg! I hope you're feeling better soon!

[judejude]

Originally Posted by KatSG

antannie--I'm so sorry about your leg! I hope you're feeling better soon!

Ya, me too

I am failing miserably. We went away for the weekend and also we have real snow now and the floors are just filthy, I mean FILTHY. The dogs go in and out and they go across the living room floor to get in and out the door. There is stuff needing to be unpacked from the weekend and in general, I just feel way behind.

The only good thing is that I am still doing dishes pretty much every day (even though I don't always do them all). This is a big deal for me since I would go days without doing any and the kitchen table and all the counters and stove would just be piled with every dish in the house.

So, I guess I am still doing better in one area.

[antannie]

I started with keeping the kitchen clean and at day 22 even with the broken leg it is still spotless. My sister offered to come out and clean my kitchen for me which I find incredibly insulting anyway but I told her I didn't need the help. I am sure she doesn't believe me but I KNOW and that feels good. If you keep the kitchen up it will become a habit and then after it is a habit you can develop another new one. Little steps at a time! I really am the clutter queen and I never thought I could reform and I am so don't give up!

As for the dogs, I know exactly what you mean and here is what we do. At the door we just throw down newspaper. It doesn' look attractive but it soaks up all the excess muck so it doesn't spread as far. We keep "dog towels" by the door for giving them a good rub down which they each get and then get a cookie. They love this part. We throw towels on the floor too if it is really mucky or wet out. (Most days in our wet climate) and it really does help. We also have no carpets, jist laminate floor and tile and a bit of painted wood and it makes a HUGE difference. If that is an option I would highly recommend it.

[nichole]

hi i'm on day 15. some of the baby steps are really easy. i still need to get the laundry under control but it is better. one load/day and 15 minutes of folding aint gonna cut it.

i hurt my toe. not sure if it was broke or just bruised. dont forget to wear shoes!!!!!!!!!

it is slowly looking better in here.

angelbee- it is really hard to do your dishes/sink at night with a baby to put to bed. half the time dh does it. sometimes i have to finish first thing in the morning. i am lucky to have a dishwasher. if it is more than half full i run it before dinner so there is room for those dishes.

mostly i have a lot of time to clean b/c the kids never sleep and if i sit down i will fall asleep. then ds1 will dump food everywhere and try to give some to the baby. or worse!

[MrsMike]

I just found this thread and I'm going to try it out. I signed up for her e-mails in digest form. I'll have to tweak a few things so they fit into our life, but most of this seems pretty doable. I'm desperate, so I'll try anything at this point. I think this will be easier for DH to keep up with. He's a bit ocd and likes lists.