It is that time of year when we get crazy busy and the house always looks a wreck. Like it looks right now. Plus I am spending quite a bit of time with mom in the rehab facility so have even less time to spend cleaning/decluttering.
I am a bit overwhelmed at where to start so was procrastinating online and remembered someone mentioning Flylady.net. Does anyone follow her plan? Does it help? Can you really end up with a clean house only cleaning up 30ish total minutes a day?
I like that the there are pre-made checklists I can use (I love crossing things off a list). The idea of having someone tell me where to focus our efforts seems like it would be a big help.
Post by Miss Phryne Fisher on Jun 3, 2015 6:28:12 GMT -5
I would do the KonMari method for the decluttering and then the Flylady cleaning thing if you want. Not a big fan of it but it helps so many people. KonMari is amazing.
ETA: Also, pinterest has some great check off lists. I feel you on that, I love crossing things off a list!
The Flylady decluttering steps helped me a ton. Also, on the FB page they play Flylady Bingo occasionally, which would get my butt off the couch to do 6 quick tasks. However I never got onto the actually cleaning schedule.
Flylady annoyed me because it seems focused on SAHMs who can do things during the day and she was constantly pushing her cleaning products. Even once I got it down to 1 compiled email a day, every other paragraph was an ad for her magic microfiber cloths.
I did flylady many years ago and found that I could really follow her routines easily and enjoyed getting her daily reminders and testimonies. As time went on the emails got to be too much and I unsubscribed. But I will say her methods have stuck with me and I haven't ever gone back to the clutter I used to have. I have been successfully retrained. Lol.
Flylady annoyed me because it seems focused on SAHMs who can do things during the day and she was constantly pushing her cleaning products. Even once I got it down to 1 compiled email a day, every other paragraph was an ad for her magic microfiber cloths.
I haven't signed up for her emails because I am afraid of this exact thing. It seems every post on her website has multiple links to her products so I figured her emails would be similar.
But I have been checking out the printable checklists on Pinterest so maybe I don't need to actually subscribe?
I so need to do this too. By the time we get home from work and activities and I cook dinner all I can muster up the strength to do is clean the kitchen and do some laundry
I so need to do this too. By the time we get home from work and activities and I cook dinner all I can muster up the strength to do is clean the kitchen and do some laundry
If we actually do this, I will let you know how it goes.
I need to get DH on board too because I am not going to be the only one cleaning. Nope nope nope.
I so need to do this too. By the time we get home from work and activities and I cook dinner all I can muster up the strength to do is clean the kitchen and do some laundry
If we actually do this, I will let you know how it goes.
I need to get DH on board too because I am not going to be the only one cleaning. Nope nope nope.
Yup I hear you there. I was going to the bathroom today and I was like "OMG the floor corners need to be wiped down, I need to paint blah blah blah" I feel like I have no time
@sloanpeterson This is where I get so bogged down. I know our house is a mess and we need to be better but when I go into a room, I see all the things that need to be done in there (from the cleaning to the touch up paint on the baseboards, etc.) and then end up doing nothing because it is all too much.
So I think I need someone else to give me a list to tackle so I can say "I need to do X, Y and Z because that is what is on the list" and worry about the other stuff once I am not feeling like I am living in a place where a clutter and paper bomb went off.
nomad100 I totally get you there. I have to do the same. I always say "when this is over.." or this summer or this fall and then nothing gets done. I need a real concrete plan
@sloanpeterson I will keep you posted on what I end up doing and how it is working.
From the little research I have done, I have a feeling it will end up being something modified from Flylady and Clutter 365 (daily task and a weekly project). I don't have the time or patience to read a book on how to clean and I can't open the website with the profanity at work.
@sloanpeterson This is where I get so bogged down. I know our house is a mess and we need to be better but when I go into a room, I see all the things that need to be done in there (from the cleaning to the touch up paint on the baseboards, etc.) and then end up doing nothing because it is all too much.
So I think I need someone else to give me a list to tackle so I can say "I need to do X, Y and Z because that is what is on the list" and worry about the other stuff once I am not feeling like I am living in a place where a clutter and paper bomb went off.
Check out the declutter, she breaks the year down into 15 or less daily tasks. You could do them in any order but I think the key to starting is the timer to only do 15 min and it's ok to stop. I quite often end up doing 15 min every hour or so because I feel less overwhelmed.
Full dusclosure, I have a house cleaner every 2 weeks to do the heavy cleaning. I don't think I could keep up without her
None of those really helped me...what DID help me was minimizing my/the kids shit. I basically got rid of a ton of stuff & I don't miss it AT ALL. Neither do the kids. The house is SOOOO much easier to clean.
None of those really helped me...what DID help me was minimizing my/the kids shit. I basically got rid of a ton of stuff & I don't miss it AT ALL. Neither do the kids. The house is SOOOO much easier to clean.
This is what I want to do. I have 3 kids under the age of 7 and they have so much junk. I feel like no one plays with half of it but it gets spread out everywhere. Did you have trouble talking your kids into getting rid of it? Or did you just make it disappear? I could get away with it with the 2 year old but I'm afraid the other kids might get upset.
None of those really helped me...what DID help me was minimizing my/the kids shit. I basically got rid of a ton of stuff & I don't miss it AT ALL. Neither do the kids. The house is SOOOO much easier to clean.
This is what I want to do. I have 3 kids under the age of 7 and they have so much junk. I feel like no one plays with half of it but it gets spread out everywhere. Did you have trouble talking your kids into getting rid of it? Or did you just make it disappear? I could get away with it with the 2 year old but I'm afraid the other kids might get upset.
I did it mostly while they were at school but I left it in bags in the basement & made them help me drag the bags to the garage. I'm storing in the garage for a month to make sure there is nothing missed but so far so good. Only my 5yr old wanted something she saw out of one of them & I let her keep it. They've never once asked "where is" anything that I purged since. I used to get on their case/frustrated a lot with the mess they'd make (& then they'd whine so much about cleaning up after themselves). Honestly it's made all our lives a lot better. I did their rooms & the living room too. They all stay SO much cleaner!