FlyLady Archives - Life with Dee

Dee’s Domestic Dailies

June 12, 2013 By Deanna Piercy 4 Comments

I came up with what I hope will be a daily routine which can be accomplished in about an hour and will leave my house in reasonably good condition each day.

make bed
swish and swipe master bathroom *
take wastebasket and load of laundry downstairs
empty wastebasket into kitchen trashcan (and other downstairs wastebaskets if needed)
start laundry
put away clean dishes, empty dishwasher
wash (or put in dishwasher) any dishes left in sink or from breakfast
start at front door and walk through each room tidying up anything out of place
swish and swipe guest bathroom *
feather dust tables and other flat surfaces
vacuum main traffic areas
drink a glass of water

I’m not sure if I can accomplish all this in one hour. I’ll be out of town today but I’ll give it a whirl and time myself on Thursday or Friday and then report back.

*“Swish and Swipe” is a Flylady term which you can read about here. I add wiping the mirror, sink and counter to it, all of which can be done in about three minutes or less and leaves your bathroom in decent shape on a daily basis.

Back to Flylady?

June 12, 2013 By Deanna Piercy 2 Comments

It’s been a week since I mentioned my plans to implement a summer routine. I’d like to say I have it all worked out and it’s going just swimmingly. But I can’t. It seems that my days vary so much that it’s hard to come up with a consistent schedule. I think I’m just going to have to accept that fact and think outside the box.

I do firmly believe that when it comes to housework, keeping up is MUCH easier than catching up. That means that a roster of basic tasks done DAILY helps you stay afloat even if the usual weekly tasks are skipped now and then.

These are the things I consider daily, bare minimum, essentials (your mileage may vary):

make bed (even if the rest of the room isn’t perfect this makes a huge difference)
keep up with dishes, wipe counters/stove/sink
a load of laundry washed, dried and put away (most days)
tidy each room
take care of pets
meals
clean up spills and messes as they occur

If those things are done every day the house will be livable and not terribly embarrassing if you have unexpected company. And I actually do these things as a matter of course, without much thought.

I also have a few things I do every Monday:

wash bedding and remake the bed (I just have one set of sheets and put them on straight from the dryer)
refill food and water for parakeet (and again on Thursdays)
water all my houseplants (I have a LOT)
catch up on all the rest of the laundry, including a load of dishtowels/dishcloths/napkins

What I don’t have firmly in place is a plan for all those other household chores such as:

dusting
vacuuming
mopping
cleaning bathrooms

I tend to do these when they look like they need to be done and/or when having people over but not on a set day.

And there are seasonal/outdoor chores I need to work in as well:

sweeping porch, walkway, patio, balcony
watering porch plants
watering garden
weeding
wiping down porch furniture

I’ve been a little overwhelmed with the whole thing, especially in light of the fact that I also want to make sure I make time for exercise, writing, blogging, reading, porch time, etc. And of course there are also errands to run, groceries to purchase, meetings to attend, various appointments, time with family, parties, entertaining, church, date nights, etc.

I think the best starting point for me is to come up with a 45-60 minute daily housekeeping routine which covers the essentials plus at least one weekly task. I believe that if I do the same tasks in the same order each day I will get faster and will be able to do them without much thought. Because my schedule varies from day to day I’m not going to set a particular time for this daily routine but will determine the time the night before after looking at what I’ve got going on the next day. My goal will be to get this done as early as possible but some days that might be 9 a.m. and others might be noon.

You are probably familiar with Flylady and likely have an opinion on her methods. Some people swear by her and others can’t stand her. One complaint I often hear is that they don’t like being told what to do. Well, I don’t either but she hasn’t come to my house to boss me around; if I follow her methods it’s because I have sought out help and have chosen to do so. I am also perfectly capable of selecting which of her routines, methods, suggestions work for me and which do not.

After “shining your sink” and “lacing up your shoes” (another bone of contention for many; I opt for Birkenstocks rather then lace-up shoes), the next part of Flylady’s basics is the “Daily Flight Plan” which starts with a morning routine. This is where I want to put my focus for awhile. I think if I get this part down, the rest will start to fall into place. At least that’s my hope!

It’s getting late and I’ll be out of town all day tomorrow doing my monthly grocery shopping. I’ll post a tentative daily housekeeping routine before I leave tomorrow (hopefully!).

Now it’s your turn. Do you have a list of daily household tasks? If so, do you do them all at once in a set order or here throughout the day in a random order? Have you ever followed Flylady? If so, what do you think of her methods?

31 Days of Autumn Nesting: Day 3 – Getting Organized

October 4, 2012 By Deanna Piercy 1 Comment

It’s likely a holdover from school days but fall tends to make me desire a new routine. And office supplies. David is going to be out of town tomorrow night so I’m planning to gather all my homemaking planning materials, print off some new charts, pour a cup of tea and get my act together.

I put this household notebook together years ago and it’s still in pristine condition. That’s because it stays on a shelf rather than getting any use. Ha!

I started following FlyLady years and years ago, long before she was a household name. Did you see what I did there? Household? Okay, so I’m sleep-deprived and hungry but it was funny to me.

There are lots of different homemaking systems out there and no matter which you choose, you’ll need to tweak it to fit your own lifestyle. FlyLady is a good starting point and she has lots of helpful stuff on her website. And then for the fluff and fun part of homekeeping, I like Brocante Home. She used to have a lot of free downloads but it’s now a business which has to support her and her young son. There’s still lots of inspiring information available on the site and if you’ve got a little money to spare, her stuff is worth the price.

Do you have a housekeeping system? I’d love to hear about it so leave me a comment.

Household Planning Notebook

June 14, 2011 By Deanna Piercy 2 Comments

I’m going to assume you know who the FlyLady is. If not, check out this link. I found her Yahoo Group many years ago when it was just getting off the ground and have followed some of her suggestions and routines off and on ever since. Even though I tend to be naturally neat and organized, I still find a lot of her advice to be helpful. When I follow it, that is.

Years ago when the kids were still home and we were homeschooling I actually took the time to put together a household notebook, or what FlyLady refers to as a “control journal”. It looks really impressive but I can’t honestly say I ever put it to any significant use. Once in awhile I drag it out and fantasize about using it on a regular basis. I recall times when I did follow morning, afternoon and evening routines and benefited from an orderly approach. Eventually it ends up back on the shelf doing me absolutely no good at all.

Recently I’ve been feeling the urge to get my daily life back into a routine of sorts. I don’t mean a rigid, minute-by-minute schedule, but a routine. Several years ago, like many homeschoolers at that time, I succumbed to the lure of a system called, “Managers of Their Homes” by Steve and Teri Maxwell and purchased their book. Like many resources it did contain a bit of helpful advice but I just couldn’t envision living my life in 30 minute blocks of time. Now, in fairness to the Maxwells I should mention that they have LOTS of children. The Duggars use this planning system for their huge family, too. I can see how it might be necessary to be more scheduled if you are dealing with many children. But I only had two teenagers at the time and now I’m just keeping house for the two of us. I really have no desire to live my life according to the clock and I always want to stay flexible enough that if something important (or even just fun) comes up I won’t find myself saying, “Oh, I’d like to help feed the hungry but that’s the time I’ve scheduled to clean my light fixtures.”

Still, I do feel like I’m spinning my wheels part of the time. I know I waste too much time piddling around on Facebook or following rabbit trails on Google. I’m an information junkie and the computer is my pusher.

Now, to be honest, the average visitor to my home at most times would think everything looked just fine. I’m good about keeping things picked up, dishes are done after meals, laundry is caught up, bed is made each morning, etc. I do a good job keeping household supplies and food well-stocked. I cook good meals. If I were working outside the home or had young children I’d consider myself to be doing a good job as a homemaker. But I’m home all day. I do serve on two volunteer boards, and chair one of them, as well as various other volunteer and church activities. But again, I’m not working outside the home so I should be able to keep house at a higher level, plus find time for several of those projects I’d like to be doing.

I want to make time to blog regularly, practice the piano, knit, organize our photos, garden, learn a couple of new skills (making soap and candles, for starters), study French, exercise, and most of all, work on my book. Those things just aren’t happening, or at least not as often as I’d like. So that’s why I’m reviewing my old household planning notebook and evaluating how I spend my time.

If any of this resonates with you, take a look at this video showing one woman’s version of a home planning notebook:

And here’s another one. She’s a little too “perky” for me but she is definitely enthusiastic about her notebook.

Here’s the link for FlyLady’s step-by-step instructions for making a “Control Journal”:

Building your own Control Journal

I actually did all that when I made mine years ago but it needs a major overhaul. Routines that worked when I was homeschooling two kids are no longer applicable to my life now. The main thing I want to focus on right now is a morning routine. I’d like to get exercise and housework done earlier in the day. I also need to set aside some early morning time for working on my vegetable garden and flower beds before it gets unbearably hot. Most important, I need to figure out the best time for working on my book and then absolutely stick to that. I’ll never finish it if all I do is think about it but never actually write anything.

So that’s whats been on my mind in recent days. I’d love to get some feedback on this (here or on Facebook). Have you used a household notebook? Do you have daily routines for housework and such? How do you organize your time? I’m curious so let’s talk about it.