My sink is shined away for the night, again. I know today was Zone 5 living room, but I got distracted by dusty sideboard tables in dining room. I use them as sideboards but they are actually chrome and glass console tables with crystal, blue and white porcelain, and stainless steel serve-ware on them. In 15 minutes I got two of the consoles dusted, then just now I dusted the third. They were not as dusty as I expected, but the best part was finding Easter decorations I had hidden on them that I forgot were there. I have a bad habit of squirreling things away in ginger jars and tea jars so things look tidy, then completely forgetting I have them. The chamomile tea was in... the tea jar! About the last place I would have expected!

My sink is shined, ladies. It's 10:32pm but my sink is shined for the first time in many months!

Technical question: Can "dress to shoes" include sling-back Crocs that are actually not all that easy for me to get on or off? I've been Croc-ing of late as the days get warmer and sweatier, and even though I feel great in my tennis shoes it gets harder and harder to keep them on all day in summer.

I found this community a minute ago, having told people about Fly-Lady for a few years.

The other day on a different sub, I commented how I aim to follow Fly-Lady's mantra to get dressed to shoes, though I don't do that part as I change footwear to walk the dog.

Well, this morning I was lazy, failed to get dressed as if going out and, lo and behold, was caught out in the open, so to speak, with instant regret of feeling unprepared and playing catch-up - hurriedly brushing teeth, bit of makeup, putting earrings on, etc.

I've been on annual leave this week with late nights - no excuse, I know.

Does anyone else recall any amusing regrets during lapses in staying organised or pre-planning, and consequently redoubling their resolve to step up their game?

Do you all leave cleaning products in each bathroom for the swish and swipe? I have a toilet brush and cleaner in each one, but I suppose I should also have paper towels and all purpose cleaner for the counters? What other systems for storing cleaning products have helped you keep it simple? I have a caddy I carry around for zone cleaning.

I don’t like the idea of dressing to shoes but I’ll wear house sandals. Can anyone recommend something waterproof and comfortable? Thanks!

What are some of your FlyLady resolutions? Mine is to continue to let go of perfectionism, defining my own standard of clean.

It’s also to always have my apartment “guest ready” & to “jump in” wherever I am should I fall off track at any point (banishing shame & guilt!)

Left at front door! No email since. Please tell me what zone we are in this week. Her site is not well. I click on various sections and nothing happens. Thanks

Hi everyone! I discovered FLYLady this week, and im planing to start the new year, im a housewife with no kids but, i live with my inlaws, my father in law, my mother in law, my brother and sister in law with her two teengers boy and girl, basically i have so much cleaning and cooking work to do everyday, and the house is always messy and the kitchen sink seems to fill with dishes everytime i do them they are magically back again, struggle to find the best routine for me , im hoping The FlyLady method might help me to finally set the best cleaning routine for me, and of course my inlaws are out the picture here since they will never wanna participate with me in this so im afraid it won't work for me anyway:(

Any thoughts or advice that can help?

Hello!

I’m trying the app and don’t understand how the themed days are intended to work. Here’s an example:

I partially completed,tee weekly home blessing on Monday. It’s Tuesday now and want to leave Monday behind and start with today. But home blessing remains and Tuesdays theme doesn’t appear. MUST I complete Monday before seeing Tuesdays pay themes?

Thanh’s for any tips!

Did anyone receive the Daily Zone Missions for this week (10/30-11/3) in the Sneak Peek email yesterday? I didn't. And the website is still wonky.

I have been trying to access flylady.net for the last couple of days and it just isn't loading. I did finally get to a page that said the website was being renovated and it had some links to some pages but none of them worked. Anyone know what is going on?

I’ve recently discovered FlyLady & the FlyLady App. I, of course, have done a deep-dive & watched many helpful YouTube videos by others about the system.

I like to comment on the app as a way to keep myself on track & accountable (I also read others comments of successes or confusion to keep me grounded.) This updating strangers (who might not read my comments or care) still helps me, in a way, because I feel as though I’m doing it myself but…not alone.

Do any of you have accountability-buddies through this or are you FLYing solo? I ask because this sub seems very quiet compared to other cleaning subs.

That being said, my update is that I’m currently wrapping up my dining space before I hit the kitchen. I’ve completed my Bedroom, Living Room, Entryway, & Turtle Tank. After so much time finding my way, I feel I’ve got a bit of momentum going.

I feel that time was necessary because it’s allowed me to declutter & find a place for everything (KonMarie Method multiple times for me) - which has set me up nicely for FlyLady. So, I’m trying to not succumb to regret because things happen when they’re “supposed to.”

I know many of you might think I’m crazy, but I’m actually signed up to the e-mails because reading them (I delete the repetitive ads) helps validate that tidying isn’t a “waste of my time” & that I AM doing something worthwhile by “blessing my family & household” via cleaning. It’s like a way to calibrate my brain every day.

Otherwise, negative thoughts haunt me more viciously that I should “just give up” & that trying to systemize household Care Tasks (yes, I’m also familiar with ‘How to Keep House While Drowning’) is “silly”. 😅

Hello FlyLadies, I was pretty good at keeping up with things pre baby, but baby boy is now 17 months old and let’s just say he’s my favourite little hurricane.

Baby boy is a Velcro baby so doesn’t give me a lot of independence to clean while he’s awake. Always wants my full attention so I really don’t even bother. I also work part time from home so I try and do that while he’s napping. He wakes up at 5am every day so by 7pm when he goes to bed I’m absolutely spent.

The small amount of time I do have to clean I find myself just tidying up but never truly cleaning 😩 my husband leaves for work early in the mornings so I don’t have a lot of time to get myself ready for the day let alone swish and swipe.

Any advice/motivation/solidarity for a mom with a toddler?

Thank you!!

Sorry if this is a very dumb question. I'm just getting into the system and I've been wondering when is the shower/bathtub being cleaned? Am I missing something? It's not included in the daily swiping but there's no bathroom day or anything either and with zone cleaning it would be cleaned only once a month.

Hi everyone! I’m just starting the fly lady system, and I’m having trouble finding the daily focus for each day in the app (Fly Lady Plus). It appears to only show the daily focus for Monday (weekly home blessing). Does anyone know if they’re not on the app? Seems a little strange if they’re not, but I might just be missing them!

I've been trying so hard to get into this system. I've gotten maybe two, three days into the babysteps and I had lost interest or just plain forgot.

I know it would be worth it; I know it's a system that I would work well with if I stuck to it, but I'm having trouble listening to my Alexa telling me point-blank what I need to do :(

​

Can someone help?

I just joined Fly Lady and am finding her stuff out of date - things that were helpful 15 years ago. She wants me to buy a calendar and gives all the reasons - don't miss doctor's appointments. etc. Most people have calendars on their computer that will send reminders on about anything and you can set them up to repeat as often as needed.

Also, she gives this long list of stuff to pay your bills - put them in a folder, stamps, envelopes, list of addresses, on and on. Again, most people pay for everything on line. I can't remember the last time that I actually mailed a check to someone. She also wants you to balance your checkbook - I can look at my bank balance that immediately shows the amount online.

Maybe it gets better later on, but so far not so good.

Can someone check and tell me if the app is working? I'm getting "internal server error" messages and "not connected" messages. The zones will still load but the daily routines will not. Just wondering if this is that app or me. On my end I am connected to wifi and everything else on my phone connects/works fine.

Hey guys! I want to implement FlyLady's Home Blessing Hour... But I only need to do 4 out of the 7 tasks. Any ideas on what other tasks might be good to replace the two I don't need, or would you just shorten it and do a "Home Blessing 40 minutes"?

For some background - the 4 tasks I'm doing are vacuuming, dusting, mopping, and changing sheets. The other 3 tasks (polishing mirrors & doors, purging magazines/catalogs, and emptying all trash cans) are getting tackled in another part of my weekly routine I already have established.

I paid for the videos in the app but they're very short and she keeps mentioning a mentor. Where is this mentor at? I love fly lady but I'm paying a bunch of money for maybe an hour's worth of video. Is there something I'm missing?

Found this online — is FlyLady going out of business????

tldr; 10 years and I've never run out of plastic bags even in a multiple adult + multiple pet household. by using a decorative vase w lid.

I'm talking about the free plastic grocery sacks. (Yes, we still use them where I live, yes I know its wasteful but I have pets and use them for kitty litter and dog-waste and they are free).

When I first moved into my house 10 years ago, I bought a medium-sized decorative vase with a lid somewhat similar to the one in the photo. (Obviously not designed for liquid, but it would fit around 1.5 liters.) I displayed it and then shoved a bunch of plastic bags in it.

I quickly realized that I was not running low on bags. So, I enforced a strict no-extra-plastic-bags-in-my-house rule with the housemates, rules as follows:

1. Bags with holes are trash and do not go in the vase.
2. Bags stored elsewhere in the kitchen/common areas will be assumed to be trash. If you want to save more plastic bags, they go in your room.
3. (Separate storage system for reusable bags/paper bags).

Last week, after retrieving a couple of bags from the bag-vase, the inevitable happened: I ran out of bags.

For 5 terrible seconds, I thought I was truly, completely out of bags for the first time in 10 years. Then I remembered, as I was cleaning out my car from a roadtrip, that I had several bags inside my suitcases.

10 years and I've never run out of plastic bags even in a multiple adult + multiple pet household.

(Edited for typo and to re-add photo)

EDIT: photo un-added itself in first attempt

Looking through the zones and missions, I have not yet found a good intervall to go through my papers. For me that includes photos and emails. Now, I know flylady said, that digital is not clutter, but for me (as an aspiring minimalist) it still is clutter.

In which zone do you go through these items? I wanted to go through them once a month, and do emails as they arrive, once a day, but honestly, that's just not feasible. Now I'm thinking twice a year, but fear that the load especially of emails will make this a weeklong task.... Any thoughts?

Hi, so I'm new, completely. I bought my bright, white shoes (they motivate me. Maybe because I used to be a housekeeper). I bought my control journal and it's in its sleeves. My binder is on the way to go inside the people one from flylady. I also got all the tools, nearly everything in her store lol. I love cleaning tools. That rubba scrubba is amazing. But, the problem is my bipolar. I'm so motivated, but doing it is so hard. My house is a disaster, like before and after worthy. Buy i get so overwhelmed so quickly. I have bipolar 1 along with its good friend, adhd. I'm so tired all the time, so overwhelmed, and so sad. The 15 minutes are hard. I'm currently switching my medications around. I'm hoping it'll help. Maybe I'll get that initial period where it'll go into overdrive and I'll be Mary Poppins, Martha steward, and a professional house cleaner all wrapped up in one. Maybe it'll be more manageable after. I did a 27 fling boogie and got rid of one box. I'm half way into a second 27 fling. I actually have my shoes on, I washed my face, brushed my hair, and I made my bed! That's literally 4 things more than usual. So, any advice for someone really struggling?

Any cursive of anyone taking a picture of any mouth of the calendar opened up? Usually you get a picture and then days below. I'm joint just to see what that spread would look like. I'm really picky with my calendars 😅. Also, how are the stickers? Are they just your run of the mill stuff? Thanks for your time m

The other day I noticed, that I don't need the 15 minutes to reset my hotspots anymore. Basically because there are no more hot spots . The last days I have been cleaning up after myself: no more clothes on chairs, no more papers and books all over my desk... resetting takes 5 minutes for the whole flat tops, if I have been in a hurry.

However: what I noticed is a lot of hidden rescue spots, where I need much more than 5 to 15 minutes, like old notes from courses I've taken. I limit myself to 5 minutes to go through these, but wondered if there is a better approach?

I wondered how everyone else was going about the challenge of the month (declutter for 15 minutes)

I'm new to flylady but not to decluttering, so today I realized apart from some items I'm not sure about, the kitchen is pretty much done decluttering.

But then I started the 5 minute rescue mission for one cupboard where I keep old packaging, and after 5 minutes, when it was half done I decided to push through, because I did not want the packaging hanging out of my semi-open cupboard (I have a cat who really loves plastic, so that's a no go for me, but also when I start decluttering I am all enthusiastic so I don't really care about time) When I checked my watch I had spent another 20 minutes on decluttering these things.

I know flylady is really about not burning out but tbh I do love decluttering sessions.

So how do you approach this?