Get A Handle

The URL is: http://www.snmakeham.com/flychat/c…

IMPORTANT NOTE: does anyone still want to keep this community going? I will post again if someone else posts:)
On Sunday I decided to post my version of Flylady's daily routines (see www.flylady.net): not that I ever do much of it, but perhaps posting it will motivate
me. I have reminded myself that posting it won't put me under any
obligation to do all or even any of it, but it might help me to have
the list and be able write "done" beside things.

Morning routine:

make bed - done

morning yoga exercises, in four parts:
head turn in one direction, knees in other
knees apart
stomach pumping
nostril breathing

meditate

walk or run - done

have breakfast - done

take vitamins - done

clean bathroom

clean toilet

wash face

brush hair

laundry in machine

check calender

PODA or To Do list

hang out laundry

5 min room rescue - done

15 min trash collection


Afternoon routine:
Full yoga session with C.D. (if not already done today)
meditate
exercise (if not already done enough)
5 min room rescue - done x6
15 min trash collection.

Evening routine:

living room
kitchen
entrance/hallways
review checklist
check calender
start PODA or To Do list
see if there is something else I can do ready for tomorrow
things ready by door
start breakfast
clothes for tomorrow
exercise (if not already done enough)
If not already done today, do yoga session with C.D.
meditate
brush teeth, clean face
pyjamas
journal or reflection
go to bed at a consistant time
final reflection before falling asleep

Wow, that should give me a lot of choices from day to day! It did
get me thinking, adjusting the routine to suit me. I have also
reminded myself that I can alter it at any point in time, and that
if I get used to following a regular routine it will probably show
up for me more clearly what patterns and plans suit me best, so that
I will better know what further alterations to make.

One alteration I have made already is to eliminate for the time being the 2 min hot spots, because I tried picking up some junk setting the timer for 2 mins, and it went off so soon that I thought I might as well have set it for 5 mins. There probably aren't really any "hot spots" in my house, as it is all just a big mess.

I have done 7 X 5 mins so far today (hence the "done x 6") in the afternoon routine. I am certainly becoming a convert to using the timer! I found today, I didn't know where to start with picking things up, so it was easiest to just set the timer and then hurry to do what I could before it rang.

Over the last 5 months I have only had occasional, very brief spurts
of trying to FLY. It is better than nothing though. Right now I am
following the babysteps which have been on the website this month (I
have written them all down before it gets taken off the website - last
year I saw them on the site, they were then called baby boogie, but
then they disappeared from the site before I had even made a start
with them). So this evening I shined my sink, and then did my first
ever 2 min hot spot and 5 min room rescue, then a 15 min trash, then I looked up the kellys mission which today is cleaning electronic equipment so I have dusted my computer TV and Stereo

Is anyone using Tada, Basecamp, or Backpack from 37 signals. They got a very nice write up in Salon.

I probably won't use them myself, because they are specifically not IE 5.x compatible, and the IT department at my job hates us and uses IE 5.5, but I'm interested to know.

Two weeks ago I had a bust-up with my closest friend, and for all I know, the break may turn out to be permanent. So, I am pushing myself to keep on with the FLYing I had begun. Just now, I have been jogging outside, before it gets completely dark. I need the exercise, to clear my head. I will go outside again, now that I have posted this. I will try to post to the various flygroups quite often, to keep me motivated:)

So today was spring cleaning at Casa Drew And Roommate E. The most important part of that, for me, is steam-cleaning the carpets. I do this about every six months, and my parents actually bought a steam-cleaner because they wanted me to do it so often when I lived at home. Here, we have a Safeway 4 blocks away, and it cost me $22 to rent the steam cleaner for a day, and something like $10 for a large bottle of soap for the machine (I'll discuss how that works in a bit, but for me I did my entire 1,000 square foot apartment with about half the bottle). We also cleaned the bathrooms (a chore I detest, and one Roommate E gladly does in exchange for me doing a number of other chores), scrubbed down the kitchen top to bottom, and rearranged our bookcase. The carpets are currently drying, but the whole place feels so clean. It's such a wonderful feeling, and one that, for me, only comes from cleaning the carpets. (though, for you keep-my-sink-spotless types, I used Soft Scrub to scour my sink, and it's gleaming; I love it!)

As a preface to the next section, I'll just say that the carpets in this apartment are almost-white, which is more a hassle than anything else, since high-traffic areas turn gray very fast. So some of the techniques I'm going to describe for high-traffic areas may not matter quite so much if you've got darker carpets that hide dirt well.

That said, here is ( Drew's Primer On Steam-Cleaning CarpetsCollapse )

If anyone has questions about this topic, please feel free to comment here or send me an email (easily found on my userinfo page). Happy spring cleaning!

As promised, I have worked up an HTML file that I can use as my homepage that has clickable links.

The URL for my entry explaining the process: http://www.livejournal.com/users/h…

Done 1hr 30 decluttering so far today (Saturday)

I just joined livejournal yesterday. I had found the Yahoo groups a great motivator in "FLYing", but it looks like livejournal might be much quicker and more convenient for reading posts, and especially the fact that it groups together the replies to a person's post, unlike in Yahoo where you have to wallow through them all, without any indicator of who is replying to who's post! Also very easy here to find out who is who, by clicking on their journal link!
Looking forward to getting to know you all!
Kat

Lifehacks, from metafi.

I hired a cleaning service, three times a week for 3-4 hours. They're making steady progress on completely cleaning the house - cobwebs I couldn't reach, scrubbing down paintwork - and it's been really good.

One big thing? Three hours of work by experienced professionals does NOT equal an immaculate house. Tidier, cleaner, yes. But if they can't reach that standard, then it's even more ludicrous to expect I can immediately. That's been good for all of us in the family to see.

I cleared out more clutter, put up some shelves and sorted heaps of things in hte meantime. Now I'm trying to keep to the GTD and to do a meal planning.

meal planning

I don't really like the FlyLady's food list - it's too western for my family. Plus, do you guys have enormous fridges or something? I bought vegetables for three meals (for six of us), and the veg drawer is packed. I couldn't buy a week's worth at one time.

I'm thinking of choosing a simple menu for five dinners and seven lunches (we eat out at least once or twice, plus leftovers) and doing an online order from the supermarket for Monday morning, then a midweek shop on Thursday for the rest.

How do the rest of you plan and STICK to an organised meal thing?