Laundry. Day 20 of Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home

We now have seven people in our home. SEVEN! Seven people wear a lot of clothes. Especially when one of them is a baby who sucks her hand between spoon-fed bites and then holds her toes and the food goes everywhere in between....and four of them are of the little-boy variety who play hard, in dirty things, every day.

So, we have a lot of laundry. I remember when I was in college & in my single days when I could go a week (or more!) without doing my laundry. Those days are long since done, and the habit I've learned would have been helpful even then.

What is that habit, you may ask? How do you stay on top of the laundry when THERE'S JUST SO MUCH OF IT!? You make laundry part of your routine. Which just so happens to be Flylady's babystep #20.

This means that I do laundry EVERY DAY. Well, 6 days a week. It's just part of my morning routine which looks like this:

1. Make my bed
2. Get dressed to shoes
3. Feed baby
4. Wake other kids
5. START A LOAD OF LAUNDRY
6. Prep & drink smoothies
7. Prep school lunches
8. Cleanup kitchen/empty dishwasher
   
9. Baby to nap
10. HANG CLOTHES OUT TO DRY/laundry "reboot"

I do this every day, with slight variations. If I do one FULL load each day, it's almost enough. Add an extra load or two for towels & sheets and we're good to go. In addition to this, we do a load of cloth diapers each night. In the morning they are dried and ready to put away (this job belongs to my four year old).

My biggest challenge with the laundry is not the washing and the drying. Even the folding I've gotten a new system for: since I'm line drying, I realized that I must handle each piece of clothing separately as I take it off of the line. So, I add a few seconds for each one and FOLD IT AS I TAKE IT OFF THE LINE AND PUT IT INTO THE BASKET ALREADY FOLDED! I was excited when I realized I could save time like that.



No, the challenge is putting the clothes away. I do have a time in my schedule that is supposed to be for this, but I've gotten behind most days and needed to skip this step. And, the drawers are so full that there's no place to put things. So everyone lives out of the laundry basket. It's no good.





Today, I'm going to actually use the time that's supposed to be set aside for putting away the laundry to fold and put away the laundry. That will mean that we must eat our lunch on time and stick to the schedule I worked hard to put together. Then I'll be able to see this.

Which feels good.

Making My Bed. Day 15 of Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home

Babystep 15 is to make your bed.

I have had this habit (regularly) for more than a year now. I love the way it makes my room look; even if other things are out, the bed being made sets the tone.

When I bought my first down comforter for the winter here (I'm from Miami; I never had one before), I was introduced to the concept of having a duvet cover for the comforter, and not using a top sheet. Using one of these makes making the bed so much easier. I used to pull the top sheet up under the bedspread, and then fold both over, exposing the top sheet. Yes, it looked very pretty, but it made making the bed take much longer than it should and therefore I didn't do it so much.

Now I use the duvet cover even in the summertime (with a lightweight blanket, or even empty if it's hot enough) and all I have to do is pull it up to the top of the bed before putting the pillows on.

That first duvet cover was white with eyelet. Very pretty and elegant. But, after a while, I realized that I was very bored with the lack of color and was not motivated to keep it nice.

So, I went and bought this pretty happy one. It makes me smile and that's the best motivation to keeping your room neat. If you don't like your bedclothes, go buy new ones! They really do not cost much and are so worth it. I have one set for the spring and fall and a different one for the summer and winter. That way I don't get bored.

If you don't have the habit of making your bed, keep this in mind: you have to do it IMMEDIATELY when you get up. If you wait, it doesn't get done. That was the most important thing to learn.

Enjoy your beautiful bedroom!

I Can't Catch Up. Day 14 of Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home

You Can't Catch Up. It's impossible.

This is a very important concept in life. Things keep moving, and it's almost certain that you won't keep up with everything. But what you do when you realize you're "behind", and more importantly how you feel about it will make all the difference in what you do next.

I'm struggling with these flylady babysteps. I'm falling back into the same habits I had before I began them again: I haven't done the 15 minutes of decluttering every day. In fact, I haven't done 15 minutes since I posted my success with it. That was days ago. Two minute hotspot, yes. Room rescue, yes, sort of(if you count me delegating it, but not if I do one myself). Daily mission, not so much.

I think my very favorite concept of Flylady's is "You are not behind. Don't try to catch up. Just jump in where you are."

I'm never going to catch up. I really need to just do what I can today. It's a new day, a fairly new week (we have Sunday as a work day here, so Monday is the second day for me). I'm going to ditch the guilt I feel and jump in where I am.

I'm also going to prioritize those things I seem to have a very difficult time getting done. I'm going to call my 15 minutes today my frog and eat it as soon as I can. I'd say "first", but with other household things that must happen in the morning, it's not possible. If you aren't familiar with the "eat the frog" concept, enjoy this short (1 minute) video. I wanted to embed the player but it won't let me. Very worthwhile.

I'm glad that today's babystep is to read an essay about calendars and how/why to use them properly. I can handle doing that while still focusing on my frog.

What's your frog today? What are you procrastinating on?

Your Mission For Today: Day 13 of Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home

On Day 13 of Flylady's babysteps, we are to choose one of Kelly's missions and do it.

I love the way this is done. Each day, Kelly sends out one "mission" to accomplish. It's something in the current zone, and usually will take less than 15 minutes. By dividing the house up into 5 zones and focusing a little extra time in it each day for the week, our houses can stay reasonably clean without much effort.

I need help with this. Just like regularly doing the 15 minutes of decluttering, I struggle to get it done, even though it really only takes a few minutes.

But they really do work.

This is a link to Kelly's missions; they are posted daily and remain for the week.

This past week we were in the Kitchen zone. My favorite mission from that zone is the deep wipedown of the counter. I have a large countertop and need to spend most of that time putting things away that seem to collect there (beyond regular putting away kind of stuff), so I'll usually do 15 mins + a little. And it might not all get done, but that's ok.

I won't get blown up if I don't get it done!

Push Delete. Day 12 of Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home Day 8

On Day 12 of the Flylady's babysteps, we are instructed to delete all of the emails that have been piling up. I really like this.

I've been on the mailing list for a couple of years. The reminders are good. The testimonials really are helpful and inspiring, and it's good to realize that it's ok to not read them all. In fact, lately, I haven't been reading much of them at all. And that's ok, since I've been exposed to this system for a while already. But if you are really just starting out, read a few each day. Then delete the rest.

Just like decluttering, just like taking out the trash, deleting emails and blog posts in my reader I haven't read and don't really need to helps me to get rid of guilt. I have so many things I'd like to do, I want to do, but just don't seem to have time for. I don't want to be reminded of what I am not doing.

So go ahead, push that button. It feels good.

More emails will come along.

You Can Do Anything for 15 Minutes! Babystep Challenge to a Peaceful Home Day 10

You can do anything for 15 minutes.

Yes, anything. Things you don't want to do. Things you think you can't do. Things you think you shouldn't bother with because you think it won't make a difference.

You can. You should. It WILL make a difference.

How do I know? I learned from Flylady. Over and over I am amazed at what 15 minutes of focused time will do. And then I don't do it (see, it hasn't become a habit), and then when I do it again, I am amazed. Again.




This is my entrance hall. The view from our dining table (lovely for ambiance, isn't it?) and the view as you walk in the front door.







How welcoming.










FOUR minutes it took me to make it like this. FOUR.
Including quickly spraying it down & giving it a wipe. I've been looking at that stuff for DAYS, thinking I didn't have time to do anything about it and wishing someone else would, feeling a little sorry for myself that I have such a messy place and obviously I can't handle this by myself...



A little more welcoming, don't you think?

















What am I going to do with 11 more minutes?














This. This is our liquor cabinet & we also keep our keys&sunglasses basket here. As you can see on top, it's also got bottles up there. I hate that. Besides looking messy, it makes it seem like we must drink a LOT. Which we don't. And off in that little nook there is stuff piled on those drawers.


And here's what it looked like afterward. Notice the CLEAR SURFACE!



















Still 3:33 on the timer. (yes, I stopped it to take the pictures!) What else?



This is our hall closet. It has a curtain that falls down when my toddler plays with it because it's not really attached. It's been down for days, and I just "haven't had the time" to fix it.












And here it is with the curtain. Much better.














Still 2 minutes on the timer. I guess I can take care of this little hot spot.






















You can do anything for 15 minutes. I dare you!

Declutter. Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home Day 9

This is where the challenge heats up for me. Where it becomes....a challenge. Where I have fallen short in the past.

I've done these things before, but I've not made it a habit to do it every day. And it NEEDS to be done every day.

Flylady's babystep #9 says to declutter a few minutes at a time. I have a few minutes. I'm sure I do. I just don't know where I left them. Have you seen my few minutes? Maybe they're hiding under all this stuff...

A 5 minute room rescue is the assignment. I can do that. I'm going to take 5 minutes before I go to bed and see what I can do with all those clothes that get piled up. You know the pile. It's the not quite dirty but not clean.....unless it's the clean laundry that didn't get put away.

I'm tired. I want to go to bed. But, how can I say I don't have five minutes? I can't. Because I do. And afterward, I'll be glad I did it.

Here's Flylady's explanation on how to declutter.

What have you decluttered today?

3 Ring Binder-Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home Day 8

And we are on day #8 of the Babystep Challenge to a Peaceful Home, following Flylady's recommendations.

This is easy. Get a 3 ring binder and put paper in it. Of course, we all have office supplies hanging around the house. I love office supplies! I LOVE to go to Office Depot and walk around looking at all the things....weird. But I bet lots of you are the same way.


This is where I write down my morning and evening routines; one on each page. I've already been practicing them all week. Now I have them written down so that I can check them off and make sure I don't forget anything.

I'm still cheating a little because most of these have already been habits of mine, and I already had them written in my Control Journal. But, I look forward to re-doing whatever needs to be fixed as I go through these babysteps again.

Pick Out Your Clothes For Tomorrow--Babystep #7

I love this one. But mostly for the children.

In the morning, it's chaotic enough to get everybody ready for the day without all of us still needing to pick out our clothes. Inevitably a child will tell me that he can't find socks, or a shirt. (This is because I really need help getting the stuff folded & put away; but I'm working on that. ) Here's one of the ways I help myself to get the laundry put away.

So, I figured, since it's so helpful for me to pick out my clothes the night before, just think what a help it is for my kids to do it! And it is. It gives me time to find the missing piece while we're not hurrying.

As for me....yes, it's a good habit. But, honestly, I don't have a huge wardrobe. I usually rotate between the 3 or 4 things that are my favorite for the time of the year. Since I stay home most days, nobody sees me. So, I don't really mind that my clothes are repeated frequently. I don't change my jewelry, so this is a simple one.

It takes me about 1 minute to grab a comfortable dress, my underclothes, socks, & lace up shoes. If I worked outside the home or wore more complicated outfits, I'm sure this habit would make even more of a difference!

And in the morning, it's one less thing I need to do. I like that.

How about you?

Hotspots--Babystep Challenge Day #6

Time for Flylady's Babystep #6: spend 2 minutes putting out a HotSpot. What is a Hot Spot, you ask? Well, it's a cluttered area that tends to attract more clutter. It's your dumping ground. It's the first thing you see when you walk into a room that makes the room look messy and makes you feel...YUCK. Here's where Flylady explains what a Hot Spot is on her website.

This is my biggest and most frequent Hot Spot: our dining table. Here is a picture of what it looked like before 2 minutes of clearing it.

You can see that my "desk" area is so cluttered that I'd have to clear a spot just to be able to work. And even if I did that, it would hardly be peaceful enough to promote productivity.

































But, after just TWO MINUTES, now look. Pretty, peaceful. And I even changed my location to have a better view, lit a scented candle, have the flowers in sight, and a cup of herbal tea. MUCH better.
And it only took 2 minutes.

Well, 2 minutes plus the time to move & light the candle & make my tea. Still. ;)


In our homes, hotspots can take over. But deal with it regularly, when it is small, and it changes everything.

It's a good babystep for me; I need to do it regularly.

"Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark."

How are your babysteps coming?

Wanna join in? C'mon, it's fun!


In case you missed it, here's why I'm doing this.
And my posts on Babysteps #1, #2, #3, #4.

If you've posted your hotspot babystep, Leave a link with your comment so that we can all share in each other's progress.

Babystep Challenge Day 4- Write These Things Down

Day 4- Write These Things Down.

Writing down what we need to do reminds us. I definitely need this, but I think I don't. This is the danger. I keep it all in my head, and most of it I remember. But some of it I just don't fit in, and I let it just go....

I have a decent Control Journal. It sits on my counter, buried under papers that I never get to.

I don't use it much.

I'll start it again.

Do you put post its up around the house? What works for you to remember what you need to do next?

Do What We Have Already Done-Flylady's Babystep #3

Today, Day 3 of Flylady's Babysteps is to do what we have already done. Which is:

1. Keeping your sink shining (my step 1 post here)
   
2. Getting up and getting dressed to lace up shoes. (my step #2 post here)

Why am I starting again with Flylady's Baby Steps? Read here to find out.

Today has been a very busy day with grocery shopping and trying to get back on schedule after that. So, I'm glad there is not a new action for today. I'm content to just "do what we have already done"

And, I LOVE the enthusiasm so many are showing. I love the accountability I'm getting by posting publicly, and I'm having fun. So, today I'm just enjoying knowing where these Babysteps will take me.....

Imagine the peaceful home that is awaiting.

You can do it too! Join in, even if you haven't started. Start now.

My Lace Up Shoes-Flylady Babystep #2

Yesterday I practiced Babystep #2: Get Dressed To Lace Up Shoes.

This means getting completely dressed, right away, including hair and face. You act differently, more professionally, when you have clothes and shoes on. When I do this I am ready for anything that might come up (or anyone who might come to the door).

To read Flylady's complete explanation of why to do this, go here.

This is a good habit and is not one I struggle with. Well, now that my baby is almost 10 months and I'm not up at all hours nursing her. With a tiny baby, I'm lucky if I am able to get dressed at all. Or shower. Or have time to use the bathroom.

Wait a minute, I still don't get a moment of peace in there!

But I digress.

As I was saying, I have already made this a habit of mine and so I won't pretend it's new to me. But, I will say that it's a good one. I get all the way dressed before I wake the children. My shoes tell my brain that it's time to go to work.

And, off to work I go!


Did you get dressed to shoes today?

If you want to know more about this series, read this post to know why I'm doing this.


I've noticed that some others are blogging their Babystep Challenge Experience. Let's get together on it! If you have a relevant post, add it below in the Mister Linky! After doing that, please link back to this post so we can all share. Thanks!

It's Shiny, All Right!

Here it is: my shiny sink. I was so excited to have a stainless steel sink when we moved into this house 2 years ago, since my last one was ceramic that looked dingy unless I bleached it at least once a week. So, I never bothered with that step with this one since I always thought it didn't need it.

Now it's cleaner than it was before. Looks great.

How's yours coming?
















I even emptied the dishdrain before I went to bed. I never do that. And it sure did smile at me this morning!

For more about this, read my first post in this series, or visit Flylady.net.

Flylady's Beginner's Baby Steps-Works For Me Wednesday

I was brought up well. I was taught manners and grooming, responsibility and morals. I graduated as an honor student, went to college and got a Bachelor's degree. And then I went to graduate school and got a Doctorate in Chiropractic. I studied hard, worked hard, learned a lot. I'm no brain surgeon, but I consider myself a fairly intelligent, hard working person.

So, when it came to cooking and cleaning my home, staying on top of things, I figured I could handle it.

HA.

I repeat. HA HA.

After a few years of floundering around, feeling like a failure because I couldn't manage my home, I found Flylady.net.

Flylady is an online coach/fairy godmother who lovingly nudges you with very specific instructions that are easy to follow. And if you follow them, you can have a peaceful home with everything in order. No more CHAOS (Can't Have Anybody Over Syndrome).

Now, I'm not new to the Flylady system. I've been "using" it for a few years now. I put "using" in quotes, because although I've learned a ton and made many changes, there are a few things I just haven't made habits yet. Things that really are preventing me from having the peace I want in my home.

A few of my friends on twitter have decided to begin again with Flylady. And I'm joining in. It begins with the Beginner's Babysteps.

Step 1 is to Go Shine Your Kitchen Sink. If you want to know why, you're better off checking out the source.

I'm glad that I can start again, at any point. Taking babysteps is something that I know Works For Me.

If you want to jump in and join us, let me know! Leave a comment!

I'll be posting the daily baby step assignment as well as my progress. Stay tuned for pictures of my shiny sink!

For more WFMW, go to WeAreThatFamily.com