Baby steps, day twenty-eight

[serene]

I'm not yet jaded about the joy of waking up to a clean kitchen and a generally unfucked house. It's been four weeks, and some things still need work (my desk; the bathroom; the storeroom), but basically, we can move around and live in here without tripping over junk, and I can cook whenever I want without having to wash dishes and pots first. I will call that a win. The morning routines list is the cornerstone of this. I am happy with it.

If I don't take any breaks, day thirty-one will be on Monday, and I'm going to try to take the same photos I took at the beginning, to see the change.



(The baby steps are at this FlyLady link.) I'm adding "(and do 15 minutes of decluttering)" to every day's tasks, because until I get rid of the clutter, I'll never get on top of the cleaning.

Day One: Shine the sink
Day Two: Get dressed to lace-up shoes
Day Three: Read FlyLady BigTent emails
Day Four: Look at sticky note (in bathroom and kitchen)
Day Five: Write down negative things you're saying to yourself, then write down positive stuff to counter that
Day Six: Spend two minutes on a Hot Spot
Day Seven: Pick out clothes for tomorrow
Day Eight: Make binder for control journal
Day Nine: Add a five-minute room rescue to your Morning Routine.
Day Ten: Set your timer for 15 minutes and go gather up all the trash you can find to throw away and put it in the garbage can outside. Then set your timer for another 15 minutes and sit down and put your feet up and read a favorite magazine until the timer goes off.
Day Eleven: Spend 15 minutes writing down some of your favorite inspirational phrases on a new Control Journal page.
Day Twelve: Delete from your inbox all the e-mails from FlyLady.
Day Thirteen: Find one of Kelly’s missions and go and do it.
Day Fourteen: Today, go read the essay that Kelly wrote about using a calendar.
Day Fifteen: Add making your bed to your morning routine.
Day Sixteen: Read a FlyLady email
Day Seventeen: Set a specific bed time and stick to it.
Day Eighteen: Read the Eleven Commandments.
Day Nineteen: Read http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-19/
Day Twenty: Include laundry in your morning and evening routines.
Day Twenty-one: Read the Ask FlyLady page
Day Twenty-two: Learn how to build your own control journal in 15 steps.
Day Twenty-three: Make a new page in your Control Journal for your Afternoon Routine.
Day Twenty-four: One of the things that make our home always ready for company is the fact that our main bathroom is clean. Add the Swish and Swipe to your Morning Routine.
Day Twenty-five: Read FlyLady’s personal testimonial.
Day Twenty-six: Look at the bottom of any e-mail you’ve received from the FlyLady BigTent group. Read the first sentence and incorporate it into FLYing!
Day Twenty-seven: What’s for dinner tonight?



Day Twenty-eight: Many times when we can’t seem to get going, it is because we are not taking care of ourselves by eating right, drinking our water, or getting enough sleep. As part of your routines, remind yourself to eat good food, drink your water, and get your rest.

I think that menu planning needs to return to my weekly routine. It fell by the wayside when I was on furlough, because if you have all day to figure out what's for dinner and cook it, planning isn't really that important.

And that brings me to a need I've already been sensing: a need for some kind of weekly plan. This will be especially helpful when school starts. If we can just plug away at a small weekly list of maintenance chores, I think the place will get better instead of worse while I'm spending most of my spare time studying.

Quick decluttering note: This past week, I've taken one paper grocery bag a day, stuffed full of clothes my mom bought me at a big yard sale, to a co-worker who is roughly my size. The ones she doesn't want, I'm donating to a nonprofit clothing sale here in town.So I've decluttered my closet by a big huge chunk this week, but I didn't take photos.

Comments

[ailbhe]

Oh you are inspiring!