Not Another C.O.D Blog!

No, I am not referring to the popular video game, Call of Duty. I am referring to Cleaning, Organising and Decluttering. I have decided that there are enough blogs and websites on these topics already out there on the interweb, so I will not add to them. I will not post hints and tips that can be found on dozens of other sites.

This blog was not intended for that. It was intended to document my journey from frazzled to FLYing. I do not need to offer reconstituted advice in order to do that. I will fight the temptation. What I will do however is post how these oodles of sites have and will help me to better my life and house. I am going to give this thing another crack. I have decided to step away from The FlyLady way and forge my own path. Don’t get me wrong, alot of her writings will proivde the foundations of my new lifestyle (and workstyle) but I am going to make it suit me and my home and family. Yes, I will establish routines and declutter my home. No, I will not obsess about keeping my sink shining or wear shoes everyday. I am going to “go with the flow” and take each day as it comes.

A good example of this happened last week. I spent the best part of the day cuddling my beautiful son on the couch. In my pyjamas. I also completed two loads of laundry and washed a whole heap of dishes. In my pyjamas. Bare-foot. And you know what? I loved it. Sure, I do not want every day to be like that day but it was a nice change.

From April 1st I will be re-doing The Organised Housewife’s 20 Days to a Clean Home Challenge. I will be posting each day’s tasks in my facebook group Housework Honeys. I am still wanting to help others that are just as overwhelmed by their homes as I am and was, I am just going to do it a little differently. Why reinvent the wheel? I will never claim anyone else’s work as my own, I believe in giving credit where credit is due.

I am not making any promises of keeping this blog updated on a daily, or even a weekly basis. I will write when and if I want to write, instead of empty promises and hollow content. If you will stay the course with me, I will be glad of your company. It can be a pretty lonely world, this SAHM business. So let’s move on from the past and get ready for some not-so-smooth sailing ahead on the seas of life!

P.S – Do you think I should use my MummaLish facebook page more often? e.g posting blog updates etc? Thanks for your feedback

The Wheels Keep a’Rolling

Hello to my wonderful readers, if there are any of you left. A thousand apologies for my prolonged absence, hopefully I’ll be around a bit more often now.

I have been meaning to write here for a while, though the longer I left it the more anxious I got about finding something to write about. I finally decided that there’s unlikely to be a “perfect post ” anytime soon and that I just need to write something, anything.

So here I am. Lying on the couch on a Friday morning before I go to my ABA meeting. Ryder is standing up at one of the armchairs playing and occasionally paying attention to Sesame Street. He will be one in just a couple of weeks. We are traveling to Perth for Christmas this year, to spend it with my Mum and James’s family. We are also moving house in 7 weeks. To say the next few months will be busy is an understatement. I have only managed to pack one box so far, that is only because we need to get some boxes to pack with. I am doing a massive declutter as I pack. In packing one box I ended up doing three 27 fling boogies. I am hoping there will be plenty more where that came from. We will not be moving far, we will be staying in the same neighborhood that we are currently in. That doesn’t mean its ok to move unnecessary clutter though. There are still some boxes that have not even been unpacked since we moved in January. Enough’s enough!

I am waging a war on clutter! I have divided the house into 20 sections for decluttering and packing. I am going to aim to tackle 4 sections each week, leaving some wiggle room for Christmas etc. I really do not want to leave everything to the last minute, as that will guarantee moving clutter to be dealt with “later”.

Will you join me in a whole house declutter? Do you have any tips on decluttering or moving house? Especially with a 1 year old?

Starting Again at 2pm

This is a kind of continuation of my previous post about using technology for better organisation and time management. Remember me talking about the Tasks Free app I have been using? Well, it’s been getting a workout! I have made a list of tasks for the 20 Day Challenge, from Day 1 to Day 20. I also put due dates on each task, one per day for twenty days. I put the due time for 2pm, so I can either be reminded to do it or tick it off as done. In order to remember to check the daily task, I have also set an alarm on my phone for 2pm every day. I find this to be a perfect time to ‘restart’ my day; having something to eat, putting my shoes back on if I’ve kicked them off etc. It is not so late in the day that I am busy preparing dinner or too late to do a load of washing if need be, yet not so early as to be interrupting my morning routine or lunch. Ryder usually has a nap just before 2pm so this just adds to the benefits. It usually gives me just enough time to check what the task is and make a good dent in it before he either wants to get up or be resettled. Today was Day 3 of the challenge using my task/alarm combo and it is working great! Today’s challenge was to wipe down all surfaces and walls in the laundry and clean the floor. So far I’ve given the sink a good clean out and am about to go tackle the shelves. We have an outdoor laundry that doubles as a shed and at the moment there is a path from the door to the washing machine and out again, so doing the walls and floor today is just not happening. We have a kerbside collection next week so hopefully we can declutter the laundry/shed this week and get rid of some junk! Anyway folks, im off to clean the shelves that are used for laundry purposes and maybe make a start on the floor chaos. Wish me luck!

Syncing to FLY

Technology is a wonderful thing, once you know how to use it and after today’s effort I am feeling very tech-savvy.

I have discovered a pair of helpful features that will help make my life much less chaotic and much more streamlined. I am talking about Google Tasks and Google Calendar. Now some of you may be wondering which rock I just crawled out from under, as these aren’t exactly brand-new features, but they are new to me.

I use Gmail for my emails and have a (new) Android phone, both powered by Google. It seems only natural to make use of Google’s other products to get the most out of my ‘loyalty’.

Google Tasks is accessible right from my inbox! It is your typical to-do list, complete with the ability to create multiple lists and clear completed tasks in one foul swoop. Simple to use, yet highly effective. I can add and remove tasks from the comfort of my inbox, perfect for those emails requiring offline action.

Google Calendar is next. This is also accessible from your Gmail inbox, though it opens in a new browser tab. I love the grid layout, the blocks of colour for appointments is a great visual representation of what’s happening when. I am considering using this as a log of sorts to track how much time I spend on certain tasks, in order to better manage my time.

To bring the whole package together, Google Tasks and Calendar synchronise information so everything is consistent. Perfect when a “to-do” has a due date, you’ll never forget to-do it! This synchronising of data also extends to smart phones. As Google and Android are partners, the pre-installed Calendar app is in fact Google Calendar. This app can automatically sync with that on your computer, keeping everything up to date whether at home, work or somewhere in between.

I will be using these features together to optimise my productivity and time management, particularly to keep track of my ABA and study commitments. As I read an email with an important date on it I can add it to my calendar and any preparation added to my tasks. If I am out and about and a friend wants to know when we can catch up, I can instantly check my calendar on my phone to ensure commitments dont clash.

Google Tasks has similar smartphone-computer syncing abilities. I am currently using an app called Tasks Free and it is fantastic. I can see myself making a shopping list on the computer whilst menu planning, then having my phone to tick things off as they are put in the trolley! How handy is that?

I have added ‘sync calendars’ to my before bed routine so I can keep my wall calendar and diary up to date too. Whew! So much syncing, maybe now I can FLY! Have you embraced technology to assist in your organizational journey? Do you have any app or website recommendations as an alternative approach to mine? Are you still very much a pen and paper person? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

FLY With Me – Day 29

Well today seems to have flown by, with little to show for it. I had an X-ray done on my right hand, I have a lump on the back of my hand that is quite noticeable when I bend my hand. I’ve never really paid much attention to it and the doctor says it could just be ‘a variation of normal.’ I have Occupational Overuse Syndrome in the same hand from doing exactly what I’m doing right now, using my phone to blog. I occasionally get shooting pains in my hand to the point of dropping what I’m holding.

Tomorrow I’ll be tackling our bedroom and I will set my laptop back up to use for blogging. I really want to get a small netbook (mini laptop) to use in bed, travel etc. But everything costs money, which we seem to be lacking at the moment. Maybe I’ll ask for donations as birthday and Xmas presents.

I got my brother to wash some dishes today while I tidied the kitchen. I still need to clean the stove and floor before the inspection, along with any dishes between now and then.

Ryder has been asleep in my arms for over an hour now while I watched a movie on TV. It’s nice to be ‘forced’ to relax sometimes. The upcoming inspection is just the motivation I need to really clean the house to a respectable standard in a short amount of time. Once it is done I’m hoping to start doing FlyLady’s daily missions to keep up with it. By having the entire house clean at once I can better focus on decluttering and finishing projects.

I am off to bed shortly, after I drink another bottle of water. I haven’t missed any stickers so far and I don’t intend to start now!

FLY With Me – Days 27 & 28

Sorry for not posting, here’s the progress report for the past two days.

I have been making real progress with my studies, so I am proud of myself for that. I have also been cleaning around the house, but it doesn’t look like it now. I found out yesterday we have a rent inspection next Wednesday, so I must get stuck in. Using my zone lists I am going to tackle one zone each day until the house is clean. Ryder has just gone down for a nap so I am going to put a load of washing on then get stuck into the dishes. I’ll post again this evening with my progress.

FLY With Me – Day 26

I am definitely going to sleep well tonight! I hope. Today I cleaned the lounge room and most of the kitchen, walked to the shop and back twice and baked an epic cake. I also washed and hung out a load of washing as well as folding another load. I forgot to bring in the washing though, I hope it doesn’t rain tonight. I also had a visit from my best friend today. I am definitely ready for sleep!

Ryder turned 8 months old today, I am still trying to figure out where the time went. We are off to the child health nurse tomorrow for his 8 month checkup, hopefully she is as impressed with his progress as I am. For the past few weeks we have switched to the Baby Led Weaning approach to solids and it has been fantastic. By feeding himself, Ryder is enjoying food more, and eating a greater variety of food. Tonight he had pieces of sausage dipped in mashed potato. He thought it was more fun covering his clothes in mashed potato than actually eating it, but he did still eat some of it. He loves crumpets and toast, and likes chicken and fish too. I may cook steak tomorrow, so we’ll see how he goes with that.

I definitely learnt my sticker today, drinking an extra 4 cups of water! James even let me put a sticker up for yesterday because I did so much today. Maybe I can earn extra stickers if I do extra work! I still haven’t decided what I want to buy at the end of the month, but i’m thinking of buying the sidetracked home executives book and setting up a card file system. I’m still undecided though, having a list to check off is working, should I risk jeopardising it for something that may not work so well? I suppose I can just go back to the list if the cards don’t work out. Seems like it could be wasted effort setting up the card file if I don’t use it though. What do you think? I’ve got until the end of the month to decide, but some input would be nice. I’ll leave it with you, I’m going to do today’s country then get some sleep. Goodnight!

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The FlyLady

FLY With Me – Day 25

Curled up in bed feeding Ryder to sleep and it’s only 8pm. It’s been one of those days, can’t wait for it to be over. Nothing particularly horrible happened but I just feel drained. Maybe an early night is the best thing for me. I don’t think I’ve been drinking enough water today, drinking Coke certainly wouldn’t help.

I have decided that I am not going to sit down at my computer until my daily routine is done and my current cross stitch project is finished. I am too good at procrastinating! I will be working on the cross stitch once I finish posting this, but it’ll be lights out at 9. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

At last check my views for all time was sitting at 976. As I promised when I first started this blog, I will bake a cake when that number hits 1000. True to my word I have everything I need to make a deliciously devillish cake at the signal. Fingers crossed it will be tomorrow. Only 24 more views to hit the target!

That’s all from me tonight, see you at 1000!

FLY With Me – Day 23

An early post from me today. I have just finished uploading today’s ABC, which is Barbados. I also uploaded the pictures for Austria’s flower and flag.

I must say, for half the day my lounge room looked fantastic! There was nothing on the floor, the carpet was vacuumed, it looked nice. Not so much now. Ryder decided it would be a good idea to pull out wipes from the container one at a time, then shred a newspaper. So much for my clean floor! Ah well.

I also managed to completely declutter and sort two drawers of my filing cabinet that were full of ‘stuff’. Yesterday I set up the filing system in the top drawer, with labels and everything! Feels nice to be able find a specific piece of paper esily when needed.

The kitchen still isn’t finished as I focused on the lounge room today. There is only one rack of dishes to do and a bench to wipe down though so it’s not going to take long once I decide to do it. I may do the dishes while I cook dinner tonight. Chicken Peanut Satay. Mmmm. Also on the list for the kitchen is to clean the stovetop, then it’s just the floor left. I’m hoping to sweep and mop before I head to bed tonight.

Tomorrow is another ABA meeting, which I am looing forward to as always. It is World Breastfeeding Week this week, so we are having some guest speakers come and talk to us. I am up-to-date with my current study unit, so have decided to take the rest of the night off to work on this cross-stitch project. I’m so close to finishing it, I just want it done! I’m really keen to start on James’ Grim Reaper cross stitch, it will definitely be a challenging project. At least it is only full cross stitches, no backstitching or quarter stitches! Once that one is done and dusted I will start on the beautiful birth announcement kit I bought for Ryder. It will be another challenge, with so many colours in it.

Anyway folks, I’m right on track to earn another sticker tonight, just 3 more glasses of water and I’m set! Take care and keep FLYing!