Two silly questions (Flylady Content)

[Mama Lynx]

1.) For those of you who do Flylady, would you mind sharing some of your before-bed and morning routines? I can't seem to manage these, and I feel like an idiot. I know that your routines will not work for me; however, this is just how my brain works. Once I see some examples of what others do, I can make something that is mine.

 

2.) If you had a nice formal dining room at the front of the house, and a larger, more public, less formal room you were using as an office ... and although you loved the way your pretty formal dining room looked, you were SICK AND TIRED of sitting at your desk in your office and feeling like a secretary in Grand Central Station ... would you swap them?

 

I told you it was silly. Obviously, none of you can answer that question. This is the first time I've had a house that actually kind of looks like grown-ups live here, instead of confused teenagers. We have actual art and everything. Part of me doesn't want to blow that by messing up a pretty dining room. I need you all to tell me that that's just silly. I NEED a more private office, before I hurt people. Tell me it's fine to move my junky desk into the pretty formal dining room, and that it's fine to move the dining table and the nice art into the informal office area!

[muffinmom]

Go ahead and swap them! You can always switch them back if you really hate it. I just did a room swap and I love it, though I was hesitant at first.

 

As for the routines, here are mine:

 

A.M.

 

• shower/makeup/hair/dressed to shoes (I hate going barefoot--feel so much more energy with shoes on!)
  
• read Bible/pray
  
• put on classical music for kids to listen to
  
• make/eat breakfast, take supplements
  
• tidy up kitchen and dining room after breakfast--wipe table, sweep, empty/load dishwasher
  
• dress kids/brush teeth/check that ds has done his a.m. chores
  
• start one load of clothes
  
• start school

Afternoon or break time:

 

 

• try to attack my to-do list, which usually consists of buying something on-line, such as a birthday gift, or making a call, etc.
  
• reboot laundry/fold clothes
  
• straightening here and there
  
• if I can discipline myself (!), to declutter 5 minutes at a time

P.M.

 

• tidy up from dinner--dh usually helps with this
  
• reboot laundry if I haven't already
  
• get kids to pick up their stuff around house
  
• kids ready for bed
  
• wash face, brush teeth
  
• ideally read book or, more realistically, surf the net!
  
• go to sleep

I don't always accomplish everything on each list, but the vast majority of these items have become automatic. It's so great when that happens. But even if I miss a thing or two, tomorrow is another day.

 

Hope this helps, and good luck with yours!

 

ETA: I almost forgot--I make my bed as soon as I get up, I try to exercise after lunch or when dd goes down for afternoon nap, and I often sort laundry at night so I know which load I'll be doing the next day.

[Amy in Orlando]

Definitely swap rooms. We use our dining area as office space and it works so much better for all of us.

 

Morning routine? Not much of a morning person here, but this is what I do. Get up make bed right away so there's no option to climb back in. Flip the laundry. Get some caffeine and wake anyone still sleeping. I get a quick shower and get dressed in clothes I laid out the night before (I don't do the shoe thing though).

 

Evening routine? After I've done my stuff for the evening (making soap, packing orders, paperwork, etc), I tidy the kitchen, get lunches/snacks ready if we're to be out for the day, pull out clothes appropriate for what we're doing the next day, check that I have copies and whatever homeschool stuff I may need the next day easily available, make a quick list of things I want to get done the next day, brush teeth, wash face, go to bed.

 

Given the option, I'd rather stay up and get things done in the evening (when everyone's asleep and not talking to me) than I would get up early and try to attempt the same.

[Staci in MO]

Does that help? I'm all for making your house work for you. Like muffinmom said, you can switch back if you want.

 

My routines in an ideal day:

 

Morning:

 

I get up and have first cup of coffee before dh leaves for work. I usually finish off the rest of the coffee as I read my Bible, check e-mail, and read the online obituaries for my hometown and the town in which I now live. Grim, I know, but it's what I do.

 

Run on the treadmill and a quick shower.

 

Get dressed. I was on to the shoe thing long before I knew about Flylady. I am much more efficient if I wear shoes. My feet hurt if I go barefoot for too long a period, and I think on some subconscious level I know this and sit down more often to prevent it.

 

Put first load of laundry in the washer.

 

Fix kids breakfast.

 

Start school

 

Evening:

 

Supper cleanup

 

sort laundry

 

start dishwasher

 

Bed.

 

I don't lay out clothes for the next day because it doesn't take a lot of prior planning to put out shorts and a t-shirt. :) If we're going somewhere in the morning, I will take a minute to lay out clothes, find shoes, socks, etc.

[Amy in Orlando]

I don't lay out clothes for the next day because it doesn't take a lot of prior planning to put out shorts and a t-shirt. :) If we're going somewhere in the morning, I will take a minute to lay out clothes, find shoes, socks, etc.

 

:lol: This is what I usually wear too, but it is SO hard for me to function in the morning - I can waste 20 minutes looking for a particular t-shirt (you know in case the UPS guy is coming or something :D). It's truly pathetic. Putting it out the night before has totally changed how well our mornings go.

[Ellie]

Bedtime

 

• Take shower
  
• Go to bed and read a book for awhile before turning out the light

Morning

 

• Make the bed as soon as my feet hit the floor
  
• Get dressed before I leave my bedroom (shoes...::shrugs::)
  
• Wash my hair in the kitchen sink, then wash my face (maybe put on make-up)
  
• Have breakfast
  
• Clean the kitchen

Yes, you have my permission to swap your rooms. I'm sure you can make you dining room look pretty when it's in the other room.

[Peela]

I would swap your rooms, because how you FEEL is more important than what it looks like. If it makes you happy to do your work in a nice room, that is more important than being able to display a formal dining room.

Our main loungeroom is our schoolroom for this reason. We like being here most of the day- good views, lots of space and light. On the few times we have guests, we jsut bring them in here or sit in our kitchen/dining area. We are more important than our guests!

 

 

 

 

Before Bed Routine

 

 

 

 

 

The most important routine of the day!

 

 

 

 

1. Clean kitchen and tidy sink

2. Get kids to shower and do teeth

3. Check calendar for tomorrow

4. Lay out clothes for tomorrow, put away dirty clothes

5. Shower, brush teeth, moisturize, progesterone cream

6. Read aloud/ watch tv/ meditate/ read

7. Go to sleep at a reasonable hour

 

 

 

 

Morning Routine

 

 

 

 

 

Start your day flying!

 

 

 

 

1. Rise, sit for meditation

2. Put on exercise clothes and shoes

3. Chi Kung/ walking

4. Spa with Vish

5. Get dressed to shoes, hair and face

6. Swish and swipe bathroom

7. Put on a load of washing

8. Check kids have done chores

9. Breakfast (lots of protein), vitamins, fill water bottle

10. What’s for dinner? Sangha lunch?

11. Check diary/ to do list

 

 

 

Afternoon Routine

 

 

 

 

 

Set the tone for the rest of the day!

 

 

 

 

1. Lunch and water

2. Check with kids they know what to do after lunch

3. Have a rest time for 1 hour

5. Laundry

6. Start dinner

7. Spa

[keptwoman]

I agree, try swapping the rooms. You can always swap back.

 

I am a lapsed Flyladier, in that I only follow bits and my routines are loose but fairly consistent:

 

Before Bed (Like Peela I believe this is most important as it sets the tone for the next day)

 

Tidy the kitchen, load and turn on the dishwasher

Check my calender for the next day

Print out the childrens task list for the next day

If we will be out early to something I get things ready for this now

Dirty clothes in hamper, clean clothes away

 

Morning:

Get up, I don't get dressed unless we are heading out early. I probably should do it more often.

Make the bed, open the curtains.

Get the laundry from upstairs and take it down to the washer and put on a load

Get DD breakfast and get me coffee and toast

Sit down at the computer for breakfast

Once the DC are working I empty the dishwasher, sort out the kitchen after breakfast and hang out the washing.

[One Busy Mom of 5]

Loved the lists...

Without boring you with my similar schedules, around here are 2 musts:

 

Make beds in morning-makes rooms so much neater and more inviting. We use to not, but once we started, I could never go back. We have been doing this for a year or so now.

 

Get dressed down to the shoes! This makes you ready for anything and ready to accomplish more. Housecoats are an absolute bad idea, they make me so-o-o lazy! My new best friends are my crocks (though not new, they are actually getting worn out). I wear them all day around the house and I can run to mailbox, go for a walk... I'm always ready, and they spare my feet from crunching on cheerios, fruit loops, and other things my kids drop along their path. :tongue_smilie:

 

And of course, clean the kitchen sink. :)... I know, that's 3...but my brain is only 1/32 and I can't count. :O lol

Edited March 27, 2010 by One Busy Mom of 5

[Wheres Toto]

How often do you use your formal dining room? If its pretty infrequent, definitely switch. Why keep a room for nothing but looking pretty? Although I can sympathize with having one area of the house that is "adult". We've made a lot of unusual decisions for our house due to lack of space and very infrequent company. Our only company tends to be family anyway and they can deal.

 

I'm a Fly-Lady drop out but I try to do some things:

 

Bedtime Routine:

Shower

Dishes/Clean Counters

Sit down with little guys for Quiet time and hope they fall asleep (they seem to get a second wind around 9pm).

 

Morning Routine:

Wake up when YDD gets up, run her into bathroom so she can pee on the potty before overflowing her nighttime pull-up.

Drive ODD to school if its a week she's here (every other) -or-

Stagger into kitchen for cup of tea while younger kids watch Team Umizoomi or Magic School Bus.

Check calendar, email and bank balance.

On Mondays - start laundry

Unload dishwasher so daytime dishes can be loaded right away.

Open curtains in kids room so its not so dark in there.

 

None of us get dressed unless we're going out of the house (and dropping dd off at school doesn't count). In my blog pictures, the kids are almost always in their pj's. :tongue_smilie:

[BabyBre]

I fell off my official FlyLady wagon a couple years ago, but the one thing that has stuck the best, that I could NEVER quit and go back to the old way, was laundry. Put in a load a day in the morning, fold the load from yesterday, and put it away when I go to wake the kids. Done and done! Never piles up, and I'm never stuck folding for an hour.