Dear Friends,

February is Declutter for 15 minutes, and we are going to take full advantage of our time. Monday through Friday this month you will get a new Declutter Mission that follows the Zone we are in. If you have a declutter story or an idea that you have found to be useful please send us an email with MY DECLUTTER STORY in the subject line!

FlyLady Rebecca

February Declutter Mission: #5 Zone #4

Go though all your appliances in the master bathroom today. Do you have old curlers, electric toothbrushes, or water pics you no longer use? Now is the time to get those out!

Dear FlyLady,

This is really a very tiny declutter story, but I find it amusing. I have followed you for many years now, and your messages, missions and  urgings have gotten me absolutely fly-washed. My living room is not even 15 minutes away from guest-ready, but always. Anything lying around if the doorbell rings – well, that’s just what I was doing at the moment. For many, many years my sink gets shined at night and, brace yourself, I sometimes catch myself doing it after every meal, not just at night. I LOVE the freedom of being able to walk into the kitchen, decide what I want to do and have everything in its place and ready for action. When I pass by something that could be better, I think: O, that’s on FlyLady’s list, if you do it now it would look nice again – no timer (sorry), just two minutes (long experience). What’s wrong with right now? I have not changed who I basically am – an ingrained SHE – but I have learned to spot the Hot Spots even as they form (as in: What’s wrong with putting it away NOW? Sometimes I am already on my way somewhere else before the sentence catches up with me, and back I go).

I am now retired and our financial burdens have for the most part been taken care of. For the very only absolutely first time in my life there was money for my own kitchen. Not seconds, no hand-me-downs, no it’ll-have-to-make-do’s, but a real kitchen all of my own choosing! This was the gift of my DH to his wife. It is now seven weeks old, and in the very first days I shined that sink absolutely every time I drew water in it! I let it happen, knowing I would get “normal” in a very short time. Well, imagine my shock of surprise and disgust when, last night, I went to shine my sink and took a good look around! Clutter! Everywhere! Where was my spandy clean wonderful kitchen? All right, I said to my SHEself, this is going to STOP right here. And the really amusing thing is that I caught myself saying to myself: Do you USE this (frequently)? No? Into the cellar storage. Do you NEED this (like daily)? Yes? Find a home for it, right now. (A new kitchen needs a whole bunch of new homes.) Do you LOVE this (as in: do I want it out where I can see it daily)? Then clean up the rest! Fast.

Only then did I realize: FlyLady was at it again! My spandy new kitchen emerged in no time. Many many thanks.

A happy FlyBaby