Tag: minimal home

Baby Step #6: Two Minute Hot Spot

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All right, I was excited to actually clean something.

Just to be clear, I’ve been cleaning my house. I’ve been sweeping and I even mopped! (I haven’t mopped the floor in quite a long time.) I’ve been doing laundry and my dishes. My goal here is to get into good routines, though.

Honestly, I haven’t been accomplishing everything on my morning routine. I’m getting there, though. Baby Steps #7 and #8 really dive into morning and evening routines.

Let’s talk about Baby Step #6. What is a Hot Spot???

If you’ve read or are reading Martha Cilley’s book, Sink Reflections, chapter three talks all about CLUTTER and HOT SPOTS in our home. I think I will give CLUTTER it’s own post later.

I will tell you this, Clutter loves Hot Spots. Here’s the definition of a HOT SPOT: A Hot Spot is an area that, when left unattended, gradually and insidiously takes over your home. If left unattended the Hot Spot will grow and take over the whole room as well as make the house look awful.

Today’s job is to pick a Hot Spot and set my timer for two minutes and put stuff away. Identifying a Hot Spot was not difficult; I have many. I picked the first eye sore that caught my attention when I entered my house, my ledge by the front door.

The point is to pick up and put away for two minutes and then stop. You can do anything for two minutes, right? I was able to clear it off in two minutes, though.

I wish I had thought to take a before picture. Trust me. It was piled with stuff.

So now, I’m going to add “Two Minute Hot Spot” to my routines (probably evening routine). I’ll hit this one everyday and if it’s already clear, I’ll move on to another Hot Spot.

Every home has HOT SPOTS. I made a list of all my Hot Spots on a sticky note. I have NINE!!! Here the 5 most problematic spots. I picked the ledge first because it was one of the first things I noticed and I knew I could clear it quickly.

Give yourself an easy win. Pick the most noticeable or easiest Hot Spot first.

Other Hot Spots I Need To Tackle:

  • Red cabinet by the front door
  • Entry way dresser
  • Kitchen counter
  • My bedroom dresser top

Did you miss Steps #1-#5?

Baby Step #4: Sticky Notes

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TWO WORDS: STICKY NOTES

This is the beginning of the Control Journal. I think that’s kind of a funny name. Do you? You could call it whatever you want. There are many versions of the Control Journal out there. Just look on You Tube. Search Fly Lady Control Journal. Don’t do it right now, though. You’ll get side-tracked.

I did a little You Tube browsing this morning while my daughter watered our neighbor’s plants and I kept her company. I gave myself a time limit so I wouldn’t get lost down the dark hole of the internet.

Just hop on the Fly Lady’s website and check out hers. Or, you can use hers and tweak it to fit your style. That’s what I plan on doing.

Today, I’m making two sticky notes: One labeled Morning Routine and one labeled Night Routine. This is what I have so far on each; but these may not be the final routines. I’ll work on them this week.

Eventually this will go in some kind of binder; but for now I’m just using sticky notes.

Today’s Recap:

  • I emptied the dishwasher and there were a few dishes in the sink from the night before so I made sure to load the dishwasher and my sink was shiny.
  • I got dressed down to the flip flops. It’s 107 here today and so I did not wear shoes the rest of the day because I have no AC. I would die if I wore shoes. I’ve already explained that I hate having hot feet.
  • I began brainstorming my morning and evening routines:

MORNING ROUTINE:

  • Some Quiet Time/Morning Reading/Devotion w/Coffee
  • 1 minute Yoga
  • Get Ready
  • Start Laundry

EVENING ROUTINE: (After Dinner)

  • Shine Sink
  • Sweep
  • Living room pickup
  • Fold and put laundry away
  • Check tomorrow’s calendar

Baby Step #3 Be Consistent

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I thought I would do my recap first today.

Let’s Recap:

  • My sink is still shiny. Yay!
  • I got dressed to my shoes. This is easy because I went to church. I still stand by my not wearing shoes in the house.
  • I wrote Steps 1 and 2 on a sticky and stuck it on my bathroom mirror.

So, if you log on to The Fly Lady’s website or have read her book, she teaches about morning routines, afternoon routines, evening routines and THE CONTROL JOURNAL. Today’s step is to log on and take a look around the website. It has a lot of great information. If you don’t have time, maybe pick another day. You will definitely get lost down rabbit holes. I think it is important to get the whole picture of what her Fly Lady’s system is. Her book is really helpful, too.

One thing I want to talk about today is being Consistent. I’m technically not adding steps today; but that’s okay. It’s easier to be consistent with small attainable steps or build habits little by little than having the mentality of “go big or go home”. I’ve done that too many times and it never works.

I’m going for slow and steady.

Have you read Atomic Habits by James Clear ? This was such a good book and really backs up the concept of slow, small, consistent steps for lasting change.

Doesn’t that sound fabulous???

In case you missed the first Baby Steps. Start Here: