Holiday Grand Plan + FlyLady: Anyone?

[CheeryChick]

I'm new here, so I hope this thread is in the right place.

I'm wondering if anyone uses the FlyLady system throughout the year and how they mesh that with something like the Holiday Grand Plan (or one of the other Christmas organizing plans)? If so, how do you do it? Or have you meshed the two and developed your own system?

Looking forward to your ideas!

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I just do my daily Flylady items with her zones stuff. Then I do any extra's out of the other program. This works for me.

 

[farmerswife]

I too have done fly lady for a very very long time. I love HGP for all the Christmas stuff on it not the cleaning stuff. Occasionally I will take the same room that everyone is working on and tweak it. Because I love to organize and reorganize things. If I can think of a more efficient way of making a room flow then I will redo it.

But the Grand Plan is so much more than a cleaning program. That's why I love it.

I also use mostly digital when it comes to note books now. I carry an app on my phone with my list on it. I do love paper though so I usually have a calendar and a folder of sorts with information in it.

MY digital notebook is very fancy (scrapbook like) so when I need to print it off I still can enjoy the visual of it. I love things to look nice as well as organized. Check out Two Peas or any other scrapbook site and you will find wonderful folders designs for your Christmas "Notebook"
Or search the internet I have seen some really fun slimmed down version of
a full fledged HGP notebook. Enjoy! ~ Farmerswife

 

[DebbiGall]

I'm a Fly baby too; I do the Christmas countdown. I was thinking about doing the HGP this year but it does not make sense to me.
question week is just a list for the front porch. Why do they call it question week
list week is another list and so on

 

[Colleen in PA]

Here is what I have for List/Question Week on HGP:

[ ] Spend 15 minutes each day this week to get organized for Christmas.
[ ] Set up your holiday organizer in a notebook or 3-ring binder.
[ ] Make or designate a Holiday Calendar.
[ ] Review your family's holiday values. Print and record your findings.
[ ] Review or complete an evaluation of last year's holiday celebrations. What worked? What didn't? make notes on things you'd like to keep and what you'd like to change.
[ ]Gift Buying Looms! Start a master gift list and use it to record purchases and homemade gift items.
[ ] Complete the holiday home spruce-up exercise and schedule improvement projects. Print the home spruce-up worksheet. (Read CEO's article first)
[ ] Begin a Christmas card list. Locate addresses. How many cards do you need? Consider making a computerized version for maximum time saving.
[ ] Holiday travel - if you will be traveling, make reservations this week. Hosting houseguests? Make arrangements or a list of what will be needed: extra pillows, blankets, etc.
[ ]Arrange for family photo sessions early!
[ ] Schedule carpet cleaning now for your choice of appointment times.

[ ] Make the following lists:
[ ] Gifts to be given, amount to spend
[ ] Christmas card list
[ ] Visits to make
[ ] Parties/Entertaining
[ ] Menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, other parties
[ ] Goodies for sharing/gifts - decide how much needs to be made and divide it between the week from now through Dec. 1
[ ] Favorite meals of family members for freezing ahead
[ ] Long term shopping list divided into: canned foods, perishables for each holiday, linens and dishes, decorations, miscellaneous (stamps, batteries, tape, etc.)
[ ] Get freezer containers for goodies
[ ] Get freezer containers for holiday meals

To buy this week:
[ ] Christmas cards or supplies
[ ] Postage stamps - unless you are waiting for holiday stamps (released in October in the US)

The Front Porch checklist is the Area to Organize assigned to this week, but we all usually adjust the weeks to suit our homes/needs. I print that checklist on a separate page so that I can move it to another week if I want to.

I hope this helps! Please post any questions!

 

[Cindylouwho]

Hi! I have done FlyLady for some years now and this is I think Year 4 (?) on this site. I'm only here regularly during the Christmas holiday season though so just logged back in last week. (Hi everyone!!) When I started here I compared both plans (you'll find them both linked on OrganizedChristmas) and laid them down next to my FlyLady routine. I found Houseworks Holiday Plan easier for me to mesh with FlyLady which is why I went with that one. But that's me and my routine. Yours might be a bit different. They are both good plans.

 

[farmerswife]

Hi Debbie,

There is so much more to the Grand Plan than cleaning here is a link to week 1 you might enjoy browsing. The list section is under Holiday Prep.

http://christmas.organizedhome.com/holiday-grand-plan/list-week

There are many lists one might want to be thinking about for the holidays listed here. Enjoy. ~ Farmerswife

 

[snickerdoodle]

I also do Flylady's plan. This is how I mesh the two. I definitely do the Christmas planning part of the HGP. Also there are some things that I only do a couple of times a year. For example during the HGP, I wash all of my windows inside and out, wash all curtains, wipe down all the wood blinds, wipe down all inside doors, clean all the light fixtures, wipe down base boards, clean ceiling fans, clean out all the closets, drawers, cabinets, etc. So even though I continue to do my routines and Zones I add in the above. It sounds like a lot but sprend out throughout the coming couple of months it isn't too bad.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I agree. My spreading it over time it turns out to be easier and more likely to get done. I think that is why I love FlyLady. I do a little each day and suddenly everything seems to be done. I end up with more time for myself.

 

[AnnieClaus]

Great list, Colleen!

Everyone here inspires me!

Annie

 

[CheeryChick]

I just do my daily Flylady items with her zones stuff. Then I do any extra's out of the other program. This works for me.

That's exactly how I've figured out that this is going to work for me, too. I've decided to stick with my weekly zones, and then am taking a look at the HGP cleaning lists to see if there is anything extra that I don't normally do in the area the HGP wants me to focus on. I've been making a list of the extra things on each week's HGP checklist sheet from Organized Home. I've made them my weekly cleaning challenges alongside the regular zone work (so I'm technically working in two different zones a week, most of the time, but the HGP things I've added in are not the deep cleaning things, because I'm already doing/going to do them as part of the FlyLady zones, so it isn't overwhelming). I've added in all of the Christmas prep, as well, which for right now seems to be a lot of pre-cooking of things (which I can't really do -- on another thread, people were talking about having tiny freezers... here, too!).

With FlyLady, the HGP cleaning stuff is mostly easy to add in, because I'm finding that everything stays pretty tidy around here now anyway. (Woo hoo!) I have time to get at the deep cleaning and work at it on a monthly basis.

 

[HouseElf]

Need to check out Flylady

 

[Ahorsesoul]

Found a note that I've been doing Flylady for 10 years this month.

 

[nursemomtothree]

Ahorsesoul - Congratulations for keeping at Flylady for 10 full years! I'm impressed!

I found her about 7 or 8 years ago. It made a big difference in the beginning when I was a SAHM. I'm finding it hard to keep up with any cleaning plan now that I'm working again.

I've completely given up on HGP and will focus on only Christmas prep.

My ultimate problem is that I have beautifully organized routines and zone work plans, but never look at them!