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When I tried the FlyLady system, it was like sending my morning routine to boot camp! Once I made this morning routine a habit, my mornings became so much more productive, and my house got a whole lot cleaner. A good morning routine puts me in a good head space for the rest of the day.
Successful people tend to have strong self-discipline, and that kind of willpower and motivation isn’t gained overnight. Committing to new habits is hard, but if you stick with routines like this daily morning routine, it will help you build the level of self-discipline you want.
Here is what my FlyLady morning routine looks like.
- Prep the night before – Create a launch pad.
- Get Dressed.
- Put on shoes.
- Swish and Swipe
- Shine your sink.
- Start a load of laundry.
- Make your bed.
- Maintain your hot spots.
- Drink your water.
- What’s for dinner?
Table of Contents
What is the Fly Lady system?
The Flylady cleaning schedule was created by author and blogger, Marla Cilley, after years of struggling to keep her own home clean. Check out her books, Sink Reflections and The CHAOS Cure.
I love my FlyLady routines because following the cleaning method not only gets my house clean and tidy, but the system also addresses things like time management, keeping clutter at bay, meal planning, and other household tasks. Before FlyLady, my head was spinning trying to keep up with it all – paying bills, remembering which kid needed to go to the dentist this week and which kid needs new shoes, and more. This daily routine helps me stay on top of my cleaning and household management.
My Fly Lady System Morning Routine Checklist
I use the FlyLady system to get my mornings off to a strong and productive start, and you can too! When I get so much done within the first hour of waking up, I start my day feeling calm and in a good mood. I know morning habits will help you too.
So don’t hit the snooze button on that alarm clock! Grab cup of coffee, a healthy breakfast, smoothies, lemon water, whatever you need, and let’s get started.
#1: Prep the night before: Create a launch pad.
A good morning starts before the day has even begun. Preparing for the next day the night before can really help as long as you are preparing the right way. I’ve set aside a spot in my bedroom for my “launch pad”.
What’s a launch pad? This is an area where you will put everything you need for the next morning. When you wake up the next day in a rush, you don’t have to go looking for the things you need to get out the door because everything will be in one place ready to go.
What goes in your launch pad? Everyone is different and has different needs, but usually, your launch pad will contain the clothes you plan to wear tomorrow, your bag or purse packed with everything you need tomorrow, and anything else you will use tomorrow like a gym bag, a lunch or snack, and a computer bag.
Every night before bed, pick out your outfit for the next day. Pack any bags you need to bring with you. Do you need a lunch, snack, or water bottle? Get those ready.
Launch pads are great for kids too! Nothing is worse than the carpool or school bus pulling up outside the house just as your child is looking for their left sneaker! Avoid the morning stress by having kids create their own launch pad with the clothes and shoes they will wear the next day and their school bags packed and ready to go. Do they have any forms that need signing? Sign them at night and pack them. No rushing around to find that library book. It’s already packed. Stress free mornings!
#2: Get dressed. (No pajamas worn during the day allowed!)
When I first became a stay-at-home mom, I traded my cute clothes and nice shoes for yoga pants and frumpy sweatshirts. I felt like if I was going to be at home all day with the baby, what was the point of getting dressed? No one was going to see me.
I was wrong. Someone was going to see me – me! Getting dressed in clothes that made me feel good about how I looked changed my morning routine and my whole day entirely. Once I made the commitment to wearing “real” clothes every day whether I was going to leave the house or not, I realized that I wasn’t wearing nice clothes to impress other people. I was wearing them for myself.
Get dressed in your favorite clothes everyday. Don’t do it for other people. Do it for yourself. What does getting dressed have to do with cleaning? When I’m dressed, I am more productive. I feel better about myself, and that gives me so much more energy. More energy means I get more done!
#3: Put on shoes.
One FlyLady system tip is when it’s time to get stuff done, put on your shoes. Wearing shoes not only supports your feet and back while you work through your chore list, it also signals to your brain that now is time to work.
If you are a shoe-free house, and the thought of wearing inside the house the same shoes you wear outside is gross to you, buy a pair of sneakers that you keep just for working in the house.
#4: Swish and Swipe
The Swish and Swipe is a genius concept in the FlyLady system that saves me from having to deep clean my bathrooms constantly. I love having a clean and fresh bathroom, but with five people in the house, it feels like our bathrooms are always in need of a good clean. Now that I do the Swish and Swipe, I don’t have to worry about my bathrooms anymore.
What is the Swish and Swipe? This is a super quick (think 5 minutes or less) bathroom refresh that is done every morning as part of my morning routine. Keep a bottle of spray cleaner in your bathroom so that you can do the Swish and Swipe too.
First, I take the pump bottle of liquid hand soap I keep in my bathroom for hand washing, and I squirt a little of the soap into my toilet bowl. I use my toilet brush to scrub the inside of the bowl with the soap. Next, I spray down my sink and toilet seat with the spray cleaner. I take a bit of toilet paper, and I wipe down the sink and toilet seat. Flush the paper when you’re done.
Now you can check “clean bathroom” off your to-do list, and it only took five minutes!
#5: Shine your sink.
A clean kitchen sink makes the whole room look cleaner! Use this method of getting your sink clean and shiny, and I promise, you’ll be hooked on keeping a shiny sink.
First, if you have any dirty dishes in your kitchen sink, neatly stack them to one side to be put in the dishwasher later. Next, get out your dish soap and sponge, and scrub the inside of your sink. Rinse with hot water, and then use a paper towel or dish towel to dry the sink surfaces.
Taking time to shine my kitchen sink as part of my morning routine means my kitchen feels cleaner all day even if I haven’t had a lot of time to work on cleaning it.
#6: Start a load of laundry.
The FlyLady says, “A load a day keeps Mount Washmore away.” She’s right! I’ve tried all kinds of laundry systems, and in the end, nothing beats just simply washing and drying one load of laundry a day. I wash the load in the morning, dry it in the afternoon, and then fold and put away in the evening.
As part of my morning routine, I gather dirty laundry from the clothes hamper and get the load started in the washing machine. Starting the laundry first thing in the morning gives me the momentum to dry and put away later in the day.
#7: Make your bed.
I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record because I think I’ve recommended making your bed on every cleaning routine post. But taking the time to make your bed is so worth it! Like the shiny kitchen sink, a neatly made bed makes the whole room look cleaner and more peaceful. It takes so little time to do, so I always make it part of my morning routine.
#8: Maintain your hot spots.
What’s a hot spot? We all have certain spots in our homes that seem to be a constant clutter magnet. Do you have spaces like that? Spaces that not matter what you do, they always seem to be covered in stuff? My hot spots are my coffee table, the bottom of my stairs, and my side table in my entryway. I clean off the stuff piled on them, and magically the next day, they are covered in stuff again!
I used to get really frustrated by this, but now I know that these areas are going to keep getting cluttered. It’s just life. Now that I have a plan for dealing with these areas, they no longer frustrate me.
Here’s the plan for hot spots: First, Identify them in your home. Common hot spots are kitchen counters, dining tables, the chair in your bedroom with the laundry piled onto it, and the coffee table. Next, spend five minutes every morning doing a declutter of one hot spot. Do a different hot spot every morning, and pretty soon, your hot spot clutter will be easy to manage.
Getting clutter out of your high clutter areas- the entrance hall, dining rooms, the kid’s room, and the front porch will transform your home.
#9: Drink your water.
Something that is great about the FlyLady system is not only does it help me manage my household chores, but the system also helps me take care of myself. I’m one of those people that gets so busy during the day that I forget to drink water. I definitely need help remembering hydration.
Drinking water throughout the day is so important for our health. Starting the day with a big glass of water is a morning ritual that become part of a healthy morning routine.
#10: What’s for dinner?
The last step in my FlyLady system morning routine is deciding what will be for dinner that night. I love to meal plan, and I usually plan my meals a week at a time. Whether you meal plan or not, spending a few minutes every morning wrapping your head around what you can cook for dinner later is always a good idea.
Here’s why – the hours of 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at my house are truly NUTS, my friends. We have to deal with kids’ homework, after school activities, cranky and tired people (me included!), and to top it all off, everyone is hungry and ready to eat now! Dinnertime is the worst time of day to start thinking about what to cook for dinner. Entering into this hectic time of day with a plan makes everything go more smoothly.
As part of my morning routine, I check my meal plan and remind myself what I planned to cook for dinner. If there is anything I can do to make cooking dinner easier later, I try to do that if I have extra time. Examples of things that will make dinner cooking easier are chopping any veggies that will go in the meal and defrosting any food that is frozen.
Conclusion
Routines are the building blocks to creating a productive day. I love my routines! Whether I’m having a good day or a stressful day, leaning on my routines helps me get stuff done.
The FlyLady system is all about baby steps – small changes that will lead to a clean home. Try out this FlyLady system morning routine to make having a productive morning easy!
