Hot Spots are those places in your home that are often the starting point of your house being taken over by the clutter. They are also the spots, if they are kept under control, that are the starting point for getting control regained.
According to Flylady, Hot Spots are an area, when left unattended will gradually take over. My favorite analogy is of a hot spot in a forest fire, if left alone, it will eventually get out of hand and burn up the whole forest. This is what happens in our homes. If left unattended, the hot spot will grow and take over the whole room as well as making the house look awful. When you walk into a room, this is the first thing you see.
Flylady encourages you to identify those areas, and purposefully plan on several points in the day where give attention to them. Her email reminders throughout the day prompt you to take care of those Hot Spots.
Your Hot Spots may look like this ...
{yikes..I am embarrassed to show this one!}
Or this...
Or this....
For me, taking time to pay close attention to these areas specifically, I can keep an general feeling of control over my clutter. They are also a great starting point when you are in that "where do I even start?!" mode. I am there often, so I speak from experience :)
One other thing that I do for myself, is to "yay me!" with a candle in that spot. Because, lets be honest..really, I may be the only person who even noticed that spot has stayed decluttered all day :) I like to "celebrate" my accomplishment with a tea light or a scented candle, which also helps me keep that spot decluttered for the rest of the day.
What are YOUR Hot Spots? Mine are the island in the kitchen (clearly), my entry way table, my kitchen table, my end tables in the living room and my dresser in my bedroom....
Love Fly-lady! Great decluttering you've done. :o) My hot spots are my kitchen counters and my bedroom nightstand. I always feel so much better when these have been cleared. Happy Tuesday! :o)
ReplyDeleteGreat reminder about hot spots in my home! After spending a week with my husband home I'm realizing there are a lot of areas that only I notice. "yay me" is a great idea!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great reminder and encouragement! Mine are the kitchen table and laundry on my bed... I love the idea to celebrate the area being clean!
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of FlyLady before so I went and checked out her site. Wow! She has some great ideas! Thanks for pointing me in her direction :)
ReplyDeleteOK, just found your blog via youtube as I just ordered my very first Project Life kit :) YAY!!! So I was poking around and found your blog. I JUST started Flylady (again, LOL) - this time with my kids too!! and so your post was fantastic for me today. I absolutely love your idea of a candle!! I'm going to try that, because like you, I might be the *only* one that notices (or feels it's a celebrated moment!)
ReplyDeleteyay Jenn and Jennifer! I found Flylady via my friend Erin (the one who commented on this very post) and I have used her on and off for the past 7 years. I have to be flexible with her systems as they dont always work for the phase we are in at any given time but its good stuff! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd...so glad you found PROJECT LIFE ...LOVE IT! :)
My hot spot is my desk, which I also posted about on this Linky. Our dining table is just inside the door 90% of the traffic uses and was a hot spot until I learned to keep it set and decorated. That put a stop to people (including me) filling it with "stuff".
ReplyDeleteOops! The above comment was from me.
ReplyDelete