FLYLADY – SELF-CARE BY ZONE (plus bingo card)!

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to these Zone inspiration ideas over the past months! Choose a few things to add to your bingo card (or write them down on a piece of paper, make a list on your smartphone), and enjoy some self-care this week! We are taking care of us and taking care of our homes. Keep scrolling down, there is something for everyone!

SELF-CARE/PAMPER/SELF-PRESERVATION

ZONE 1 – ENTRY, HALL, DINING ROOM

• cut a bloom from the garden/buy a single flower for the hallway
• add a flower pot to your entryway/postbox area
• “redecorate” the area with items borrowed from other places in the house (vase, candlestick, lamp)
• add a blanket for the cooler evenings outside on the porch/veranda
• use your “best” china and glasses from the dining room – every day is a special occasion!
• use one of your “best” glasses (wine, crystal) and enjoy a glass of chilled water, add some fresh mint or a slice of lemon
• set the dining table with flowers/candles, turn on some background music and enjoy lunch or dinner – alone/with family/online with friends
• hang a crystal in the dining room window or entryway
• make paper flowers to display on the dining room table
• make a wreath or welcome sign for your front door
• make a small “tableau” in the hall/entryway or dining room (some candles, a flower, a photoframe, something which makes you smile)
• diffuse your favourite scent or light a candle while doing your zone work
• listen to your favourite music/podcast while doing your zone work
• once you’ve completed some zone work (decluttering or cleaning), sit outside/in your favourite chair and read for fifteen minutes
• sit outside on your porch/veranda and read or enjoy a cup of chilled water or hot coffee
• sit outside on your porch/veranda and admire your efforts!

ZONE 2 – KITCHEN

• Homemade face mask, lip or hand scrub, bath salts/bombs, homemade foot cream. Use herbs or flowers from your garden or pantry items (honey, sugar exfoliating scrub, olive oil egg yolk hair treatment, vanilla bath salts).
• Keep a tube of hand cream by the sink.
• Additional hand-care with some lotion or a mini-manicure.Make one day this week a “detox” day, with juicing and relaxation.
• Search online for a new recipe to try, or reread a favourite cookbook.
• Write down your favourite family recipe and make a copy for your children.
• Have a go at that recipe you saved and never got round to.
• Try making a new healthy snack, biscuit or cake.
• Prepare a ‘new’ or ‘special’ snack to enjoy later on with a cup of tea!
• Tidy and/or discard old recipes.
• Tweak your diet, research healthier eating ideas and add one to your menu plan this week.
• Add some fresh mint or a slice of lemon to your water.
• Make homemade chocolates, truffles or fudge (for Zone 4 stash 😊).
• Sit outside with your morning tea or coffee and listen to the birds.
• Candlelight dinner with your best china, alone or with your significant other, on the balcony or in your garden.
• Put together a pamper snack basket for the week, something special each day to enjoy.
• Add your favourite meal to this week’s menu plan.
• Sit at the dinner table, add candles, background music, serviettes, eat outside weather-permitting.
• Enjoy the light in the kitchen for reading or doing a crossword.
• Try a new type of tea or coffee or savour a cup of your favourite brew. Use the one you have been saving “for a special occasion”.
• Indulge yourself and enjoy your favourite dessert, or a new ice-cream flavour.
• Use one of your china teacups/saucers that you only keep for guests, or drink water/juice from a crystal wine glass.
• Put together different salads, trying new combinations of veggies and fruits you’ve never tried, use a variety of lettuces and greens.
• Add something which makes you smile while you’re cooking/doing the dishes: a bloom from the garden, a pot plant, a candle, a photo frame.
• Make paper flowers to put on your windowsill or table.
• Take a couple of pieces of the “good china” you save for special occasions out and have lunch or a snack, a cup of tea. Take a photo and invite a friend to do the same for a “separate but together” teatime, or eat “together” via FaceTime or Skype.
• Hang a beautiful crystal in the window to make sparkles and rainbows.
• Attach a perspex bird feeder to the kitchen window.

ZONE 3 – BATHROOM PLUS ONE OTHER ROOM

• Diffuse some essential oils, candle.
• Try a soothing hydrating face mask (oats, natural yoghurt, honey) or a gorgeous body scrub (sugar, olive oil, orange essential oil). Use what you have in the kitchen. The scrub is also really good for gardeners hands if you add a little liquid soap as well.
• Condition your hair and let it dry in the sun. Deep condition hair (steam/protein treatment).
• Put a fresh flower or plant in the bathroom.
• Have a bubble bath or pamper shower. Use bubble bath or a few drops of a luxurious oil. Play some music in the background, light a candle, drink a glass of your favourite tipple.
• Keep some hand lotion by the sink.
• Have a “mini spa day”: facial, mask and hands, enjoy your favourite drink.
• Epsom salts (ginger and clay) soak for pamper.
• A foot bath (or electric foot spa) and foot cream, finish by putting on a pair of fluffy socks and relax.
• Read a magazine or chapter of a book. Read an e-book from the library.
• Do some colouring (online or printed colouring pages).
• Pedicure and manicure , try out some nail art.
• Listen to some new music while you are getting ready for the day. Add new music to your pamper playlist.
• Use a lip exfoliator to get rid of dry skin, apply a nice lip balm to make them really soft ready for summer.
• Depilation.
• Body self-massage with lotion, feet and shoulders. Apply lotion to knees and elbows for some extra care. Head massage.
• Take time to sit and “just be”.
• Write in your journal or read your prayer journal
• Keep a small manicure kit and some essential oils handy and use them when having a bubble bath or pamper shower. The essential oils can be calming or energizing.
• Before showering, place a drop or two (not too much, especially if one suffers with respiratory ailments) of Eucalyptus essential oil on the floor or wall of the
• shower – the room will smell like a spa.
• Put coconut oil around the fingernails & back of hands.
• “I keep a solid rectangle bin that both my feet will fit in under my bathroom sink.  I have it filled with some Epsom salt, 2 cans of beans, a foot scrubber, and a towel.  I pull it out and fill with hot water , some good smelling soap, and some Epsom salt.  I soak my feet for 10 – 15 minutes and then scrub them.  I then pat them dry and roll the cans under my feet for a good massage.”
• “I love the idea that every day is special. I used to save everything until it would go bad… now I use my wonderful oils on my face and neck before bed. I also love burning lavender incense at night to relax.”
• Rotate my body gel, lotion, and body spray sets to a new or seasonal scent (eg. change from musk to citrus for spring and coconut for summer). 

ZONE 4 – MASTER BEDROOM/CLOSET

• tidy out a drawer in your night stand, adding pretty lining paper to make a comfort drawer for all things pertaining to sleep and relaxation eg chocolate/violet creams, hand cream, night rescue remedy, herbal sleeping tablets, notepad and pen, gratitude journal, eye mask, massage oil, lavender sleep balm, etc
• use a guided meditation, open the window, place an incense stick on the shelf and just be
• say/listen to positive affirmations before going to bed/while you are getting ready in the morning
• try a new sleep diffuser blend/spray, nighttime body lotion or light a candle when getting ready before bed,  or while getting ready in the morning
• a foot pamper with socks for the night for extra hydration
• wash your eye mask or try a weighted one
• use gourmet handmade earth-friendly soaps and oils
• wear a piece of sentimental jewellery or an item which you only wear on special occasions…every day is the special occasion!
• make a cover for a clothes hanger adding a brooch that you love but may not wear as a way to still enjoy it
• use a perfume/lotion which you have been keeping for a special occasion…every day is the special occasion!
• play with the items in your wardrobe and make new outfit combinations and wear them this week
• once you’ve completed some zone work (decluttering or cleaning), sit on the bed/chair and read for fifteen minutes
• make sure you are getting enough sleep, start your evening routine a little earlier
• switch off your phone and read a magazine or a couple of chapters of a book before you sleep
• put a fresh flower or plant on your night table or dresser
• “redecorate” the room with items borrowed from other places in the house (vase, candlestick, throw pillows, soft rug, lamp)
• apply hand/foot lotion in the morning or evening
• enjoy your favourite drink/coffee in bed in the morning
• read a magazine or chapter of a book. Read an e-book from the library.
• listen to some new music while you are getting ready for the day. Add new music to your pamper playlist.
• body self-massage with lotion, feet and shoulders. Apply lotion to knees and elbows for some extra care. Head massage.
• take time to sit and “just be”.
• take time to sit and enjoy your clean, orderly bedroom!
• use a basket to keep your pyjamas, slippers, hand cream, magazine, spectacles and other items together
• write in your journal or read your prayer journal
• spritz the bedding with linen spray or essential oils before you make the bed in the morning and enjoy the scent/a relaxing sleep at night
• keep hand, foot and lip cream/balm in your bedside table and apply them as a bedtime ritual
• play “white noise” or ocean sounds to promote sleep, or check out Binaural Beats for Deep Sleep
• keep a tiny fan or water spray on your nightstand for hot flashes/humid weather
• keep a small manicure kit and some essential oils (calming or energizing) by your bed handy and use them when you have 5 minutes during your day, or before bed.
• “I love the idea that every day is special. I used to save everything until it would go bad… now I use my wonderful oils on my face and neck before bed. I also love burning lavender incense at night to relax.”
• change your body gel, lotion, and body spray sets to a new or seasonal scent (eg. change from musk to citrus for spring and coconut for summer). 

ZONE 5 – LIVING ROOM

• watch an episode of your favourite tv show, or half an hour of your favourite movie
• watch a concert video while you are doing your zone work and sing along!
• watch a themed movie (summer, Christmas, etc)
• add a summer weight blanket for the cooler evenings on the sofa
• bring the fan out for the hot days and wipe the blade with aromatherapy oil of your choice (lemon, lavender…) and let the fan move the scent around the room
• “I watch a show or movie my family wouldn’t care to watch , usually Hallmark type things ”
• search online for new book ideas, order books from the library
• ask a friend for movie/tv series/book recommendations
• use a guided meditation, open the window, place an incense stick on the coffe table and just be
• a foot pamper, mini-pedicure or foot massage, paint your toenails
• “I put all my pamper snacks in one 3-liter glsss jar with a tight lid.  Looks nicer than having several bags open and clipped. When I ran out, I noticed that I felt the lack of not having something in the house. Having the pretty snacks on display makes me feel abundance and I can just take one piece or just look at it and feel really satisfied.”
• once you’ve completed some zone work (decluttering or cleaning), sit on the sofa/in your favourite chair and read for fifteen minutes
• put a fresh flower or plant on the coffee table or sidetable
• “redecorate” the room with items borrowed from other places in the house (vase, candlestick, throw pillows, soft rug, lamp)
• read a magazine or chapter of a book. Read an e-book from the library.
• have a dance party in the living room!
• take time to sit and “just be”.
• take time to sit and enjoy your clean, cosy livingroom!
• gather your favourite items in a pamper basket (eyemask, slippers, hand cream, magazine, spectacles, small manicure kit and some essential oils (calming or energizing)

And if you’d like help with cleaning and decluttering in the Flylady Zones, I am here to guide you through!