Anyone else do Flylady?

[Tigerchild]

I have to admit, I've always been TERRIFIED of housekeeping for myself, mostly due to upbringing issues. However, I always get depressed at my clutter! And I'm too rebellious to be able to do the chart/diagram/list thing.

A friend of mine told me about Flylady, and while it's a bit on the melodramatic side for me (I'm a curmudgeon at heart), it's unbelievable how liberating and productive I've been since I've been doing the routine, little bits at a time.

How much this will continue after the baby's born, I dunno...but my Mom (who is a neat-freak like you would NOT believe) is coming for a month, so I bet even if I don't lift a finger, for the first time since I left home, I will be able to eat off my toilet seats if I want to.

Wow! I can actually find that humorous now, instead of being stressed out about it! Maybe the list has affected me more than I thought!

[TripkeHughes]

what is it?

[TreeLove]

I wish.. I think it would work once Gus and Emmet go off to public (gasp ) school, though.

[SoHappy]

Hey, I just posted about FlyLady in another thread. FlyLady rocks.

[Tigerchild]

The Flylady runs an email group that uses a specific system of home organization. She encourages you to form 15-30 minute routines for the morning and evening, to help you keep on top of clutter/messiness, as well as weekly activities to gradually work on large clutter problems. Since it's an email list, you just delete the stuff you don't want to worry about. Occasionally, testimonials and ideas will be posted from other members too.

If you're reasonably grumpy, like me, you might find the Rah Rah atmosphere a little unintentionally humourous/irritating, but, as much as I hate to admit it, there's something to having a housekeeping buddy to remind you of things. And I also LOVE the fact that (unlike most other books/sites I've seen), if she beats you over the head with anything, it's that you need to relax and NOT be perfectionistic, rather than needing to have everything just-so like Martha Stewart. (No offense to Martha's fans out there!)

You can find out more info at www.flylady.net. Even if you don't care to be involved, I highly recommend scrolling down to the bottom of the main index to the section of 'worst Christmas presents I've received'. The one about the woman who got a frog statue from her brother almost made me pee in my pants I was laughing so hard. Now I don't feel stupid at all if I can't think of a clever holiday gift for someone!

[boysrus]

Still majorly babystepping but flylady is my hero! Every time I fall off the flylady wagon, everyone in my house suffers!

[boysrus]

Yes, hi nursing mother. thanks for the welcome. I had left Mothering for awhile. I am coming back, but not planning to spend nearly as much time here. ALthough, since I am FLYing, I have tons of time to spare

[momacat]

You know what is terrible? I have been a member of FlyLady for months and months.....and I just delete my emails! LOL Heaven knows that I really should give it a shot, because I have way too much clutter. :

[gilnikche]

In Defense Of Flylady

I would highly recommend starting out by going to this page on flylady.net

http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons.asp


This page goes over the very beginning steps of her system.

Shine Your Kitchen Sink

Getting Dressed to the Shoes

Baby Steps, Baby Steps

Declutter 15 Minutes a Day

Take Regular Breaks!

FlyLady's Eleven Commandments



Once you get these down, then you can progress to the other stuff! Personally, I delete everything except "Flybaby" messages. Even though I am very much still in the flybaby stage, I can see it helping with the CHAOS in little ways everyday.

[peggy]

bumping this up for mamajoy

[mamajoy]

Thanks for bumping this up, Peggy.

gilnikche, how do you get the flybaby emails? I get the daily digest. I've never seen anything about flybaby before. I think it's what I need (among other things.)

Now I remember what happened. I saw the part about shining the sink and wearing shoes with laces in the house, and I kind of lost interest. I hate shoes! Do you all think that wearing shoes is that important?

How about shining the sink?

[Linda in Arizona]

I am big time into Flylady. I started last April, so I've been at it for a while.

I thought the shoe thing was really nutty at first. I wasn't going to wear them because I didn't want to, and since it is an email system, it isn't like flylady is going to come to my door and check and if I have on my shoes! After about a week of doing morning and evening routines and clearing my hotspots, I was amazed at how my house and life were quickly coming together and decided to give it a shot. After all, the system was working so well for me that it only seemed reasonable to try the whole thing.

My feet look totally different now. They were very dry with big cracks and the bottoms were stained. They looked so much better after even one week of wearing shoes. After a few months, the tennis shoes I had been wearing around the house fell apart. I thought about all the wear and tear that I had been putting on my own body by not wearing shoes and have totally become a convert. I don't wear them to help me keep the house clean, I wear them to take care of myself. It it only reasonable with all the running around and standing that I do, that I have some support.

but if you don't want to wear shoes, who is going to know the difference besides you???? (I'm very much a "take what works for you and leave the rest" kind a gal)

Shinning the sink is important. Your house isn't clean until the sink is clean, and you have to start somewhere. It is good to always know where to start. When things are falling apart and I don't know where to begin, I just start with my sink. While I am shining my sink, I have a few minutes to think about what needs to be done next. And keeping the sink shiny helps keep the whole kitchen clean, which helps keep the whole dinning room clean.

[TwinMom]

I'm a flybaby! But, like momacat, I delete most of the reminders. I had been doing pretty well, getting laundry done each day, my dishes clean and sink shines, all 4 bathrooms swiped down, bed made...and then Christmas break came and suddenly we're drowning in clutter again. Sigh. I swear it's going to get better, though. Christmas day I didn't start the day with a shower and my shoes 'cause we always open presents in our pajamas. I felt so antsy until I was finally able to get fully dressed. How's that for flywashing?

[Linda in Arizona]

posted on another board:

I subscribe to the emails, but I find them utterly overwhelming. I don't know where to begin, and so I drift around until something other than cleaning up grabs my attention.

The way I started was with a simple morning and evening routine. I printed flylady's off and added the things I needed to for my kids. Getting the morning and evening routine in place is really the key. Delete all the other emails until you are ready for them. After a few weeks or a month of doing your morning and evening routine, it will become automatic. If you do the same routine in the same order, it will eventually get to the point where you can't not do it, because it will just be such a habit.

When I'm doing work during the day, I sit down for a few minutes first and make a list on a 3x5 card of the things I want to do during the next hour. I try to guess how long each job is going to take. For example, tom. morning I will make a list that reads something like:

1. empty trash cans (5 minutes)
2. make menu plan (15 minutes)
3. work on Ali's room (15 minutes)
4. change burner trays (10 minutes)
5. sweep porch (15 minutes)

Then I work really hard and try to get it all done. Ali's room is awful and 15 minutes isn't going to do the whole job, but working really focased for 15 minutes gets far more done that I ever would have believed. I have found that I have a pretty short attention span for housework, and after about 15 minutes I loose interest in whatever I am working on anway, so it is best to be honest and just switch to something else.

After my hour is up, I will do something totally different, like spend some time with my kids reading or doing art or what ever. I will also take a few minutes to myself to be online or make a phone call, or drink some instant mocha

Sometimes I start to drift around, too. I take it as my sign that I need to take a break. If there are things that urgently need to be done, then I make a list so I can work and actually get them done. If it isn't so urgent, I take some time and do something with my kids or just for myself. I used to waste a lot of time just running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I wasn't getting any housework done, really being present with my kids, or even enjoying myself.

hope this helps

[Sierra]

We have been trying to get ourselves to do flylady for a while (she is so gosh darn inspiring), but like momacat, we often just overlook anything that suggests we change anything LOL> Seriously, though, we do want to eventually start doing flylady.

Um, we also are hoping to buy some comfy shoes that we wear indoors (that would be okay for outdoors if we had to go out right away or wanted to get the mail). As a public health professional, I don't like the idea of outdoor shoes being worn inside because it drags chemicals and junk inside and onto the carpet. We saw some shoes that would be perfect for this the other day, and I think we'll buy some soon.

[gilnikche]

Originally posted by mamajoy


gilnikche, how do you get the flybaby emails? I get the daily digest. I've never seen anything about flybaby before. I think it's what I need (among other things.)

Now I remember what happened. I saw the part about shining the sink and wearing shoes with laces in the house, and I kind of lost interest. I hate shoes! Do you all think that wearing shoes is that important?

How about shining the sink?

mamajoy,

Do you know how to edit your groups at Yahoo? Go to "My Groups" page & click on edit groups button (upper right).

I have really forced myself to wear shoes. I hate to admit it, but it does help greatly. Same with the shiny sink.