Spotlight on Flylady

Today I didn't really do a specific organization project, I mostly worked on getting the house cleaned up (minus my room - yikes!) for the weekend.  We are planning on spending the weekend working on the bedroom of doom. Getting started with the closet is our first project.  Since I don't have a project to share with you today I thought I would feature a website that has been helpful for me - flylady.net. If you follow me on twitter you see me using #flylady in quite a few of my tweets. If you've wondered what that was all about now is your chance to find out.

Guess I should tell you a little bit about me first.  When I first started with Flylady I was not your typical living in c.h.a.o.s.(can't have anyone over syndrome) person. I am more of the Born Organized type. Generally speaking my house is ready for company , of course I'm human and have areas where clutter lives - hidden clutter, my bedroom (door closed), closets, drawers. The problem was, I was obsessed with cleaning. I couldn't just sit with my family and enjoy watching a movie, I couldn't just leave the house and go for breakfast without stressing out.  This is where Flylady came to help me.  She helped me find a way to get the things done I needed to and be able to relax and enjoy life outside of constant cleaning.  That housework even done imperfectly is okay. She gave me permission to relax.

Key Flylady principles for me are:

• You can do anything for 15 minutes - Flylady is big on using a timer. She suggests if you’re having trouble starting a project, just set a timer for 15 minutes and work on it until the timer goes off. You might keep going, you might not. But at the very least, you’ve made progress. (This flew out the window when I had little E, for the first 13-14 months some days I couldn't do anything for 5 minutes.  I'll talk more about this later)
• Routines, Routines, Routines - These will get you through.  When I am sick I can do nothing more than my basic routines and the house will stay in decent shape.

Some things that may turn people off Flylady:

• The shoes - She's big on putting your sneakers on first thing. I don't do shoes in the house ever, so i just ignore this little reminder.
• Some find her ideas to have religious overtones or come across as anti-feminist. I never really thought about it or paid much attention.  I take what works for me & leave the rest. I don't have to agree with everything that's on the website to use it. Just like in real life we don't have to agree 100%, all of the time to be friends. :)
• The endless emails - This used to be a huge issue for some. I think since she switched to Big Tent it's set up a lot better. You can read all the emails right online.

I have made up my Home Management Binder (what she calls a control journal) and parts of it still work for me.  At some point I need to revamp it, but that'll come eventually.  I have the files for my binder done in MS Word so if anyone would like them let me know & I'll put together a post for them.

So if you think Flylady can help you get your home out of chaos or even just help you learn to let go - check out her site.  There is tons of good information on there to hep you.

Spotlight on Flylady