|
|
Post by mouse on Jun 7, 2008 18:02:28 GMT -5
The trip to Paris went swimmingly. I took more photos than I know what to do with, and am now happy, tired, jetlagged, and covered in cat hair from my welcome-home mauling by the Feline Forces of Entropy. I have decided to give FlyLady another whirl. This time, however, I am going to do it "by the book," as it were. Before I thought I could "adapt" the FlyLady system to better suit me, since I am a Speshul Snowflake and figured that the system couldn't possibly ever apply to me.  This time, I am going to follow the "rules" as FlyLady has set them out. I have created a Control Journal with the bare minimum of routines (start small and build them up, right?), complete with plastic sheet protectors and dry-erase markers. I am going to shine my sink every evening, and do fifteen minutes of cleaning a day, plus the "Weekly Home Blessing Hour." I have adapted the Control Journal only insofar as I have changed the days of the week in which I do certain things, to better suit my work schedule. For instance, the "Weekly Home Blessing Hour" is now on Sundays (because Monday is garbage day), Grocery Day is on Friday which means Clean Out the Refrigerator Day and Meal Planning/Make a Grocery List Day is Thursday, and Saturday becomes Cook for the Week Day. All the rest is going to stay the same. I'm going to try to follow the missions as best I can, and when the missions don't apply I will do 15 minutes of decluttering. Off and on, I will also give myself some "Holy Cr*p I Have To Move This Summer!" missions, and start clearing out closets and cupboards, and start packing up boxes of stuff I don't use as much. I figure if I'm going to try the FlyLady system again, I may as well go all the way and do it the way it says on the site, before I give up on it totally. Maybe it was because I wasn't following it "properly" that I never could get my mind around it. So, here I go! ~Mouse |
|
|
|
Post by bluefrog on Jun 7, 2008 18:52:14 GMT -5
Good for you, Mouse! Flylady has some excellent advice. She's the reason I make my bed and clean my kitchen sink every day (OK, almost every day: it's about progress, not perfection). I hope the system works for you.
|
|
|
|
Post by messysue on Jun 7, 2008 20:49:37 GMT -5
I swear by Flylady type routines!! As bluefrog said, it's about progress not perfection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Moodle on Jun 7, 2008 21:33:04 GMT -5
Welcome back, mouse!  Mind if I join you in your FlyLady endeavor? I really like the basic FlyLady system and find that it dovetails nicely with what we do here. And, I take a different view of her e-mails and her tone than some; I simply delete the e-mail reminders (as she recommends once you know the routine) and, having heard her speak, I realize that she is not barking out dictatorial or preachy orders (though I understand how some perceive this to be the case). She is a fun, caring person and is all about focused, forward thinking and just doing what you can when overwhelmed, but doing it everyday. I just choose not to take anything she does or says too personally and move on from there.  Okay if we do this together?? You are inspiring me and I would like the company!  |
|
|
|
Post by mouse on Jun 8, 2008 4:28:56 GMT -5
Moodle, I would be very glad of the company!
It's very hard for me to read FlyLady's emails as not-preachy, although I'm pretty sure she doesn't mean them that way. Mostly it's the ALL-CAPS that bother me, since as a long-time internet user, they signal "shouting" to me.
However, I really like the principles of her system, and it has worked for me in the past: I just took on too much, too fast, and never got the routines down pat. So this time I'm going to set up my routines and do it the way FlyLady says, and I really, really hope it works. I tend to be a creature of habit, so I'm hoping that I can replace the old, bad habits, with new happy productive habits.
~Mouse
|
|
masmom
New Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 32
|
Post by masmom on Jun 8, 2008 7:57:34 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by fluffernut - now Jannie on Jun 8, 2008 9:21:54 GMT -5
I did Flylady for awhile maybe three years ago,I'm noit quite ready to go back. Appreciate the link,however. I know it works for some. My local newspaper recently printed a letter from a woman with mild depression who swore by Flylady, not who "swore at Flylady." Gee, maybe I am ready to go back.
|
|
|
|
Post by mellowyellow on Jun 8, 2008 10:20:38 GMT -5
I did Fly Lady for a while a few years back. I also didn't like the emails. As a person who worked outside of the home, and didn't have access to the internet until the end of the day, those timed tasks just weren't appropriate.  What I DID take with me was the Clean Sink idea, and the 27 Fling Boogie (modified to whichever number I choose). The other thing that I really latched onto was the Clean toilet and sink Thing. I can live in a lot of clutter sometimes, but if my bathroom is clean, I feel cleaner myself. For a while, I had a control journal, but something about that title just creeps me out. Firstly, I hate writing in journals... and secondly, for some reason I was always reading it as "a device to control me" rather than something to help me "gain control". Weird eh? Too many science fiction books as a kid, I guess. I was curious to see how the site has evolved since last I read it, and was happy to see a section called Ask Tom. Very interesting to read, and not saccharine sweet. A male's perspective on cleaning and relationship issues. I also like the idea of dividing the house in zones... though my own home is so little that I had to make modifications to fit the suggestions. |
|
|
|
Post by stressedbythemess on Jun 8, 2008 10:21:36 GMT -5
Okay, looking at the website, I have never tried FlyLady, and I have a quesiton.
It seems like once you get all the routines (morning afternoon evening + weekly + missions), you're spending at least an hour a day cleaning or more. I thought the point (and a benefit I look forward to) of getting out of this was to earn ourselves some free time by getting to a point we weren't having to spend hours and hours cleaning?
Or did I miss the ball here?
|
|
|
|
Post by mouse on Jun 8, 2008 13:24:05 GMT -5
stressedbythemess, Actually, that's not quite accurate. As far as I can tell, you spend one hour doing cleaning on one day a week (the "Weekly Home Blessing Hour") and everything else is broken down into fifteen-minute-or-less tasks and routines. Sure, your routines may take more than an hour, but they don't involve only cleaning. Routines are about how you spend your afternoon and evening after work, for instance. They include things like dealing with paperwork, preparing dinner, your nightly ablutions, taking your pills, all that sort of stuff. That's how I understood it, anyway. ~Mouse |
|
|
|
Post by sunshineshouse on Jun 9, 2008 15:30:47 GMT -5
I think it's great that you are giving Flylady another try! Yes, Flylady has been an inspiration for me too - though I haven't been to her website or read her emails in years. I still try to keep some of her common sense philosophies in mind ("hit a lick at a snake"). I bought a few of her products -- the feather dusters, timer, etc. -- umm, they are somewhere around here! Funny thing is, the last couple of days I have been tackling my level 2+++++++++ kitchen. In the corner is this 3 foot heap o' stuff that's been there for about two years. At one point, I kinda poked around toward the bottom of the pile, and lo and behold there was a Flylady clingie looking up at me!! I had to laugh! (For those who don't know, the clingie is a cartoon image of Flylady on a sticky thing that you put somewhere for "inspiration".) Gee, I felt a little bad that she was under all that stuff for two years!
|
|
