Does anybody else use the FlyLady system? Since 2001 I have been devoted to Marla Cilley's system of home management using baby steps to overcome chaos. She has a free Internet site that is very user friendly . Her book Sink Reflections was published in 2002. In it she starts out introducing the new Flybabies to her Buzzzzzz Words which includes the words CHAOS which is an acronym for Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome, and Fly & Flying which means Finally Loving Yourself!You start our with Babysteps where she describes her Internet mentoring system which is not all about cleaning but your first Babystep is starting out with a shiny sink. The next BabyStep is choosing your clothes for tomorrow where she insists that you also include putting on your shoes first thing in the morning.
Once you master the above steps she takes you to getting rid of clutter and introduces you to her next Buzzzzzzzzzzz Word, the 27 Fling Boogie which becomes your tool to declutter your house 27 items at a time. This section is huge since she firmly believes and I concure that you can't organize clutter. Even though it is hard to let go of it you must persevere and get it out and she has many suggestions to ease the pain of parting with our clutter.
The next phase is all about setting up routines starting with the most important bedtime routine then the morning routine. Later I'll post mine that I constantly tweak to accommodate life's ever changing situations. The main premise is to get the things that must be done daily into a routine that allows you to get it over with in the most efficient way possible to give you time to concentrate on the rest of your life knowing that the basics at least will aways get done.
All of your information is then stored in what she calls your Control Journal. This is probably the most useful thing that I have in my home. If I ever had to evacuate for any reason this would be one of the first things that I would grab to take with me.
Next comes the Basic Weekly Plan where every day has a purpose. Monday: Weekly Cleaning Chores, Tuesday: Free day, Wednesday: Making lists and planning next week, Thursday: Grocery and errand day, Friday: Bill paying and miscellaneous day.
Zone cleaning is introduced so that you never have to do spring cleaning again. Chores are spread out over the course of a month and divided into five areas of the house. This is where things get a bit more advanced but so well worth the effort.
The FlyLady system tackles laundry, meal planning, dealing with paper clutter, vacations, the holidays, moving, and the needs of the entire family weather your are a SAHM, SAH?, or a Payroll She, another one of her BuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzWords.
I'll post pictures of my Control Journal and routines later. I love Marla and her crew and highly recommend their free service to anyone that would like to create more time for living their lives free of CHAOS.
I've been a member several times off and on over the past 5 or more years, but I struggle with a rebellion issue and end up hearing her voice as my mom's in my head - telling me what to do. Haven't figured out how to get to the point of doing it for me yet. For the meantime, I am using Brocante Home's Housekeeper's Journal instead as it fits my need for pretty, girly things. I've held onto a lot of the lessons I learned from FlyLady and at some point I can see myself going back possibly.
ReplyDeleteFlylady helped me through many stressful times a few years back! After having my third child things got so crazy I was desperately searching for solutions. Fly lady to the rescue! I loved the idea of the routines and have successfully shined my sink, made my bed and wore my shoes every since!
ReplyDeleteMelissa