Do you love a clean house but hate the process of cleaning? I used to feel the same way, but then I discovered FlyLady.

FlyLady is Marla Cilley, and she encourages people through her website and emails to not only have a clean and orderly home, but to FLY. She says FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself.

FlyLady's philosophy is that we neglect our chores primarily because we are perfectionists-since we never seem to have enough time to clean "right", we don't clean at all.

I stumbled across her "Crisis Cleaning" essay many years ago while searching the internet for inexpensive Christmas gift ideas. Basically, she suggests using a timer and working 15 minutes in each room.

When the timer goes off, you stop and move to another room-no matter what you are in the middle of doing. After three 15 minute sessions, you take a 15 minute break. Then repeat. I used her method and had my house ready for the holidays in no time.

But even those of us who hate to clean probably use some version of "Crisis Cleaning" already.

We clean before the holidays, or before company comes to visit, or when we just finally can't stand the mess anymore, and it takes us at least a full day to see a difference.

FlyLady's true value is in helping us establish daily, weekly and monthly routines that maintain an orderly house-and an orderly life!

Using a Timer for Housecleaning Success

The timer remains my favorite tool from FlyLady's arsenal. For me it works two ways. First, I can do anything for 15 minutes. And 15 minutes of work can make a huge dent in what seems like an impossible job. Second, using the timer turns cleaning into a bit of a game. I enjoy testing myself, seeing how much of a task I can actually complete before the timer dings. Now that I recognize how well this motivates me, I've learned to use other timers on a regular basis. For example, I think it is pretty cool that I can unload the dishwasher in less than the 3 minutes it takes to microwave a bag of popcorn!

Even if you decide to jump-start your FLYing with "Crisis Cleaning", don't expect to maintain a perfect house right away. Establishing new habits and routines takes time-FlyLady emphasizes babysteps. Some people get frustrated with the volume of email that comes with the FlyLady subscription, but it is worth the patience to really give the system a chance.

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