Flylady and Her Method of Cleaning and Organizing

When I first started with the Internet and with yahoogroups in particular I kept hearing the name Flylady. I soon investigated and discovered she’s really a lady named Marla Cilley and she gives really helpful suggestions for improving your life by becoming organized. Now, I know that becoming organized is in most people’s top ten for New Year’s Resolutions, but Flylady has a method that really works.

She starts by telling everyone to clean their sink. First a big deep clean to get it sparkling, and then just a maintenance clean every day. When cleaning your sink becomes a habit (and a habit takes 28 days to establish, according to Flylady) then you should clean your sink and make your bed every day.

The reason she starts with the kitchen and the bedroom is that the kitchen is the heart of the home and the bedroom, well that’s your peaceful place, your sanctuary.

With your sink shiny and your bed made every day she encourages you to declutter and get rid of the stuff that you know you have too much of. But she makes it fun. That is why Flylady’s method works when other methods fail. First there’s C.H.A.O.S. (Can’t Anyone Over Syndrome) where your house it so messy you can’t even invite your best friend over. Then there’s what you do with S.T.U.F.F. (Something That Undermines Family Fun), you move it. Most people see clutter as something you move or hide when people are about to come and visit. But Flylady defines it as C.L.U.T.T.E.R (Constantly Lugging Useless Trash Through Every Room). Flylady says you can’t tidy clutter, it has to leave the house.

So, to get rid of S.T.U.F.F. Flylady has introduced the 27 fling boogie and the 5 minute room rescue. The 27 fling boogie is where you take a trash bag and put 27 things into it, really fast, that you want to throw away. Then you quickly throw it in the trash before you change your mind and decide to keep some. Then you do the same thing with a bag and collect 27 things that you want to donate, and put them in your car for the next time you are driving past a thrift store, or put them in your garage for the next curbside pickup. The 5 minute room rescue is where you race against the timer for 5 minutes in an area you’d really hate to declutter. Afterall, Flylady reasons, you can do anything for 5 minutes.

You are never a failure with Flylady’s method. If you miss a day, or break the habit you just restart the method the next day. Start with your sink, then your bed and get back to your routine. Flylady calls them Babysteps.

As time goes on you add more and more to your daily routine, until you are Blessing Your Home every day. Don’t see chores as chores, but as ways to bless your home.

A really important part of Flylady’s plan is to get fully dressed including shoes every day. It is only when you are wearing shoes that you are ready to tackle the day’s challenges. If we go about in nightclothes or sloppy attire, we won’t love ourselves as we should, and our work will reflect that.

F.L.Y. stands for Finally Loving Yourself. It is as we learn to love ourselves that we can give out love to others. Most people who follow the Flylady plan are moms, and a majority of those work in the home. No one sees the good work Stay At Home Moms do, so we must make sure to look after ourselves and then we will be better equipped to look after others.