Ever heard of FlyLady?
If you're a Mormon housewife, you probably have.
Upon visiting her site, the first words you see are these:
"You can't organize clutter; you can only get rid of it! I want your home to be filled with things that make you smile. Our lives are too short to continually deal with that pink elephant in the living room." ~FlyLady
Now if that ain't wisdom, I don't know what is.
But FlyLady can offer more than just wisdom.
Her site offers help for the hopeless when it comes to personal and home organization.
Her 'basic routines' (posted under FLYing Lessons) offer a step-by-step guide for beginners. This is a perfectly practical way to motivate readers to take control of their clutter one step at a time.
Additionally, she divides the home into five 'zones' or manageable pieces which she then instructs readers to maintain on a monthly basis through an inspired emailing system. Motivation for more organization is simply a click away with FlyLady.
But I have only begun to scratch the surface of helpful hints FlyLady provides. From the '5 Minute Room Rescue' to the '27 Fling Boogie', she offers an assortment of fun and innovative ways to stay on top of your clutter.
Perhaps her greatest advice comes in the form of a strange request: "shine your sink". I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with anything, but I've been practicing this principal for years and wholeheartedly agree with her. She says:
"Many of you can't understand why I want you to empty your sink of your dirty dishes and clean and shine it, when there is so much more to do. It is so simple. I want you to have a sense of accomplishment. You have struggled for years with a cluttered home and you are so beaten down. I just want to put a smile on your face. When you get up the next morning, your sink will greet you and a smile will come across your lovely face. I can't be there to give you a big hug, but I know how good it feels to see yourself in your kitchen sink. So each morning this is my gift to you. Even though I can't be there to pat you on the back, I want you to know that I am very proud of you. Go Shine your Sink."
I believe this concept can be applied towards any area of your home. Keeping things in a constant state of readiness is possible and, I might add, preferable.
It all comes back to my 'everything has a home' principle. Would you spend hours sorting and cleaning piles of clothing on your bedroom floor if you had simply either put them away or tossed them in the dirty hamper as soon as you were done wearing them?
Would you need to be arm deep in sudsy water, scrubbing a sink full of crusty dishes if you had instead rinsed and loaded them into the dishwasher immediately after using them? No, I say!
Maintaining a household is a continuous work in progress. Insisting on doing nothing consistently and everything sporadically will only leave you exhausted and discouraged.
So take a hint from FlyLady and get rid of the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) in your life.
If you're a Mormon housewife, you probably have.
Upon visiting her site, the first words you see are these:
"You can't organize clutter; you can only get rid of it! I want your home to be filled with things that make you smile. Our lives are too short to continually deal with that pink elephant in the living room." ~FlyLady
Now if that ain't wisdom, I don't know what is.
But FlyLady can offer more than just wisdom.
Her site offers help for the hopeless when it comes to personal and home organization.
Her 'basic routines' (posted under FLYing Lessons) offer a step-by-step guide for beginners. This is a perfectly practical way to motivate readers to take control of their clutter one step at a time.
Additionally, she divides the home into five 'zones' or manageable pieces which she then instructs readers to maintain on a monthly basis through an inspired emailing system. Motivation for more organization is simply a click away with FlyLady.
But I have only begun to scratch the surface of helpful hints FlyLady provides. From the '5 Minute Room Rescue' to the '27 Fling Boogie', she offers an assortment of fun and innovative ways to stay on top of your clutter.
Perhaps her greatest advice comes in the form of a strange request: "shine your sink". I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with anything, but I've been practicing this principal for years and wholeheartedly agree with her. She says:
"Many of you can't understand why I want you to empty your sink of your dirty dishes and clean and shine it, when there is so much more to do. It is so simple. I want you to have a sense of accomplishment. You have struggled for years with a cluttered home and you are so beaten down. I just want to put a smile on your face. When you get up the next morning, your sink will greet you and a smile will come across your lovely face. I can't be there to give you a big hug, but I know how good it feels to see yourself in your kitchen sink. So each morning this is my gift to you. Even though I can't be there to pat you on the back, I want you to know that I am very proud of you. Go Shine your Sink."
I believe this concept can be applied towards any area of your home. Keeping things in a constant state of readiness is possible and, I might add, preferable.
It all comes back to my 'everything has a home' principle. Would you spend hours sorting and cleaning piles of clothing on your bedroom floor if you had simply either put them away or tossed them in the dirty hamper as soon as you were done wearing them?
Would you need to be arm deep in sudsy water, scrubbing a sink full of crusty dishes if you had instead rinsed and loaded them into the dishwasher immediately after using them? No, I say!
Maintaining a household is a continuous work in progress. Insisting on doing nothing consistently and everything sporadically will only leave you exhausted and discouraged.
So take a hint from FlyLady and get rid of the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) in your life.
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