Monday, January 3, 2011

flylady {and my theory of relativity}


today, my kids are back in school.
we are reluctantly jumping back into the routine.
it's a new year.
it's a new month.
it's a new week.
it's a new day.
it's a good time for me to talk about


although she has never stepped inside my front door,
flylady helps me clean my house.
more specifically, she helps me overcome inertia.

my working definition of inertia is:
a room {car, purse, closet}
that is a mess
will remain a mess
unless acted upon by some force.

flylady helps me find some force.

{sink: before force .............................. sink: after force}
 i've been subscribing {for free!} to flylady's emails for many, many years.  my good friend, kirsten, introduced me to her when i was pregnant with ned.  i was suffering from all-day-long morning sickness.  it seemed like a bad time to try a new system, but i followed along out of curiosity.  {low and behold, the timing could not have been better.}

flylady told me that i could do anything
for 15 minutes
and then pour myself some tea
& put my feet up.
she gave me specific permission to do just that.

with 15 little minutes,
i discovered that i could 
inch my way toward a cleaner house.
{maybe not clean, but cleaner than it was 15 minutes ago!}

i have tested her 15-minute theory countless times.
here are my results:
15 minutes of doing
something
{yes, so do-able}
has a consistently better result
than 15 minutes of doing
nothing.

in 15 minutes, stuff gets done.
in 15 minutes, things get cleaner.
in 15 minutes, life becomes less chaotic. 
amazing.

another revelation:
the more often i clean,
the less often
i have to clean something really dirty.
{yes, the "clean" seems to stick.}

flylady makes a very interesting observation about perfectionism.
in a nutshell:
perfection is impossible &
striving for it will make you unhappy.
"perfect" always finds a flaw.

here is where i will tell you that i do the flylady system
in my own VERY IMPERFECT, HAPHAZARD way
and it still works wonders.

i have found that "good enough"
is really good enough.
good enough means more balance.
good enough means fewer extremes.

flylady's goal is this:
for you to have a reasonably clean home
and a feeling of peace
that spreads throughout your life.

check out flylady.net {it's free!}
to see her "habit of the month": shining your sink!

i would be over-the-moon if you left a comment
telling me what YOU did for 15 minutes.



13 comments:

Dawn said...

ok ok...I am going to "resubscribe" to Fly Lady now...I did but then I started "ignoring" her, and now I need her again...what better time than the new year non?? xoxo

mary said...

I used to follow Fly Lady and love her theory and motivational writing. I haven't been getting her emails for quite a while now but this is a good reminder to look into it again. Do you get just one email with a summary for the day? So glad you shared Fly Lady Catie!

catie said...

dawn ~ yes, the new year is a good time to reconnect with flylady. at this time of year, she reminds you to put away your holiday decorations : )

mary ~ you can subscribe in 2 ways:
1. you can get all the emails (6 - 8 each day) or
2. you can get a "digest" where they are all in one email.
i prefer to get the individual emails, but i have them automatically sent to a "flylady" folder in my inbox. then i can go there when i'm ready & it helps me to not feel overwhelmed. ♥

Pam said...

I subscribed years ago...but then we moved like 10 more times! I do like her concept...and 15 min. is about all I have now a days. While Griffy is in the tub (for 15 min.) I clean the bathroom around him. That would be the cleanest bathroom in the house! Maybe I should start bathing him in the other bathrooms! xoxo

martha said...

i used to follow her some-then wound up feeling guilt alot of the time...i DID like having a shiny sink and i like her philosophy of getting all dressed down to the shoes in the am, and some of her strategy...funny i was just thinking of checking her out again the other day..Catie how do you have the email go directly somewhere specific? I cannot be inundated w/email-i need to sometimes just set a 15 min timer and DO the next things!!

catie said...

martha ~ it's an email setting. the funny thing is that all of these comment emails are going into the same folder because they have FLYLADY in the title! i can help you set it up sometime if you like. ♥

Anonymous said...

LOL at all the comments. My friend Catie introduced me to the Flylady.....
Today I cleaned my kitchen and swept and mopped my wood floor (long overdue!)
I also opened my very own Etsy store! I need to call you for help with my banner after I get all my listings in.

Emily said...

I have not read her site in so long. I never got her e-mails, cause it felt overwhelming to me, but I think I shall check her out again!

Anonymous said...

Connecting to Flylady! What a great way to start the New Year...sans chaos. Love you and many thanks, Kel xoxo

Dawn said...

Catie...do you follow Flylady's cleaning zones...so this week is zone 1 ...with the dusting cobwebs, etc...ceiling to floor...I am confused on when this stuff gets done...I did put all the shoes and coats away that were in the entry though...LESS than 15 min!

catie said...

dawn ~ let's just say, i DEVIATE from the program.
i do SOMETHING every day, but not always what is listed in the zone missions. if it applies to me {or rather, sounds appealing} then i do it.
here is the main difference because of flylady:
i give the toilets a daily SWISH {with mrs. meyer's},
i do a daily load of laundry,
and i always know what's for dinner.
anything else i consider a bonus. ♥

catie said...

also:
we lay out our clothes the night before - that's a big one on a weekday morning.

jill said...

i have followed flylady for several years. we use the timer quite a bit and it's amazing how the kids respond and are willing to a "5-minute room rescue". because of flylady, i go to bed with an empty sink and a running dishwasher each night.

this post has perfect timing, catie. each time i feel my routines going to pot - i try to regroup and get going with flylady again. after the holidays...boy, do i/we need it around here :)

we also lay clothes out the night before school - i agree, it's a huge help!

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