Any fellow FlyLady followers?

[Nettio]

I know we've talked about FlyLady before but it's been awhile and I have a few questions for those of you who have followed her system.

I restarted her system over the summer and made it all the way through the Baby Steps for the first time ever which I was rather proud of myself for, haha. Since then I've been keeping up with my Morning, Afternoon and Evening routines, checking the Flight Plan email everyday and trying to do the Kelly's zone missions and I'm definitely noticing a huge difference in our house.

But I also kind of feel like I'm missing something? Kind of like FlyLady gave me all these great steps to follow and then abandoned me to fend for myself, haha. I've looked at her site several times but we all know it's totally crazy so I'm kind of feeling lost in terms of what I'm supposed to focus on now that I've completed the Baby Steps.

Am I supposed to be decluttering? Zone work? What about the rooms that don't fit into any zone? What about regular cleaning, is that really ALL supposed to fit into the Weekly Blessing Hour?

I'm really liking her system because I do a lot better with routines than I do checklists so any advice you have to share would be much appreciated.

[heathergw]

I think you're just supposed to continue with the routine... tho, I've never made it through the baby steps LOL... I kind of saw it that instead of decluttering after you've completed all the decluttering, you can do the heavy cleaning of those spots... I really wanted to complete the baby steps... but I think I need a combination of routine and checklists, so that if I can't get to something one day, it's ok... I'll get it done another day.

[glumirk]

I'm scarred by flylady because of my mother, but the App I use is based on it, and may help you out. When I stay on top of it, and as I change it to fit our home needs, it makes a huge difference.

Home Routines

And it's totally worth reading the Help because it will help you enter things so much quicker. They just added a "cloud" so you can keep all of your routines online too, but I haven't messed with it yet.

[Angie4b1g]

OMG That app would make me throw my phone under a bus. LOL

[VillageJen]

FlyLady loses me with her insistence that we wear shoes all day.

I've tried her system over and over and to be honest, I like the original system that she built upon much better. It's the Sidetracked Home Executives. You can find the book at the library.

The S.H.E. system uses color index cards and a file box. Each day you do the jobs that are on the cards for that day and then refile them for another day.

It's simple, cheap, extremely effective and one's children can participate! Plus, no annoying emails all the live long day.

[crazyt]

i really need to do this system again..it has been way too many years since I did it.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by heathergw

I think you're just supposed to continue with the routine... tho, I've never made it through the baby steps LOL... I kind of saw it that instead of decluttering after you've completed all the decluttering, you can do the heavy cleaning of those spots... I really wanted to complete the baby steps... but I think I need a combination of routine and checklists, so that if I can't get to something one day, it's ok... I'll get it done another day.

You're right about decluttering and then doing the heavy cleaning, that much I do know because there's a Flying Lesson that talks about it and a PDF cleaning list you can download. I think I'm just not sure how all the stuff fits together, like the zones and weekly blessing hour and missions and all that. But maybe it's just that I'm in a holding pattern until I can work up to those cleanings lists so it seems a bit odd at the moment.

Oh and I should say that I do use a combination of routines and checklists, I just don't use a cleaning specific checklist.

When I did the Babysteps, I added all the steps and the routines into my regular to-do list app and then checked them off as I did them, so if I missed a day, it was still on my list to do the next day. Now that I have the routines down I don't need to check them off every day, but I do add any random task, like the missions, into my list so I remember to do it. I have no doubt if I'd tried to just remember, I would have never made it through the Babysteps.

Originally Posted by glumirk

I'm scarred by flylady because of my mother, but the App I use is based on it, and may help you out. When I stay on top of it, and as I change it to fit our home needs, it makes a huge difference.

Home Routines

And it's totally worth reading the Help because it will help you enter things so much quicker. They just added a "cloud" so you can keep all of your routines online too, but I haven't messed with it yet.

LOL, I actually have that app but I don't use it.

At the time I purchased it the only way to add everything was by typing it into the phone which took forever. I also didn't like that with the Baby Steps, you still had to go the website to see what the step was for that day. Instead I added all the Babysteps into my regular to-do list and scheduled them to pop up on the correct day which helped a ton. It's a good app though for someone in need of a list!

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by VillageJen

FlyLady loses me with her insistence that we wear shoes all day.

Plus, no annoying emails all the live long day.

Amen!! I tried... and failed, 1. hate wearing shoes in my house... and two, the emails drove me insane.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by VillageJen

FlyLady loses me with her insistence that we wear shoes all day.

I've tried her system over and over and to be honest, I like the original system that she built upon much better. It's the Sidetracked Home Executives. You can find the book at the library.

The S.H.E. system uses color index cards and a file box. Each day you do the jobs that are on the cards for that day and then refile them for another day.

It's simple, cheap, extremely effective and one's children can participate! Plus, no annoying emails all the live long day.

LOL, I thought the shoes thing was weird too at first because we don't wear shoes in the house. But I have a pair of in-house flats that I use now (not lace-up but whatever, haha) and I do find I feel more focused with them. It's a total mental game but I think that's exactly what I needed!

Oh and I do the daily digest email so I only get one email a day and I only read the Flight Plan section of the email. I ignore all the testimonials and the endless, OMG I love my Rubba Swisha posts, haha.

[aly321]

I haven't followed her for a while. Love her concepts! I DO shine my sink each night, or I can't sleep. haha! My problem is within myself. Being motivated enough to stick with it!

[Keely~B]

I did years ago and I'll say it gave me some great ideas and principles that I follow to this day. She was just overkill for me though. I hated the shoe thing but ended up doing exactly like Lynnette. I'm way more productive when I'm wearing real clothes and shoes.

You may want to check out Motivated Moms, kind of like Flylady Lite. She's got a printable sets and an app now. I used those several years ago and liked it.

[krystalhartley]

Originally Posted by Angie4b1g

OMG That app would make me throw my phone under a bus. LOL

I need a LIKE button.

[DawnMarch]

I did years ago and I'll say it gave me some great ideas and principles that I follow to this day.

I love the idea of FlyLady but I think it's virtually impossible to keep up with it all if you work full-time outside of the home and have small kids (and want to have at least some "non-nagging" time with your kids as well as some small down-time in life). It's just a recipe for failure -- or at least it always has been for me.

I do think she has some great principles though. I forget the exact expression, but the concept that "whatever I can get done, even if it's not perfect, still blesses my family" has been an awesome revelation for a conflicted perfectionist like me.

[LenaGardner]

I can relate to so many of these posts. I was a Flybaby many moons ago (when Nathan was an infant and now he's 11 so.....yeah.) I loved some of the concepts...the idea of a SHE, the idea of a sparkly sink, and still to this day when I only have a few minutes to vacuum, I remind myself "just the middles". I'm also a perfectionist so if I don't have 2 hours to devote to cleaning I often will put it off.

The shoes thing....dude, I can't do it. I LOVE the way a clean floor feels under my feet and it's totally part of my cleaning routine...feeling the clean floor under my feet and feeling happy about it.

I am kind of ritualistic about my cleaning though...so I understand getting in the right mind frame for it.

I myself, need to wear a specific outfit (I have a few I rotate) for cleaning. I go through and open all my blinds. I open all the windows unless it is freezing out. I light the tart warmers in all my rooms and then I move from one room to the next in a certain order. I know it's kind of strange but the ritual is calming and relaxing to me. I open the windows for the fresh air and also so the mopped floors will dry faster.

I stopped doing flylady because when Nathan was little I worked outside the home and I would always get the emails...and it would stress me out I was at my desk and couldn't do all the suggestions like dust the light switches etc LOL.

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by DawnMarch

I love the idea of FlyLady but I think it's virtually impossible to keep up with it all if you work full-time outside of the home and have small kids (and want to have at least some "non-nagging" time with your kids as well as some small down-time in life). It's just a recipe for failure -- or at least it always has been for me.

I've tried FlyLady 3 times, and it was a recipe for failure for me, too. Yes, my house was cleaner, but I was spending very little time enjoying my kids or anything else because there was always something else on the cleaning schedule. I don't work outside the home, but everything took way longer than she said it should and stopping at the designated time meant that the house still always looked trashed and the laundry was never finished. The problem for me was that when I tried to follow her system, I had to let it take over my life and schedule my whole day around it to make it work.

The shoes thing? That's how I prefer to be anyway. I'm such a klutz that I'd probably break toes on a monthly basis if I tried to go barefoot.

[kristijoy]

I've been doing FLYLADY for several years. I love her! I've settled into a pattern with her system:

Everyday:
morning, afternoon, evening routines
15 minutes in my zone (I've customized my own zone lists for my house. To me this made a big difference because then I could do what my own house needed done.)
laundry if needed
and if you wanted to you could add 15 minutes of decluttering a day or a 5 minute room rescue! Or 15 minutes on a big project you are pecking away at.

Then each day of the week has a particular theme. She has a day for the house blessing, a day for paying bills, a day for running errands, pampering day etc.. I've customized those for myself too.

The big thing I think that happens with her system is that things become automatic in the right direction so that you never end up out of control. For example: when you cook dinner you just do the dishes afterwards, when you bring the mail home you sort it and get rid of the junk mail right away, when you take off your clothes (and your kid!) you put them in the hamper rather than on the floor.

Plus, one of her points is that doing a little each day gets you ahead rather than doing nothing and then having to catch up in a marathon. It should be a little each day and not something huge and consuming in your life.

Some of the things I've noticed for myself (in terms of habits) are:

when I bring my kid home from school I sort and put everything away before we do anything else (shoes, keys, purse, lunch box - gets emptied and ready for the next day).

laundry never gets out of control because I habitually look at the basket everyday to see if it needs to be done.

I love the zone work, because I fell like I don't have to do deep cleaning in the whole house every week, but can get to deep cleaning in a specific place. Every room in the house gets attended too over the course of the month.

I love being in my kitchen now. I've made peace with emptying the dishwasher. I can find things!

One of her inspiration writings on love really changed my life and how I look at my role and mother, wife, friend.

Lastly, after doing her system for a while, I found that customizing her zone lists and daily themes really made the difference for me! Oh...and since I've been doing her system for so long, I don't get the emails anymore. You might consider getting her book "Sink Reflections" and working with that if the emails are driving you nuts!

Good luck!

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by kristijoy

I've been doing FLYLADY for several years. I love her! I've settled into a pattern with her system:

Everyday:
morning, afternoon, evening routines
15 minutes in my zone (I've customized my own zone lists for my house. To me this made a big difference because then I could do what my own house needed done.)
laundry if needed
and if you wanted to you could add 15 minutes of decluttering a day or a 5 minute room rescue! Or 15 minutes on a big project you are pecking away at.

Then each day of the week has a particular theme. She has a day for the house blessing, a day for paying bills, a day for running errands, pampering day etc.. I've customized those for myself too.

The big thing I think that happens with her system is that things become automatic in the right direction so that you never end up out of control. For example: when you cook dinner you just do the dishes afterwards, when you bring the mail home you sort it and get rid of the junk mail right away, when you take off your clothes (and your kid!) you put them in the hamper rather than on the floor.

Plus, one of her points is that doing a little each day gets you ahead rather than doing nothing and then having to catch up in a marathon. It should be a little each day and not something huge and consuming in your life.

Some of the things I've noticed for myself (in terms of habits) are:

when I bring my kid home from school I sort and put everything away before we do anything else (shoes, keys, purse, lunch box - gets emptied and ready for the next day).

laundry never gets out of control because I habitually look at the basket everyday to see if it needs to be done.

I love the zone work, because I fell like I don't have to do deep cleaning in the whole house every week, but can get to deep cleaning in a specific place. Every room in the house gets attended too over the course of the month.

I love being in my kitchen now. I've made peace with emptying the dishwasher. I can find things!

One of her inspiration writings on love really changed my life and how I look at my role and mother, wife, friend.

Lastly, after doing her system for a while, I found that customizing her zone lists and daily themes really made the difference for me! Oh...and since I've been doing her system for so long, I don't get the emails anymore. You might consider getting her book "Sink Reflections" and working with that if the emails are driving you nuts!

Good luck!

Oh thank you, thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for!

Believe me, I know FlyLady isn't for everyone but I love her system for exactly the reason you mentioned - because it becomes automatic. Our house is way neater than it was before yet I feel like I'm doing a lot less overall because it's all a few minutes here or there. I've looked at those Motivated Moms checklists before and they seriously stress me out!

Can I ask how you went about breaking your home into zones? Do you keep track of what zone you're working in or do just go with whatever zone needs work?