I've been "flying" for a few months. Good for you if you already shine your sink every day. But it's a good ritual for the rest of us who don't, as we wake up to a shiny sink without dishes in it!

As for wearing the shoes, that's the habit-of-the-month, and I'm amazed to know what a difference it makes. I have clean walking shoes that I only wear indoors. As flylady says, shoes tell the brain that it's time to work.

As for the packrat in you, you're right; I think flylady.net could help you. By decluttering 15 minutes a day, you really pay attention to the clutter that chokes a house. I'd suggest you try it. I love it!

I have subscribed to flylady and read most of the testimonials. There are some very good parts to her system. I have a long long long way to go before my house would be considered presentable but the flylady method is something you can adapt to in whatever form it is useful to you. She keeps me from being overwhelmed because she is always always stressing "babysteps" and using the timer. I also bought the feather duster which is something new to me, didn't know how useful these things can be. Whether what she is selling is better than other feather dusters, I don't know but I'm very grateful she has introduced me to them.

I don't like some of the smaltzy stuff, each to his own but I think as far as flylady herself, the smaltzy stuff is probably very genuine for her and fits her style. It just doesn't fit mine so I skip most of it.

I especially like her "blessing the house" routine and 27 fling boogies. I already wear shoes because I have feet problems and must so that is not a problem.

Good luck.

--Alice

Thanks for your responses! I have to admit that I've already convinced my DH to keep the sinks shining. I will have to adjust to the in-house shoes but I've heard from orthopedic surgeons that that's better for your feet anyway...

I love flylady! I adapted a lot of her ideas for my own lifestyle. For example, I live in Florida and don't wear shoes indoors, but I understand the concept and it's true when I'm dressed I feel more "awake" and ready to work than when I go around till noon in my pjs. So for me putting on lace up shoes translates to get showered, dressed and ready to be awake and do something constructive with my day, versus lounging in my pjs surfing gardenweb all day.

I don't "shine" my sink every day, but I do get the concept and I make it a point to make sure all the dishes are in the dishwasher and the kitchen is clean before I go to bed. This makes a huge difference in my mood the next morning.

The email testimonials are extraordinarily motivating for me. I'll read one and immediately go clean or purge SOMETHING! My house isn't perfect yet, I still have some purging to go, but it's a lot better. And it's not just the house, I'm more organized and disciplined myself. All because of what I've learned from flylady. AND I learned about her from this forum, so I'm very grateful to all the other posters and happy to pay the subscription fee to gardenweb.

The best thing about flylady is that by getting rid of all the extraneous "stuff" and keeping my house clean, it frees up a HUGE amount of emotional energy that I previously spent on procrastination and guilt so that I can concentrate on more important things in life.

Yeah, flylady rocks!!!!!

i found the flylady annoying. even when i bundled the emails alot of the stuff seemed to be aimed more at work at home people, rather than work out of home people. i like alot of her cleaning advice and declutter advice. but i couldnt take all the emails and often ignored more of it than i read.

I agree that it's something that can be adapted. We don't do shoes in the house. Were I to do shoes, then the kids would do shoes and that just ups the floor dirt ante massively in my world.

However, I use it as a reminder to shower and get dressed which is MY cue to work (and that is the point, eh?).

I like the 27 fling boogies. I LOVE the idea of setting a timer with kids. I've done this recently with my entire family "we're going to work together for ten minutes until the timer goes off" and you wouldn't believe how much can get done if four people are working hard at the same time. My youngest is three and even he was given jobs that he could do and was very proud of himself. And my daughter, who hates to pick up little toys told me "I'm going to finish, I'm not done yet". I'd never heard that before from a kid. Wait Mom, I'm not done CLEANING? *eyes buggin* So, I definitely plan on continuing that! And if it looks like I'm managing the kids, my DH doesn't take it as me telling him what to do. He joined in and didn't even know that he was being managed. No griping. Imagine that! LOL

I've done flylady loosely and it's motivated me to:

Make cleaning my sink a daily habit. Keep those dishes going. Same for my laundry. I like the zonal thing. Much of clutter or anything else is about procrastination. Spending exactly 15 minutes or something on an area that is dreaded can put a massive dent into the problem and make it less intimidating over time. Have the beds made every day. Do as you go cleaning in bathrooms which means that you don't wait until it's a large job.

So much of keeping house is a personal mind game. Flylady has helped me play it in a way that is starting to work for me.

But I think that the constant emails can be spamlike if you don't use them for their intended purpose.

I too like some of the concepts of flylady but there are way too many emails.
Rosieo, I have to tease, you said that you find it effective to clean when you are dressed. Does this mean that you are normally undressed when you are cleaning?

I actually like her shoe idea when cleaning. I've recently given it a try, in cleaning my house up for company that stayed here a week. It was actually pretty helpful. One it supports your feet, which is key when running all over the place :) And, well it was just helpful.. JMO.. :)

Lynne - well, when it's hot and I'm home alone... saves on laundry don'tcha know ;)

actually, my husband came home early once and found me up on a ladder painting the bathroom naked, I don't know which one of us turned more red, but he comes home early a lot more often now!

Fly lady - luv the concept! I love the inquiries ... "where is your laundry?" - because it can remind me that I was kind of in the middle of that activity.

I also hold to the shoe concept - not sure why - but it does make a difference - w/ shoes on, I can go anywhere without pausing and getting sidetracked.

Sink shining didn't work for me, but maybe it is time to go back to that and try it again.......

Vicki

To be honest, I think Flylady is a concept most relevant to a specific group: SAH women whose homes are way out of control. Not that there's anything wrong with that...and for that group obviously based on the many testimonials it can be a great motivator.

But if you have a life 'outside', it's probably not the case that you need to be reminded to put on your shoes every day--that applies more often to people who are home without the daily routine of going out and thus can use the psychic nudge that "I'm dressed, it's time to go do some work". And if you already have routines and patterns of cleaning or organizing the multiple fling boogies and shining the sink just aren't all that necessary in many cases. OTOH, if you are at home and not already following routines, it may well be Flylady is a tremendous starting point.

Now I'll be attacked by all the Flylady fans for sure! As noted Flylady is definitely a helpful system for some folks. But I think it's been a bit over-hyped as a panacea for everyone, and it really isn't a one size fits all method by any means.

I LOVE the FlyLady. I found her about 3 years ago while reading this forum and have been flying ever since. Shoes work for me. As for cleaning the sink; if I start there, I just seem to clean up the rest of the kitchen and the family follows suit. If things are out of place they seem to think it doesn't matter to me and they just add to the clutter.

It was easier flying when I didn't work. Now that I work part-time, I have less time to devote to Kelly's missions but I do look at them every morning.

I too was overwhelmed by the abundance of email so I unsubscribed to getting them but bookmarked Kelly's Missions to check on the computer each morning. That works for me.

Setting a timer is wonderful and so is emergency cleaning when company is coming.

I subscribed to Flylady, and after getting a slew of emails, I decided that was not for me. Also, the "contract" with Yahoo had some things in it I didn't want to agree to, such as ads, etc. So I regretfully unsubscribed the next day. However, if Flylady gets her own Web (as she mentioned in one message), she said she could "aim" emails to the proper audience, and you wouldn't get all those messages that were way ahead of where you were. I know she said all you had to do was delete them, but to do that you had to at least look at them first. HOWEVER, I AM cleaning my sink at night, I do put my shoes on when I get dressed, and I had a good feeling when I filled a bag full of stuff and threw it out. The only other thing I latched onto before I deleted everything was to get some exercise every day. That's next on my list. I also found out today that my timer doesn't work. I worked an hour before I figured that out.

Prior to selling the townhouse and moving, my husband and I had been FLYing for a couple years, but we weren't 100% into it. We both work 9-5s and sometimes the emails were just too much. We did do the sink shining thing for over a year and just stopped when we moved.

Prior to reading this, I walked in the kitchen, looked at it in disgust and came back to the computer to "avoid" the problem. Guess I need to take a shower, put those good ol' shoes on and dive into it. I'm not feeling very well, but I shouldn't use "I'm sick" as an excuse. I can do a little, at least unload the dishwasher and load it back up, then maybe work on that sink. Since we moved I cannot find my Sink Reflections book and this sink isn't stainless steel. Maybe Flylady's site will talk about cleaning a ceramic one. Haven't had it looking like I think a sink should look since we moved in!

Maybe it's time to start FLYing again. And yeah, if she could have a targeted email thing for working people, I'd be more willing to go with emails again.

I PROMISE if you'll take the "Baby Steps," and don't try to do it all at once, you will be amazed. I know the system has saved not only my house but also my sanity. I began it when I was working a job that often required three 16-hour shifts, along with the two 8-hour shifts a week. I was exhausted and didn't think I could ever "catch up." I did...and WITHOUT doing laundry or grocery shopping on the weekends.

You can set up a filter in your inbox so all the FLYLady stuff goes straight to its own folder; it doesn't get mixed in with your regular mail. I have two filters; one for all her mail, and one to sort out the "Testimonials." I like to read them, but I don't like to sort through them. DonÂt even look at the "Reminders" yet; just delete them.

Read the Welcome Letter again, and again! I spent the first two weeks doing nothing but reading it and the website links over and over.

She'll send the Welcome Letter in three installments. Then she'll suggest you set up mini- morning and evening routines. There should be no more than three steps each to begin; incorporate the Shiny Sink at the same time.

As you become comfortable with the mini routines and Shiny Sink, you can begin thinking about the Zone Work, Fire Drills, Boogies, etc. I started out by reading, and re-reading about them before actually setting my timer and doing them.

I use my timer for everything. Work, fun, home, while out-and-about. 15 minutes keeps me sane.

Suggestions, like the Brillo pads, are just that ~ suggestions. The system encourages you to modify it to your family and lifestyle. I use green nylon "scrubbies." The heart of the matter is to get the sink clean, keep it clean, and work in the routines.

FLYLady Rocks!

(Can you tell I'm just a teeny-tiny fan of the system!)

I failed Flylady. I subscribed for two years, but even with her motto "jump right in wherever you are" I always fell behind. I let the clutter and household grime accumulate. I spent more time reading her emails than I did cleaning up. My house is currently the worst it's ever been *BUT* I feel I am finally on my way back using a modified Flylady system of my own. I started serious housecleaning this past Monday. In five days I got the kitchen floor scrubbed and the refrigerator cleaned. My house is three floors thus three zones. Every day I do one "room rescue" of a "hotspot" for as long as it takes, five minutes or 90. I posted in the organizing forum. My goal is to be complete by Christmas, and that will be my gift to myself.

I also LOVE Flylady. I agree that it seems geared to SAH women, but I can make it work for me.

The odes to the shiny sink are just a way to get the dishes done every day (some people aren't good about that) and have one thing you can be proud of.

The reminders are just reminders; I can delete them un-read, but it is very helpful to have someone REMIND me to clean out my car (I'm GOOD with dishes & laundry, BAD with cars).

FlyLady is also a way to make housework "fun" instead of torture. I was hooked the day I realized that a 5-minute room rescue every day in the WORST room in your house, DOES make a difference! Just 5 minutes a day, and eventually that room was clean... and didn't require me giving up an entire Saturday to clean it.

The biggest reward I received from FlyLady was "permission" to de-junk the house. No need to keep things "just in case". No need to keep something just because we paid good money for it. No need to keep things that make me feel bad, no reason to keep things we don't love. Our house had become the final resting place for dead people's clutter, and slowly but surely I'm getting it out of here.

I like the Flylady ideas, again, I don't try to do everything suggested, but my house isn't too bad to start with as DH and I are pretty neat folks to start with. I unsubscribed due to the e-mails, but return to the webpage every-so-often. I don't do my dishes every day, there's usually only 2 mugs, 2 plates and cutlery so it wold be pretty wasteful, so I do them every other day. I do wear shoes, but not lace ups, so I can go down cellar to do laundry or outside to put out rubbish. I like doing a "fling" once a month. I clean my bathroom as I go, everyday something gets wiped down or scubbed. I exercse a little every day, walking the dog. To each their own, but she makes me smile and that can't be too bad!

I am a big flylady fan. Her system has taught me much and works well for me. I do, however, have Outlook set up to put all Flylady emails into a Flylady folder. Then it is set up to separate out the zone missions, the reminders, and the testimonials. Quite honestly I just now have the program automatically delete the reminders and the zone missions, leaving the testimonials and the essays. And I've been toying with the idea of automatically deleting all emails that mention the fly duster. Not that there is anything wrong with the fly duster, just that I'm tired of reading testimonials about how it has changed peoples lives.

I agree that the welcoming letter really has all you need to know. The rest is simply a sense of community that inspires folks.

Take what you can use, and leave the rest. But no whining! :)

Chris,

The feather duster has changed my cat's life. He runs through the house with it like he's caught an antelope or something. I've learned to keep it put away.

My house is actually picked-up all the time now (it's amazing what picking up after yourself can do ;) ) and it's clean 90% of the time. I still don't make my bed every morning, and I am not a fan of the shoes, but my house is rarely more than 15 minutes away from presentable.
Unfortunately because of working my routines pile house blessing, room rescues, hot spots, pamper missions, kelly's missions, desk day, anti-procrastination day and errand day into the weekend. During the summers when it is slow and I get home early I spread them out during the week. Some people have been "flywashed" in a month or three months... and I thought there was no way it would work for me, because it would take a heck of a lot longer than that. Well here I am a year and a half later, and while I haven't been "flywashed", my house is decluttered and in order for the most part.

I really think a few working flybabies should get together and develop a modified control journal and e-mail system with a little less sap for our somewhat neglected demographic.

I just posted about this in another forum, this is what I wrote.:

RE: Flylady... I use her system, however, as with any system, I take what works for me and use it. A lot of her e-mail's are too goody-goody for me, but the routines and the decluttering process does help. My routines are a little nuts as I mentioned in a previous post, because I really just don't have the amount of time in a day that it takes to follow her routines. So I pile up a lot into the weekends, but my house is presentable, which it has rarely been in the past. So anyone that knows me, knows that it has really helped a lot. I was the kid with two feet of paper and laundry and toys on her floor ;) My dad once took everything and threw it out into the hallway, and told me he'd be back in an hour, anything not put away in my room would be thrown, BOY DID I HUSTLE... but I got it done and he bought me flowers for my dresser! *laugh* I was REALLY bad...

I too am a flylady failure - never reading the emails, they clogged up my email so I unsubed for the second or third time. Every now and then I try to put her system into play - lost count of the times I tried to start a control journal - but usually fall by the wayside. I know how much can actually get done in 15 minutes, but it's the getting started on it that is the problem.

This thread did give me enough of a shove to get up and get my kitchen clean - it was a mess, I didn't clean it properly last night, just shoved what fit in the dishwasher and left the rest. I got in there for 15 minutes and over an hour later walked out - I even gave the floor a mop.

A while back I found a great motivator, listening to hour long podcast downloads on my mp3 player while doing the housework. Another thing is that shoes don't really work for me but putting on an apron does seem to. But I misplaced both, they are now found and tomorrow I don both and get to it.

I have no idea how I missed this post because I love flylady! While I haven't gotten up to speed on the whole thing I have gotten a lot out of it. I'm learning to declutter, I've started a new habit a month. So far I've stopped using the kitchen chairs as a closet, sheets are washed on the same day every week, and mail is becoming less of a problem. While I haven't completely decluttered I'm not making it worse. I've found that you have to take what works for you and personalize as best as you can. I'm another "no shoes in the house" person. Even brand new, clean shoes make me cringe with every step I take. So, that I don't do. I think the best thing I got out of this was realizing that I'm not the lazy slob I thought I was. With a husband, 4 kids and 4 pets things can get very messy, very fast. Flylady made me see that I was just overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start so I just didn't start at all. I also realized that cleaning a little bit was better than not at all. Before if I didn't have time to tear apart the entire kitchen and clean it I wouldn't bother to do anything. Now I realize that one clean counter is better than none, in the time it takes to make my kids waffles for breakfast I can unload the dishwasher, picking up a few pieces of clutter at a time makes it better a little at a time. Find what works for you and go for it. It really makes a difference in your life!

I found flylady helpful especially in terms of thinking about zones in the household, and I have adopted many of her ideas for keeping my own house clean.

Personally, I find the testimonials and her "inspirational" stuff too cloying to stomach. The hundreds of emails, even in the digest form, are just too much to keep up with. But that's easily remedied. Don't subscribe! Just go to the website, see what's up for the day, and do it if it fits your schedule.

I know this is a super old thread but I just found out Flylady has a free app now, it's great. (for newbies, still go read her website too)