Product Description
Fly Out of CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome) Into Order--One BabyStep at a Time
With her special blend of housecleaning tips, humor, and musings about daily life, Marla Cilley, a.k.a. The FlyLady, shows you how to manage clutter and chaos and get your home--and your life--in order. Drawn from the lessons and tools used in her popular mentoring program, FlyLady helps you create doable housekeeping routines and break down overwhelming chores into manageable missions that will restore peace to your home--and your psyche. Soon you’ll be able to greet guests without fear, find your keys, locate your kids, and most of all, learn how to FLY: Finally Loving Yourself.
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This system really works
First, I'll say that I'm an atheist, and the author's religious beliefs, or her expression of them, do not bother me. This is America and we are all entitled to express what we believe, and we all know we're not under obligation to agree with each other. So to those so offended by what she references(God Breezes, etc.), I don't really get it.
Second, I am a single woman with no children who works full-time and lives at home with my mother. I do virtually all of the cooking and cleaning, and have since I was 12 or 13. Far from being a disorganized clutterbug, I know how to clean a house very nicely, I am an expert at laundry, I never have trouble throwing anything out and I'm a great cook. I am not upset by the fact that she wrote this book for someone living a different lifestyle than myself- I take what I need from the system and leave the rest. Not really why this seems to be such an issue for some of the people who wrote negative reviews. Truth is, most women do live a lifestyle similar to the author(wives, mothers, etc.), which is why she has such a following.
With all of my housekeeping skills, though, I grew up learning absolutely no sense of routine or habits, which is what the author is talking about. You can be great at cleaning a house and still have a house that looks like crap on a day-to-day basis. I never grew up making my bed each morning or washing the dishes each night. Like a lot of kids with single parents, I had very little structure to my life and the chaos was something that followed me into adulthood.
What FlyLady helped me to do was set up a control journal where I knew what had to be done each day and when. Now, I still not do everything in "perfect" order each day, which she will tell you herself is fine(in fact, she hates the word "perfect"). I am a very intelligent person, but trying to keep a house in the midst of working full-time can be very overwhelming. It can be very confusing just to know where to start. Seeing what I need to do when, written out in black and white, just made it much more effortless. Step-by-step, my chores are laid out, and simply not having to put much thought into what to do next makes a task that much quicker and easier. Before you know it, these habits are so routine, they don't seem like an effort at all.
Before Flylady, my house would be clean for about 5 minutes once a week(on Saturday, after I spent 6 hours cleaning...) and a disaster the rest of the time. Now, by doing 30-45 minutes of work a day, my house is always company-ready. I don't panic if the maintenance man or a friend needs to drop by. That, in and of itself, is worth everything to me. I pretty much knew what needed to be done, sure- but I needed a SYSTEM of when to do it. That is what Flylady helps you to do. Even if I miss a day or something, I know exactly what I need to do to get my home back on track, and that eliminates a ton of stress.
I will just end by saying that many of us grew up in chaotic homes where we never established the habits, household and otherwise, that made our lives feel safe, stable and secure. On an emotional level, I think that this book is helpful to those of us who never got to make these "simple" things habit. It has nothing to do with intelligence- it has everything to do with how we are programmed. The cool part is, we can reprogram ourselves, even as adults. If you want to get some order and good habits established in your chaotic life, I don't see how this book could be anything but helpful.
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Flylady Baby~ ( taw2001 )
This book was absolutely a joy to read ~ and as depressed as I am about my house right now, I do see hope..LOL! Easy to read and you just don't want to put it down. A+++++
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sink reflections ( janicehw )
In this book Marla Cilley explains in full detail how she recaptured
her life....she is an expert at helping others "get a grip" on housework &
decluttering your home and your life! Chapter by chapter she takes you
in baby steps so as not to overwhelm you...as housework can tend to be
very overwhelming......not with Marla...believe me, if you will just
give this book a chance - read a chapter each day - you will be amazed.
I had tried everything!!! I didn't even know about the book until a
friend referred me to www.flylady.net....I can assure you that if you
read this book, you will NEVER have to do spring housecleaning again.
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This is THE BEST
I have really struggled with clutter. When we were married and my husband was deployed, in the apartment I had a narrow walkway from the door to the bedroom, and I kept stacking the dirty dishes to make room for more, everything else was lined with clutter. When we moved to a four bedroom home, one room and two closets were so filled, we could never use the stuff. Now, we are divorced, and I had a two bedroom apartment stuffed with boxes from the four bedroom home. Again with the walkways. I checked this book out from the library, kept re-reading the parts about what clutter does to our lives, then my former in-laws came to visit and I was mortified to admit, face to face, how I am raising our daughter in this mess. There it was, thrown open, no hiding, how I am living. So, I put the book in action, and with our daughter's help, within three days, the living room and kitchen were clean and clear. Now, we may sit down! And I may find the pet supplies, tools, towels, markers, shoes, and coats, right where they ought to be, right when I need them. It is so nice, and like Martha Cilley says, peaceful at home. I make a goal for this summer to clear the last untamed terrain of my own bedroom. All boxes, just a walkway. I have 6 weeks. Martha Cilley tells of a room she cleaned by giving away, throwing away, or putting away two items per day, until. I HIGHLY recommend "Sink Reflections".
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Flylady's easy house & home organizing ( pamelajs )
This book is great for starting anad maintaining a personalized housekeeping routine because you can start with "baby steps"; it also allows for flexibility to fit anyone's circumstances and lifestyle.Sink Reflections
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