Failed again!
This past week, some internet friends and I decided to give Flylady a try. For anyone who's missed the Flylady phenomenon, she (yes, there's a real one) is a woman in Brevard NC who's created an empire around daily messages (about 1.5 million of them) designed to help slovenly housekeepers get on top of things.
Her ideas are terrific, and women (and some men, I presume) across America swear by her. She helps you divide your house into manageable (assuming, of course, that you are capable of managing something) chunks per week and your day into bits and pieces. A little here, a little there and voila'! -- over a period of weeks or months (or, in my case, decades), your house will be transformed into a welcoming home.
I don't know how I got myself into this. I already failed Flylady a few years ago. I really can't accomplish much in little chunks of time -- it wears me out just to think about it. (Not that I accomplish much in big chunks of time, either.) Of course, you're not supposed to THINK about it -- that's the beauty of the system. You're supposed to just DO it -- "it" being whatever has popped up on your computer screen in the past, oh 2.5 seconds. But I am on and off the computer all day long, so I have now subjected myself to endless berating by Flylady for my failings.
Here's what I DID so far today (and it's 8:50 a.m.): saw my daughter off to school, which entailed finding $15 for a picture order and discussing her plans for homecoming tomorrow night, while steeling myself against even alluding to the college application process; finished grading a set of tests that I almost fell asleep over last night; analysed why most kids got As on but some failed said test; pulled up makeup tests for two kids in two different classes; read online about the hullabaloo over Mr. Kerry's remarks about Mr. Cheney's daughter; read part of a section of the real newspaper that appears on the porch every morning; organized some new materials for AP history; threw in a load of wash; showered and dressed; deleted several Flylady messages; looked for a wasp graphic (!) -- and now here I am, playing yet again.
Here's what I did NOT do: put on my shoes before I started working (Flylady is big on shoes, but why would I want my shoes on to curl up in a blanket on the couch?); pick up the bathroom, pick up another room, or exercise. And guess what? I'm not going to, either! I'm going to have breakfast and go to work instead!
Hmmmm. I'm afraid that Flylady brings out the latent rebellion fostered in Catholic boarding school. I have failed yet again. I do have to figure out some way to gain control over my home, yard, laundry, errands, and bills -- but I'm going to do so in my newly developing persona: WASP WOMAN!
6 comments:
I love Flylady but she definitely isn't for everyone. The biggest lesson I learned from it is that any small amount of work makes it better and perfection is not the goal. I would clean one room really well while the rest of the house fell into complete chaos.
I don't do the shoe thing because I prefer being barefoot or in Birkenstocks. It doesn't make sense to me to get all dressed up to clean. I did split my house up and like how that works but I don't stress if I don't get everything done.
Its sounds to me as if you've accomplished quite a bit, with or without Flylady directing the action.
Flylady sounds like a real party-poop! Lisa :-]
Hmmm. I might have to check out this Flylady thing. Not becuz I need (I am my own flylady I think) but it has peaked my interest. A while back, I suggested a friend of mine (an ex boss of mine actually who has issues with these kinds of things) give her a try. I'll have to check in with her and see if she is failing! If Flylady can get her in shape, THEN I'd be impressed. Anyway, your day sounded much better. Pamela
I love Flylady but quickly grew weary of the 15-20 repetitive e-mails a day. It was ironic, because she is all about getting rid of clutter, and yet she was adding to my e-mail clutter every day! I have her book Sink Reflections. Probably the one lasting habit I've gotten from her is to always say "Yes" when the Disabled Vets or Lupus or ARC calls to see if we have any items to donate. Then I scoot around and gather stuff up to leave on the front porch. We're not nearly as cluttered as we used to be.
Oh, and I don't do the shoe thing either. We don't do shoes in the house and the carpet stays MUCH cleaner that way. And on the rare occasion when I mop the kitchen floor, I like to be wearing socks only, otherwise I make footprints.
Post a Comment