Flylady Method: Clean And Tidy Your Home

2023 Author: Lynn Laird | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 21:10

There aren't many things as stressful as ending a long day at work to walk into a house in disarray. Normally, during a busy week, dishes pile up, mirrors get dusty, and salty clothes always hang around in the basket. If you're desperate to dedicate a full day to cleaning up your space, we've got good news for you. The Flylady method is storming on Pinterest! It is indeed a method invented by organizational specialist Marla Cilley, aka FlyLady, which suggests that people manage their household chores in 15-minute intervals.

What is the main idea of the Flylady method?

Time management expert Marla Cilley created this hack encouraging people to focus on cleaning small areas of their home for 15 minutes, with 15 minute breaks after decluttering. According to Cilley, or the FlyLady, as she is best known, “cleaning doesn't have to be a marathon. Your house didn't get dirty in a day, and it won't be clean in a day, either. Due to the little time spent cleaning, you will be able to successfully master the task at hand without completely exhausting yourself."

In reality, the benefits of cleaning are immeasurable. Not only does taking steps to declutter your home reduce your carbon footprint, it can also improve your mood. According to data published on the Internet, recent studies show that cleansing may be linked to mental well-being. In fact, 54% of consumers said they felt relaxation when tidying up their home.

What does the FlyLady method consist of?

As we have already mentioned, the idea behind the FlyLady method is that cleaning your home doesn't have to be a rushed and stressful process. Breaking it down into smaller tasks makes it more manageable, giving you a sense of peace. For example, you might start by cleaning your sink for just 15 minutes a day, and over time you'll progress by adding more to your household routine. And if you need even more motivation, the FlyLady Messenger app offers reminders, daily messages and testimonials from people whose lives have been changed by the method of organization in question.

Who is the FlyLady?

Who is the brain behind the phenomenon? In 1999, Marla Cilley was about to start her first term as County Commissioner, but she felt things were out of balance at home. She struggled to keep a clean house, but was determined to change how she handled her household chores. She started small: scrubbing her hard water-stained sink, then shining it every day in January. The following month was devoted to daily decluttering. Soon the small changes turned into new habits. By the end of the year, the FlyLady messaging group was born, and her house was in immaculate order.

Even in 1999, when she started mentoring a cleanup and decluttering forum using the nickname FlyLady (because of her love of fly fishing), Cilley was also a member of a legislative council. composed entirely of men. This motivated her to develop her mentorship and create the flylady.net website. In 2016, the community had over 300,000 email subscribers and 550,000 on Facebook. Additionally, the Queen of Housekeeping has written two bestselling books and has helped hundreds of thousands of women achieve their decluttering dreams all over the world.

An example of a FlyLady daily plan

Sure enough, the FlyLady website has plenty of sample cleaning routines to get you started. Take Cilley's morning routine, for example. Once you wake up, make your bed, shower, and clean the bathroom to make the most of your time. You will then do your hair, make up and quickly clean the toilet. Once you're done with the powder room, put a load of laundry in the washing machine. If your kitchen doesn't need cleaning, empty the dishwasher, make a healthy breakfast, and feed your pets.

Marla Cilley considers FLY to be an acronym for "finally love yourself"

At this point, you will start to think about the rest of your day. Go over your calendar, make a to-do list, and plan what you will eat for dinner. Then take a few minutes to examine your bank account and put your load of clothes in the dryer. Finish your morning routine by thinking about yourself (yes, self-care is just as important). Remember to take your vitamins and medications, spend some time relaxing, and eat breakfast. If you like to meditate, do not hesitate to do so. End your morning by checking your emails and all the must-see websites that help get you on track for the day.

FlyLady cleaning areas

Another key element of the FlyLady method is the concept of zones. The FlyLady suggests dividing your home into five different zones. The first week of the month is devoted to the first zone. So set aside 15 minutes a day to eliminate any clutter that has accumulated throughout your home. Move on to the second zone, where you'll tackle cooking for 15 minutes a day, typically for the first full week of the month. The third zone (the second full week of the month) calls for focusing on your bathroom and another room, such as the closet, craft zone, or nursery. The fourth zone, which falls under the third full week of the month, challenges you to tidy up your master bedroom, bathrooms, and closets. Finally,the fifth area is devoted to the living room. It's the fifth week of the month and usually only lasts a few days, because zones 1 and 5 are to be tidied up during the same week. With each area, remember that you are only cleaning for 15 minutes a day, which FlyLady says should give noticeable results around a week after starting the test.

In addition, each day of the week a specific "mission" is defined for an area, published on flylady.net and sent by e-mail. It's a detailed mini-cleaning task that takes less than five minutes. For example, during Zone 3 week, you might take a few minutes on a Tuesday to wash your often-overlooked toilet base.

The gist of the FlyLady technique is clear: don't let household chores dominate your life

Why is shining your kitchen sink so important?

“Because that's where I started,” Cilley says. She has a list of steps for beginners to slowly familiarize themselves with the FlyLady system without getting overwhelmed and, yes, cleaning the sink is the first. This means cleaning dirty dishes, scrubbing them with a powdered cleanser, and then finishing with another polish to make them shine. It might seem like a weirdly specific task, but Cilley likes it as an easy starting point to give you a sense of accomplishment.

Is the FlyLady system free?

“The system is free and will be forever,” Cilley says. You can view daily assignments on flylady.net or sign up to receive them by email every day. Be warned though: you'll get about eight emails a day, including testimonials, morning reflections from Cilley, and promotions for FlyLady cleaning products, but Cilley insists those frequent nudging is essential for you. help develop your habits. Daily reminders use behavior modification to create routines. Ultimately, just reading them changes the way your brain responds to them.

If emails really bother you, you can pay $ 4.99 per month for FlyLady Express, which condenses everything into one email. Other upgrades include a subscription to an app that sends reminders to your phone and a virtual mentor service. The FlyLadyPlus app is free for iOS devices and gives users access to basic cleaning routines and tasks. Cilley also offers a subscription-based app, called FlyLady Messenger, which sends you daily messages, testimonials, and 'behavior modification reminders', like drinking water or starting a load of laundry, as push notifications. instead of emails. This service costs $ 29.95 per year (only available for iOS devices).

The technique was designed to help people deal with their busy lives and on this particular topic it has proven to be very effective

Based on Cilley's observation that it takes 28 days to develop a habit, the FlyLady cleansing program begins with four weeks of small daily tasks (BabySteps). One example is making your sink shine, a simple cleaning task that Cilley says kicked off her own home shaping process and then led her to create FlyLady. For the remaining 27 days, subscribers receive daily emails to help them establish consistent cleaning and organization routines.

How to start organizing your home using the Flylady method?

The next phase of the FlyLady program is decluttering. Dividing the main living areas of the house into five zones, Cilley focuses on one zone per week for 15 minutes per day, then rotates through all zones each month. So how do you start the change?

1. You register through the FlyLady website (free of charge) as a FlyBaby. Marla then emails tips to each of her subscribers, starting with BabySteps designed to take just 15 minutes to follow through.

2. The FlyLady will continue to share these steps for 28 days - the time she considers necessary to establish a habit - and will teach you how to organize each "zone" of your home, ie the kitchen, living room, bedroom, etc.

3. After the first 28 days, Marla will guide you through decluttering. This involves going around your house and throwing away 27 unnecessary items as quickly as possible, like the chair you throw your clothes on day after day without ever hanging them for example, and more.

It's never easy to find the time to deep clean your home

Using the Flylady app

The FlyLady app is available for iPhones and is a great resource to familiarize yourself with the FlyLady method. On the app, you have access to all daily and weekly cleaning routines. The app is fully customizable so you can add your own cleaning schedule and make it easily accessible whenever you need it.