FLYing does it work?

[Clarabumps]

i have been trying to get my house organised for well...forever.. and no joy.i want to know if i start the babysteps and persevere with the decluttering does it make a difference. do flyladies feeling more in control of their life? have tidier houses?generally happier? I just feel like the mess is killing me.. and i really dont know where to start short of gutting the house every day from top to bottom..which is impossible.
I need to know if there is light at the end of the flying tunnel??

Well I'm a constantly failed Flybaby, but I still use some of her steps which I love. Can still make a room look 75% better in 5 mins when it used to take me an hour, without hiding stuff in exploding cupboards. Still set timer to do jobs for 15 minutes. Still do weekly home blessing and daily loo swish and swipe, and 27 thing fling. If OH has left sink cluttered I clear it first thing and clean it.

Have never managed that 'dressed to lace up shoes' business, and am still trying to have certain jobs on certain days but there's an inner rebel who takes one look at 'hoover top floor - Monday and logs on instead...

But I feel more capable now of turning the house round and creating order quickly. I never panic when people are coming now.

I have dipped in to the "Fly lady" stuff but not tried it in a systematic way. Like all these self help type things I think there are some bits that will work for you and others not. I work part time - a shifting rota so I cannot get the days of the week tasks to work for me. I also rebel against the shoe rule - my family simply do not wear outdoor shoes in the house.

But I do very much like the 15 minute timer thing. I used to be an unfocused declutter and end up moving all over the house and wasting energy. I now stay with the same task for 15 mins and it is very effective. Keeping a clean tidy sink is also good for the morale.
Good luck.

Lots of it is really useful but I can't do it all. I've started to follow some of it again in the last month and it really helps. Someone actually commented on how spotless the house was, which was amazing (if you knew me and my house).

I do:
load of washing a day (and put away!)
daily swish and swipe
clean down shower after use
keep sink empty, though not shiny
5 minute room rescues
15 minute timer for all sorts of things all the time: excellent for getting started and often for getting finished
if I have time, the daily missions

We don't do shoes, and I'm not keen on fixing tasks to days of the week, as I work from home as a consultant so some weeks/days are busy and some are not.

I don't know if I'm being really thick (quite possibly! :)) - but what does 'dressed to lace up shoes' mean, exactly. I've just been told about FLYlady and I'm thinking it could be exactly what I need - but I'm a bit puzzled by this.

If you look at Fly Lady's website you will see that she says you MUST get fully dressed each morning and be fully dressed when you tackle housework. This includes shoes. I think the "lace up" thing is to help avoid temptation to slip them off.
Her rationale for this is that you should be just as professional about the household duties as you would be about a job. I do agree with this up to a point - but as I said - shoes indoors are a big no for me.

Ah - OK, I see - I thought I was missing some deeper meaning! I haven't been able to find my way around the site yet - there's a bit too much info all on one page.

good stuff,i was reading over the site thinking"does anyone do this in its entirety?" i would love to be that dedicated to my home as if it were my career (even though it kinda is.) but just dont know if that bit is in me?!glad parts of it work though and totally agree with you headinclouds.. shoes indoors...nooooo!!

The thing that worries me the most is that I can be a little obsessive about certain things, though, sadly (I suppose), I've never been obsessive about housework and I'm worried that I might become so (though equally worried that it might not be 'in me' either). But would that be a bad thing?

The site is obviously American and Americans tend to wear sneakers (trainers) more often than British/European women do (though I'm American and don't wear sneakers unless I'm going running). That may be where the reference to "lace-up shoes" comes from.