Deconstructing Jen

fly friday #2

So this week in Fly Lady Land has been something of a struggle though I did get it together a bit more today. I've been struggling because we haven't been home much this week, I've been battling an on and off headache all week and I've been mourning the loss of my summer. This week has looked pretty much like last week with no major improvements, still no zone cleaning but that's okay.

So what Fly Lady topic will I discuss today...well, I think I'll discuss the one thing I think is absolutely genius about her system. The use of a a timer. There are lots of cool things about Fly Lady and a lot of random little tips that make a lot of difference but in my life this one takes the cake. Who know that 15 minutes of continuous committed cleaning/decluttering could have such a vast impact on the overall appearance of my home. Seriously 15 minutes.

Now why do I love it? Because it's only 15 minutes. I can do something, be done with it and go do something fun. Then later I can do another 15 minutes. And it works. I could have surprise guests right now and not be terrified that my house is a disaster. Now it's not totally clutter free or spotless but it's not embarassing. How cool is that?

So if you do Fly Lady, what's your favorite tip?

fly friday #1

So I threw down a little Fly Lady challenge to a friend of mine. And she called me out to see how things are going. Surprisingly they are going pretty well. I've been taking it much slower this time around. The last time I attempted FlyLady I did exactly what she said not to do - tried to start everything at once and it fizzled out after about a month (but it was one heck of a clean house month). December probably wasn't the best month to start, ya think?

This time around I've been focusing on one or two things at a time, so far I've added these things.

1. Keeping the sink clean and shiny is number one. Strange how this actually does help keep the whole house clean.
2. Keeping the general clutter under control. I do a clutter sweep twice a day. Man I've thrown out a lot of stuff...and man do the trash guys hate me.
3. Laundry - I'm trying to know where my laundry is and not neglect it. (this is really hard for me - I loath laundry because it's never complete, never. somebody's always wearing something and that something has to be washed. by me.)
4. The daily swish and swipe....I just started this and so far I love it. Our bathrooms have been spotless for 4 days. 
5. The weekly home blessing hour - I really suck at this but I'm working on it (if you don't know what this is...it's changing linens, vacuuming, mopping (UGH), emptying trash all over the house, etc.....you know the stuff that you can just let slide one more week.)

All in all it's been going great, I think. We've had company twice this week and neither time did I feel the need to do the 2 hour crazy clean because all I really needed to do was sweep and tidy a bit.

I have not even attempted any of the zone cleaning yet. I need to get the top 5 up there down as a habit before I even attempt the zone stuff.

I think as a way to track this I'll do a Fly Friday post each week to see how it goes. :)