Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

[mountainmist]

Yesterday I tried.....

Obviously Flylady is not for me.

There's something I do not understand, and it is the instruction to get a garbage bag and go walk through your home and find 27 items to throwaway.

WHO is she writing for???????

WHO has a house that has twenty-seven trash items strewn through the entire home????????

AND what's with the number, "27"?

Does it have some special meaning for folks who apparently don't know where their own wastepaper basket is located??????


And then......... after you throw away 27 items then you are supposed to find 27 more items to donate at a thriftstore.



HUH??

How could a normal family live with that much debris in their living areas????????




VERY curious.

[LuxLiving]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

Oh this was easy for me...I have CashHappySon who can demolish a clean room while not even being present. Seriously he can clean his bedroom and be in the living room most of the day - say 99% of the day, and then working until 9:30 or so at night and STILL his bedroom will be totally TRASHED the next morning. A cyclone kid. He has little bits of paper trash here and there. Enough to drive a good woman insane so I'd like you all to take a moment right now and pray for his future bride. She's gonna need all the help she can get!!

Flylady's 27 fling boogies - This is the pop bottle cap, the newspaper rubber band, the lid from the water bottle, the piece of dog food that has escaped the bowl, the TV guide from last week, the gum wrapper, the lid from the butter bowl that the bowl has gone missing kind of trash. Trust me, you've just shown us all pictures of some houses who could use a good 27 fling boogie. Stick with her. Take what's usable for YOU and disregard the rest! If you've only got 3 items to toss then toss them and move on to the next assignment. Nobody's gonna take away your birthday!

[Mathew Green]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

Flylady is not for everyone. Some people love her. Others detest her. I find her more anoying than useful, and I would never put on my shoes just to do housework.

Bruce Lee said:

"Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own"

and

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."

Both are sound advice in all areas of life.

[Mathew Green]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

Caution, going severely off topic!

One of my favorite quotes of all time was Bruce Lee's description in a Playboy interview of a movie he was promoting:

"This film is like a lot of my other movies. It's about a simple country boy who finds himself in an unfamiliar city where he can't talk to anyone because he doesn't speak the local language, and right away the local bullies start picking on him; but somehow he is able to survive and eventually prosper by simply and honestly beating the sh*t out of anyone who gets in his way."

I still get a chuckle out of that every time that I think about it. No question about it: Bruce had a good sense of humor, and he knew who his audience was.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

I never could count that high with kids interupting all the while!

but I could come up with 27 things If I had to, they would be things I thought I might someday need, but when challenged...comeon when am I going to need that old bill? and why do I have a 'to be shredded' pile?

generally I am with Matt, take what you can use, ditch the rest...for me, I read the decluttering advice, but ignore the numbers...though some days I challenge myself to just find one thing to get rid of, or try to fill one box, I never use her numbers. Actually I havn't read anything she wrote in a long time....

[DivaJen]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

I don't think the 27 trash items always referred to obvious debris and garbage. For me, there are things lurking that I've stopped seeing, whether in plain view or tucked away in a drawer perhaps, that don't need to stay in my home. Some of these could be classified as garbage; others might be suitable for donating. I tend to hold on to things - little papers here and there, hair scrunchies, things that aren't debris all over my house but still add up to clutter.

I'm trying to figure out why anyone who has so little to discard and/or donate would be wanting to try the flylady system in the first place. Was it just out of curiosity?

I think she has some sort of explanation about the 27, but I have no idea why she chose that number. I unsubscribed from her list a long, long time ago as the emails got to be way too annoying for me. I started feeling guilty on a daily basis and that wasn't helping anybody.

[TinyFish]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

I've read/done some Flylady stuff and some of it is good advice at the core, I think. I personally find some of her more...political/religious ideas offensive, but it is a good exercise to take something valuable away from everyone's advice. After all, where are you going to find someone you agree with 100%? I think even she admits that it isn't an all-or-nothing thing. I think the 27 fling boogie is some kind of cultural reference, the number is maybe not so important.

Are there people with 27 pieces of 'trash' around the house? Sure are. Remember, some people who join have serious hording issues. Also, I think part of the point is to make you re-evaluate what belongs in the trash (clutter). And remember, these things don't have to be large, or even very garbagy. Paper is a big thing! Here are some examples of things I think even a reasonable person might have lying around the house, though maybe their spouse or kids are to blame

catalogs you aren't going to order from
old magazines or books you are never going to read again
those big foam hands and things from sporting events (note to everyone, never buy these! Unless you have a room dedicated to your sports team, what the heck are you going to do with them after the game? And you will never remember to bring them to the next game either! Anyone noticed how frequently these turn up on 'Clean Sweep'?)
free cups and water bottles, etc from vendors
pens that don't work to your satisfaction. (Do you think they are going to get better in the drawer?)
a bottle cap
a stray gum or candy wrapper at your desk
a plastic or paper bag from a shopping trip
the box or wrappings something came in
junk mail
a gift someone gave you that you don't actually like
that screw you can never figure out the origin of
a card from a birthday or holiday that is long past
a garment that you are never going to wear again because it is the wrong size/style/is damaged
warranty and instructions to a thing you no longer have
insurance policies for a thing you no longer have
decorative items that you no longer like
expired cosmetics or medications
crutches, old eyeglasses (excepting one spare pair), medical devices you don't use anymore
supplies for pets you no longer own
toys your kids have outgrown
cleaners you bought but are never going to use because you didn't like how they worked
photographs that are duplicates or out of focus
projects you are never going to do
old electronics or machines you are keeping 'for spare' that you are never going to use
kitchen items you never use
excessive amounts of receipts, unless you actually use them for taxes
excessive amounts of bank statements


These are just a few ideas. You might want to look at the stuff on the Flylady site where people talk about odd things/amazing quantities of things that they got rid of for inspiration. If nothing else, maybe you can feel smug that you didn't keep your dog's medicine around for 20 years after it died or a pack of diapers around for a child who just got his master's degree.

If you don't have any of those things lying around, maybe you are 'born organized' and are ready for the next level. Maybe you can modify the challenge to putting away/throwing out/recycling/choosing for the thrift box 27 things total.

The point is to re-evaluate what you really need to be keeping. This makes it easier to organize the things you really need and want and thus makes it easier to keep the house clean and running smoothly.

-TinyFish

[Mathew Green]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

that screw you can never figure out the origin of

The problem is, as soon as you throw that screw away you'll find the thing it came out of. That's especially true for people in the process of decluttering. So I have a special box for unidentified nuts, bolts, screws, brackets, and other bits and pieces that obviously aren't easily-replaced standard-hardware items.

No matter how odd or useless something may look, it may be a vital part of something you'll find or remember tomorow. A friend once decided to 'helpfully' declutter my house by throwing away all the 'broken' fountain pens on my desk without telling me. They weren't broken at all, of course, they were interchangable tips for my caligraphy pens! And were it not for my 'bits and pieces' box, I too would have thrown away vital parts of several items just because I didn't remember at that moment what they were part of.

[TinyFish]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

Matthew,

OK, maybe you need a 'bits and bobs' jar for unusual pieces of hardware. Your average screw, nut, or bolt, however is available from the hardware store inexpensively if you find out what it is needed for.

I think the thing is to try to avoid the 'if I throw this out, I will vitally need it' line of thinking for things that aren't really vital. Otherwise you end up with a box full of junk you never use for the sake of the one item you did actually use. I think the problem is, you always remember the time you threw something out and then needed it, but the many times you threw something out and didn't need it, or you kept something for 10 years and never used it...that memory just fades.

For example, think back to the last time you majorly decluttered a closet or something. Try to remember the volume of things you threw out. Maybe it was many bags full. Now try to remember the specific things. Chances are you can't even remember more than a few, probably less than 10% by volume!

Oh, and decluttering for others is generally a no-no.

Here is a great example of keeping things you don't need: For years we had a 'big box of technology'. A 60 gallon bin full of computer bits. Old modems, old harddrives, keyboards we never used. Once hubby 'got' decluttering, he went through it and found that all but about 10% could go straight to the trash. After thinking it over rationally, he couldn't think why he was saving a harddrive that he could replace with one that is 100 times better for $25. Plus think of all the hassle of getting it installed and trying to find the software for it, etc. He also decluttered (donated) old monitors that worked but were not good enough for his gaming/work. I convinced him that it wasn't worth keeping that HUGE, old, not-up-to-the-task monitor in the closet because one day one of ours MIGHT fail. After all, we'd end up buying a nice, new, up-to-date model within days anyhow. Space is money, especially in a small house like ours!

-TinyFish

[JanH]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

Tinyfish: You really get it! If I don't pay attention I can easily overlook obvious stuff in my way for days on end. I imagine that organized people can't understand what happens in the brain of us sidetracked people. Other than my father, I am the only unorganized personality in my family. No one quite understands me. But I've been told that people like me are very creative people--I keep trying to figure out where my creativity is--and we just think differently. You just pick out those pieces of advice from flylady that work for you just like you pick out the advice on this forum that fits your situation. I recently went to the insurance company to overhaul my household and auto situation. I took a notebook with all my information clearly labeled and separated and my questions in hand. They told me they don't see people that organized! So I guess I have learned a few things along the way in addition to what I already did for myself. Hey, what can it hurt? Even before flylady my kids were always on time to school with their stuff and fed and dressed and I always was early for every appointment. So I guess my big problem was just getting my household organized in a comfortable way. I don't read all the stuff from flylady anymore, but I learned a lot.

[budgetmom]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

Here is a great example of keeping things you don't need: For years we had a 'big box of technology'. A 60 gallon bin full of computer bits. Old modems, old harddrives, keyboards we never used. Once hubby 'got' decluttering, he went through it and found that all but about 10% could go straight to the trash. After thinking it over rationally, he couldn't think why he was saving a harddrive that he could replace with one that is 100 times better for $25. Plus think of all the hassle of getting it installed and trying to find the software for it, etc. He also decluttered (donated) old monitors that worked but were not good enough for his gaming/work. I convinced him that it wasn't worth keeping that HUGE, old, not-up-to-the-task monitor in the closet because one day one of ours MIGHT fail. After all, we'd end up buying a nice, new, up-to-date model within days anyhow. Space is money, especially in a small house like ours!

-TinyFish

We have the same thing, lol! It was about three boxes that were hiding under our bed and half of one side of the walk in closet shelf. We recently came across some parts that we could upgrade with and larger monitors. I was so happy that he actually took the time to go through those boxes. He downsized to one of the boxes and one extra monitor (that way we could use that till another one was purchased-he can sometimes be caught working on projects till three in the morning and there are no stores open at that hour). He also used some parts and made a working computer from them, mind you not a very fast or loaded with memory one, but it will work perfect for our little boy who is just starting to learn to use basic functions, without wrecking ours with his mindless clicking on things. We also found stuff in there that we can sell at a garage sale (which I'm hoping to have soon). MY FIL's house is the same way, but worse, LOL. I married in to it, but I honestly thought that they were the only ones. It's nice to know that there are other people out there, LOL!

[Thrifty Ray]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

I posted this in a different thread...but it fits well here to...wanna see messy? Here ya go...this is an 18 minute video about a woman who has a hording illness and her husband takes you on a tour of the home.

Clearly, she needs help...but 27 things? no problem...for the next 30 years.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8699023203228592640

[mountainmist]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

I don't think the 27 trash items always referred to obvious debris and garbage. For me, there are things lurking that I've stopped seeing, whether in plain view or tucked away in a drawer perhaps, that don't need to stay in my home. Some of these could be classified as garbage; others might be suitable for donating. I tend to hold on to things - little papers here and there, hair scrunchies, things that aren't debris all over my house but still add up to clutter.

I'm trying to figure out why anyone who has so little to discard and/or donate would be wanting to try the flylady system in the first place. Was it just out of curiosity?

I think she has some sort of explanation about the 27, but I have no idea why she chose that number. I unsubscribed from her list a long, long time ago as the emails got to be way too annoying for me. I started feeling guilty on a daily basis and that wasn't helping anybody.

I don't have the stuff strewn through the house, but I do have several humdred organizational projects ahead of me -- but they are things where I have to sit down and concentrate and be very organized and also ruthless in the the culling, I don't have the stray clutter here & there, I have more like "mini-mountains" carefully concealed in drawers and/or storage boxes which can be culled, or rather should be.

I've got maybe half a dozen boxes filled to donate, but I'm waiting a couple months to see what else I can add to those six boxes and then donate it ONCE and have ONE receipt of the donated items: where/when/what, date/signature.

I'm sure I have plenty to toss out, but I prefer to do a major overhaul, and not her methods.

Apparently she's instructing me to grab NUMBER ONE pen out of the collection and toss it, then go pick up a dust bunny that the vacumn missed and NUMBER TWO toss it, and I'm just not like that.

I'll simply have to spend 27 minutes at ONE AREA or in ONE TASK, and that would work for me.

[catlinye_maker]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

Apparently she's instructing me to grab NUMBER ONE pen out of the collection and toss it, then go pick up a dust bunny that the vacumn missed and NUMBER TWO toss it, and I'm just not like that.

I'll simply have to spend 27 minutes at ONE AREA or in ONE TASK, and that would work for me.

Nah.. As I understand it if you've got a pile of pens to toss, toss 27 of them and call it good. In a few days the pile is gone.

This advice is for people so overwhelmed with the mess that they can't even start to clean. It's permission to do a small task that seems possible rather than the whole job that is paralyzing them (ask me how I know.) It doesn't work for everyone, and if 27 minutes works best for you, then that's what you should do!

Flylady's been great for me, though my house is far from immaculate it's better than it was.

[LuxLiving]

Re: Anybody here understand "FLYLADY" advice?

Granted her methods are not for everyone. I find some parts of it annoying myself.

But in starting to read the messages you do get the hint - some of the assignments are the 15 minutes on those mini-mountains of yours type and then taking a 5-10 minute breather and then going back in if you feel like it but not beating yourself up because you can never seem to get to the mini-mountain at all.

She advocates taking bite size pieces and doing what you can. Many sidetrackers have wonderful intentions but never get to the implementation stage and they berate themselves because they can never seem to actually get any one thing accomplished.

My personal favorite part of flylady is not her herself, but Kelly's little missions. Why? Because that's how I tend to enjoy housework. If I said to myself, {imagine booming voice of God} "Today is housecleaning day." I would run and hide under the bed.

BUT, with a gentle email nudge, I can go run and swiffer the kitchen quick. And tomorrow I can clean out a kitchen drawer. And the next day I can clean one shelf in the frig. The next day I can clean under the sink. The next comes a reminder to scrub out the trashcan. Then comes a day of taking one cabinet and tossing the old stuff and wiping down the shelves and restocking it neatly. Nothing too harsh or back-breaking but it gets done. And on a more regular basis than I would do it w/o her reminders.

If I see massive amounts of mini-mountains I freak and do nothing. "N.O.T.H.I.N.G." {insert Klinger's voice from Hogan's Heros there!

My mother a Born Organized does all morning EXTENSIVE Saturday morning cleaning and there is no way in H.E.double hockey sticks that I'll ever clean that way again. I might dust the living room on Monday and never dust another room this week. But w/flylady's emails I am reminded again that oh yeah, it's time to head into the bedrooms and a nice little email will come and remind me that I MIGHT need to clean off the ceiling fan or one that reminds me that I MIGHT need to clear out from under the bed. Now do I do every one of those each time it comes? No WAY!! But, if I'm a mind to, AND that spot is dirty then off I go to sparkle it up a bit.

The Hubster and I could care less if our house is SANITIZED daily. I do however like a modicum of cleanliness and like the house to be ready for guests at a few minutes notice. With flylady that is possible for me. You might not clean the same way - more or less often - but her system is just a series of reminders that you can either do or ignore.

Good luck with your mini-mountains. I have some in my basement!