Day Six: Too Far, Too Fast?

I was talking with someone yesterday who reads my mom blog and she said she doesn't want to read the organization blog because she thinks it might make her feel bad.  I realize I am pushing forward with this, really fast; much faster than FlyLady intends.  I decided to blog about it because I figured it would make me more accountable to myself but also because I wanted to show that it was not impossible.  I do wonder though, if I began with such absolute determination that perhaps I've made it seem like it's not possible for everyone.

I mentioned that I've used FlyLady before and I found it amazing, even though I didn't keep up with her.  I also didn't finish my whole house so I'm sure that didn't help.  There is something to be said for those baby steps; if you don't eventually turn them into bigger steps then you're not really making any progress. That's what my problem was the first time.  I read the testimonials from FlyLady and they are incredibly inspiring. Some are funny (like the woman who used her declogger device for dusting - it blows a whack of air so she was able to "dust" a hanging tapestry, blinds and all those hard to reach and hard to dust places, giggling the whole way). 

Most of them are about the "A-ha" moments when they realized something small that made a huge difference; like the lady whose laundry baskets were otherwise in use for a week so she folded everything immediately and put it away, immediately, and saved herself and her family a tonne of time because they stopped looking through the baskets of folded laundry for their clothes.  Her "A-ha" moment was that without the baskets to "hide" the clothes in, she stopped hiding them; and found how much easier that actually was for her.

One most recent testimonial was from a mom who had thought she was personally well-organized but had a terrible morning routine where she was constantly on her children about getting ready and making sure they had everything for school, which they seldom did. She had read about "FlyKids" and since hers were aged 11 and 8, she put their organization kits together and suddenly her morning stopped being hectic because her kids began to organize themselves.

Both times I've used FlyLady I was determined to make a change.  That in itself makes a difference to any undertaking.  Even though I didn't complete it the first time, I still saw amazing changes taking place in a very short time.  That's what FlyLady is all about.  If you have the time to spend completing the tasks, you will complete them because of the nudge to start in the first place.  If you don't have the time to complete a whole room, you will still have completed the task set from FlyLady because she only asks for fifteen minutes.  That's how it works.  That's how I've come so far so fast; I had the time to move ahead so I did.  She will get you going, whether it's in small paces or big ones.  She gets you motivated because she gets you started and that is half the battle.

Since I have kids, three of which are school aged, summer is the perfect time for me to do this because there is one less thing for me to do (morning school day routine).  Now I'll tell you what happened yesterday.  It amazed me once again.

Embarrassingly, these are before pictures of our room I took on Tuesday.  Yesterday, I didn't really have any desire to tackle a room and I spent the day doing other things, not that anything spectacular comes to mind.  I have kept up with the laundry over the last week and laundry is the habit for August anyway.  Thing is, I walked into our room and decided to clear off the dresser.  Within twenty minutes, I had tidied up our room.  Sure I still have two bags of giveaway clothes because I've been taking stuff out of the laundry right when I see it; but they are bags, not piles.  The room is not complete by any means because I have to go through the drawers and the closet as well, but it's well on its way and I was shocked because it took so little time. 



I'm not sure if we've been doing a little in that room each day.  I think I've been putting things away each night before bed; if I'm wearing a hoodie, I've hung it up rather than put it on my floor by my bed, or if it was the housecoat, I hung it on the hook. Dirty laundry went straight into the basket.  Little things like that.  Keeping my kitchen, living room and bathrooms tidy have miraculously made me do this little thing for myself so maybe it was done here and there.  In any case, twenty minutes had it tidied and although more awaits, there is suddenly less to do in there when I go to organize a few drawers.

Personally, I saved the worst for last (yes, the before picture of my own room is NOT the worst room in my house).  I am still scared of Ethan's room.   It is the last room on the upper floor that needs to be done.  THE LAST ONE.  I will not leave it untouched.  I'm not sure what Geoff has planned for the weekend but I want to organize our drawers.  That's my plan.  If it changes, so be it; I probably deserve a break.  The best part of this week is that I have kept up with every room I have done, fully aware that picking something up that doesn't belong is so much easier than waiting to do it later when there's more.  There is an element of intentionality in my movements this week and I am so thankful for it. 


I have big plans for my life once my house is organized.  Again, I have a goal; one which I felt I could not attain while I had so much disorganization around me.  Everyone has a goal, whether it's the desire to do something more or something less (read: relax in your own space).  I absolutely, positively promise you that organizing your home will make anything else you want to do seem one hundred percent possible.  If you are looking for something else, but acknowledge a need to start with your home, then visit www.flylady.net.  Just to see.