I'm Starting to Fly: My Experience with FlyLady

When I got my planner last year there was a craze of FlyLady posts in the planner group called We Love EC. I had briefly heard of FlyLady, but I had never really into it myself. I, for one, am a pretty clean and organized on my own. But I was curious about it. Why were there so many people doing this? What could one person tell you that would so change how your how was cleaned?

At first glance, I really thought it was something that older ladies take part in (I AM SORRY!) and I wasn't sure if it was for me. But then I got to reading reviews and figured out that people can twist the system to fit their lifestyles. I am a work at home mom or WAHM  (most of the time). All of my jobs can be done on the computer except for a few check ups in person and I learned that this system might just be what I needed in my life.

So I decided to read through everything first on Flylady.net before joining up for anything. I really recommend doing this as well. Don't just sign up for newsletters or even Babysteps (beginner term for Flylady), trust me it's tempting but I promise that reading through things first is the best option. Yes she recommends just jumping, I have my reasonings for not doing that, on which I will explain later in this post.

First, what is Flylady? Is it a person? Marla Cilley is The FlyLady. She does not fly a plane! Marla loves to teach people to flyfish. That is how she got the name, FlyLady. One of her members came up with a great acronym for it: Finally Loving Yourself (FLY) – this is the gift that FlyLady wants you to receive. It was only after Marla learned out how to “FLY” that she was able to become the person of her dreams.

So let's get back to the website. I can understand how people can feel overwhelmed on their first visit. I did, and I don't get overwhelmed easy. But I had determination to understand what the craze was about this website. My first recommendation is simple; go against FlyLady. Her Getting Started Page, disregard the steps. 

She wants you to sign up for the crazy amounts of emails from her. If you want to be sent 6 emails daily (or more sometimes), then go ahead. But, if you are like me and want to find out more, before getting some crazy emails that half of the phrases don't make sense follow my lead. She tries to brainwash you into thinking you have to have the emails, which makes her look good. She even tells you that if you just sign up for the lite emails, you'll fail. Not true. Different people, think and digest information different.

Start with learning about the mindset of Flylady. I would start with the welcome letter that you don't have to get sent to your email since she has it on her page. I would then move onto the Flylady's 11 Commandments. Some people may still be lost, that's ok. Start small and work your way up. Begin with the Babysteps-- Just read over them. Read through all of the Babysteps so you know what is expected.

I did the Babysteps just fine without the emails.. I wrote them down. I made a Morning routine, and a night routine. So once you've read the Babysteps, sign up for a few emails. Only sign up for all of them if you want to. After you start feeling confident with a month, move on to reading other things like the lessons.


Also don't turn on Flylady notifications on Facebook, unless you want to be alerted every thirty minutes. Trust me that's exactly how long it is between posts. Some of the notifications are nice reminders, but some of them are really annoying, much again like her emails. She even claims that she gets complaints about how many emails there are in the beginning. I believe it should be reevaluated in my opinion.

So typical day, the emails come in the early A.M. I am just signed up for the lite emails. This includes the plan for the day, morning musing, questions for Flylady, and a testimony. Also in the email is other articles from other Flyers, and other heads of the company. I like the emails for keeping up with the plan for the day and also for knowing if any homeschooling events are taking place.

Flylady really loves homeschooling, which is great. She really shows how using Flylady techniques in homeschooling really changes the atmosphere while homeschooling. One of the ways is the Kids' Challenge. My kids love the FlyLady daily Kid Challenge. I think they get a really big enjoyment out of me not knowing what they will have to do.

We start the day with the kids by looking at the Launch Pad of Flylady's Website. This helps me with everything. Keeping up with some of the Flylady things can be challenging but having the launch pad there is something that really helps me.

I want to share a quick story with you about a friend, before I wrap this post up. This person wasn't that great at housework. She didn't have to clean the house growing up. She didn't have any chores. All of the sudden she finds herself married with kids and house going crazy. She signed up for the emails. All of the sudden our groups of friends stopped hearing from her. And when we did hear from her it was short and she was tired. She overdid it. She claims that she felt like a failure if she didn't stay on task with Flylady.

That's one of the reasons why I am so against the emails. Don't work the system, make the system work for you. I do and it works out just perfectly for me. I feel like I have a house to show off to everyone. So fly high my friends. I will have more on Flylady in the future!