Friday, March 19, 2010

Cleaning Frenzy!

It's spring time again! We all know what that means, right? Taking down the drapes, cleaning out the closets, decluttering the kitchen. Right? Well, not for me. That's right, I have taken a vow to SPRING CLEAN NO MORE. Why? Well, first of all, let's face it, unless you are "B.O. (born organized)" it is NOT going to get done. And if it does? Well, it's not going to make much difference b/c by next week it's all going to be right back to where you started! So what's my point?

Rather than planning on doing it one weekend, a year, why not plan on doing it ALL THE TIME! Stay with me here . . . No, I'm not crazy.

If you've ever heard of Marla Cilley (a.k.a. the Fly Lady), then you know just what I'm talking about. She has devised her own system (taken from several different systems and mixed in with her own genius) that takes away the need for "spring cleaning".

It's all about the baby steps. What's a baby step you may ask? Well, a baby step is EXACTLY what it sounds like. Rather than jumping right in and cleaning your entire house from top to bottom, Marla has shown us how to do smaller chunks of things, one at a time. And it all begins with shining your sink. But that's just the beginning. For the fist 28 days, you have a new task to try. Everything from the ridiculous to the mundane. But by the end of it all, your home will look better than it has ever looked.

The secret? Don't do more than you can do in small chunks of time. Got 15 minutes? Do a declutter in one of your messiest rooms. Only got two? Put out a hot spot. Get the point?

One of the Fly Lady's mantras is "You can do ANYTHING in 15 minutes". How true this is. From cleaning a desk to scrubbing a bath tub. It might not be DONE in 15 minutes, but it will surly look better than it did before you started!

And DON'T try to shoot for perfection. WHY? Well, because frankly, it's pretty much unattainable. In her book "Sink Reflections", Marla tells us "We are imperfect beings and PRAISE GOD FOR OUR IMPERFECTION" (15). The only perfect being that ever walked the earth was Christ himself. Although as Christians we should strive to be Christ like, we cannot attain it - which is why He paid the ultimate price for us. Not to mention the fact that the need and desire for that perfection is what got our homes as messy as they got to begin with.

SO, if you have a home that is frankly, embarrassing, then DO something about it. One 15 minute segment at a time.

Incidentally, my own mantra combines the wisdom of the Fly Lady and the catchiness of Geico - "15 minutes now may save you an hour or more later". And it is so true.

So, go. Meet the Fly Lady at www.flylady.net. And while your at it, go pick up a copy of Sink Reflections. I promise you, she will change your life. She changed mine!

2 comments:

Eve said...

Absolutely true. Every word of it. My home is now my pride and joy. It is amazing how much clutter we can have, even if we don't believe we do. It made a world of difference to the feel of my home.

Unknown said...

You are so right! I have tried so many times to clean the whole house in one day and I get so frustrated because I never finish it all. And then I turn around and it's dirty again. So I do small doses and try not to worry too much about it being perfect any longer.