I’ll be the first to admit that I hate housework.  It seems like a never-ending job and just when you think you are done, it’s time to start over again.  Since I am also the queen of procrastination, I can find a multitude of ways to avoid the dreaded “h” word.  The problem is that after weeks and weeks of avoidance somebody has the nerve to say they are stopping over for a visit or I forget that I haven’t cleaned in weeks and happily invite people over for dinner only to realize that – you got it, the house hasn’t been cleaned in weeks and I have to have a melt-down!  The cleaning frenzy that ensues is frustrating and not really very productive.  It usually involves moving all the piles of mess to my office where it waits for me to figure out what to do with it from there.

Recently, while I was avoiding the dreaded housework, I was texting with a friend and she said she had just finished her cleaning for the day.  She shared what cleaning she had done and I knew she hadn’t cleaned her entire house but then she said that the next day her scheduled cleaning was…  When she explained that she had put herself on a cleaning schedule I was intrigued but not enough to ask any questions.  A few days later we met for coffee and she once again shared her cleaning schedule for that day.  I asked what she was doing and she said one word – Flylady.   My friend said that Flylady and changed her, made her more productive, and got her moving and that I should look at her website.  Later that day, while procrastinating, I looked Flylady up on the web and read what she had to say.  Basically it’s this:  make a schedule up for cleaning, do just a few rooms a day and just a few things in those rooms to start.  Then build on that cleaning the following week.  I thought “why didn’t I think of that!”  I don’t consider myself a dumb person but man was I feeling it at that moment.  So I sat down and made up a cleaning schedule.  Day 1:  clean the foyer, living room and dining room; day 2:  clean the kitchen, breakfast nook, family room and powder room.  Now the main floor is done!  Day 3:  clean the kids bathrooms and loft;  day 4:  clean the master bedroom and bathroom.  I felt great – I had a plan.  Could I actually have a clean house?  This is work.  So when Monday rolled around I started on my schedule.  Did what I had on my schedule for each day only to get to the end of the week and find that I had to revise my schedule.  When I swept the hardwood floor in the loft all the dog hair (we have two large hairy four-legged creatures we call dogs) fell down to the foyer and I had to clean that again.  Also, I found I would rather have the main floor nice and clean for the weekend than the master bedroom since anyone coming over is only going to see the main floor.  So I sat down to revise the schedule:  Day 1:  kids bathrooms, loft; day 2:  Master bed and bath; day 3: living room dining room, foyer; day 4: kitchen, breakfast nook, family room, powder room.  I have now completed three weeks on my cleaning schedule.  This past weekend, my husband actually said he noticed how clean the house was lately and wanted to know if I was feeling ok.  I have made an addition to my daily schedule – one load of laundry a day.  No more of piles and piles of dirty clothes that take three days of solid washer and dryer use to get done.  Next I’m going to add 15 minutes of exercise a day.

Flylady’s basic premise is get yourself on a schedule, then slowly add little bits to the schedule:  putting your shoes on, putting your makeup on, laundry, exercise, eating a vegetable, etc.  Then by the end of the year, you have a whole new set of habits.  The goal is not to overwhelm yourself.  You only do what is on your schedule for the day (and only a bit of that.  For instance, the first time I cleaned my kids bathrooms and the loft it took 2 1/2 hours and I didn’t finish.  The next time I cleaned their area, it only took 1 hour and I added things like scrubbing their bathroom floors and toilets which I hadn’t done the first time.) then you do what you want to do with the rest of the day; read a book, watch a movie, etc.     Small changes are manageable.  It’s when we try to totally make over our lives overnight that the changes don’t happen or don’t stick.

Check out Flylady, she’s at www.flylady.net  I think she could be your new best friend too.  Oh, by the way, come on over to my house for coffee anytime, it’s clean!