photo credit: http://123rf.com

There have been times in my life that I have followed Flylady (sounds bit like a confession doesn’t it!! LOL) though I don’t receive her emails anymore.  There have actually been two home-organisers that have affected and shaped me (other than the training I received in my home growing up) – Emily Barnes when I was first married, and then years later Flylady.  Both have systems that work, both have systems that I have tweaked.

And that is where I am at today – a tweaked system.

I have found that neither lady can really tell me what needs to happen in my house.  They don’t live in my climate which has its unique demands and they don’t have my lifestyle which also has its unique demands.  So I have gleaned from them, developed habits and written my own cleaning routines.

Key points I have learnt from them (and maybe others):

• If I don’t do it today as planned, don’t put it on tomorrows list (it is already full anyway!) just plan to do it the next schedule day for that task   e.g.  if I don’t get the dusting done this Monday, don’t do it Tuesday, leave it till the next Monday (and make it a priority)
• There are always exceptions to my system (e.g. if you are having visitors arrive on Tuesday afternoon you may well want to dust before next Monday!)
• My house is divided into zones and I rotate through those zones.  I used to work on a zone a day – now it is a zone a week (or sometimes a month!)
• Blitzing – Flylady calls it Room Rescue – but my kids liked the garden show “Backyard Blitz” and hence began our term “Blitz” where we spend a short time, high energy getting a room in order – at least on the surface.
• If I need to do a task – make a time for it.  This is especially important for those tasks I put off – like cleaning the fridge, or sweeping my bedroom floor!

Recently as we’ve been studying thoroughness I have been reminded of this quote:

If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

I first heard this quote as a title to an office management/organisation book but it is relevant to any task that I put my hand to.  Reality is that it isn’t the system that will get the job done – it is our effort and our commitment.

Is your system working for you?  Does it need a tweak?

I like the perspective Marilyn Rockett took in her book, Homeschooling at the Speed of Life – she doesn’t give you a system but rather helps you assess what your needs are and helps you create a system tailor made for yourself, or at least tweak what you are doing to fit your needs.