Putting things in order in the apartment – what could be more boring? All week we put off household chores for later, and then the weekend comes, and … we absolutely don’t want to clean the apartment. A familiar picture? Our correspondent managed to defeat the mess with the help of the Flylady system (“Flylady”).
Let’s be honest, I personally can’t always correctly and rationally structure time. And even more – I love to mess around too much … Often, instead of doing business, I wallow with a book all day or even wander around doing nothing. Once, in a conversation with a friend, when I once again complained that I didn’t have enough time for anything, she suddenly asked: “Do you know how much it takes for this or that occupation?” I thought. And then I took a stopwatch in my hands …
To say that I was surprised by what I discovered is an understatement. And I hurried to my friend for an explanation, because she started talking about the stopwatch not by chance, but talking about the Flylady housekeeping system. Since this all started.
Key Points
The system of optimal housekeeping was invented by American Marla Cilley in 1999. In English, this word means “flying ladies” or, more fun, “jet housewives.” The meaning of the system can be summarized in two main points: housekeeping should bring joy and take little time.
Dream? Reality! Logging into the system does not begin with filling a bucket with water, but with putting oneself in order. This small but very important point should never be ignored: cleaning is like a holiday. You must be dressed in such a way that at any moment you can open the door and meet … if not the man of your dreams, then at least the guests. Light make-up, practical hairstyle, comfortable, beautiful clothes. Old sweatpants and a faded T-shirt will definitely not work, adherents of the approach assure. The next, probably the most revolutionary moment in this system, is lace-up shoes. It is important for several reasons. Firstly, it is more difficult to remove it, and in shoes you most likely will not be able to fall apart on the couch, and secondly, it is much more convenient to move around the house in it.
First steps
Let’s start with the pleasant – women using this system do not spend their days off doing household chores. On weekends, they relax and have a good time, and they only do housework on weekdays. How do they do it? Here we need to talk about two more “magic” functions that they use – this is a timer and a stopwatch.
We will divide the apartment into zones, and we will devote one week a month to cleaning each zone. For example (the division is given conditionally): the first zone (first week of the month) – entrance hall, bathroom, toilet; the second zone (the second week of the month) is the kitchen; third zone (third week of the month) – living room; the fourth zone (the fourth week of the month) is the bedroom. You can divide the apartment not into four zones, but into five.
The main thing: you spend only 15 minutes a day cleaning, but a whole 75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes) are spent cleaning one area per week. To know exactly how much time has passed, we start a timer for 15 minutes. It is very important to work strictly according to the timer, and as soon as the signal is heard that the time has expired, the work is brought to some logical end and stops. You will be surprised how much can be done during this time. If, for example, I clean the hallway, I have time to disassemble and wipe the shoes, put away the excess in boxes, disassemble and neatly fold scarves, scarves and hats, take something to the laundry, throw away the accumulated checks, wipe the mirror … The timer rings. That’s all for today.
Tomorrow is the first zone again, the hallway again. I put away excess clothes in the closet, pre-clean it with a brush … Has the timer rung yet? Then I go to the bathroom: I throw away the old creams, arrange the bottles on the shelf, change the towels, wipe the mirror, the floor … The timer rings. That’s all for today. And so on for three more days. The main principle is to work strictly according to the timer. If it’s impossible to find exactly 15 minutes, then set a timer for 5 minutes. One of the mottos of the system is “Everyone has five minutes”. Excuses are not accepted!
Strictly by the clock
Remember, we said that in addition to the timer, we need a stopwatch? It is needed in order to understand how much time it takes to complete a particular task. But not at all in order to organize competitions, who is faster – by no means. Turn on the stopwatch and start working at your own pace. When the work is over, turn off the stopwatch and see how much time has been spent. This is a very interesting and at the same time incredibly simple technique. A lot of surprises are waiting for you. Wipe the dust from the computer table – 11 minutes (it felt like three hours). Iron a double set of linen – 16 minutes (and not half a day, as it seemed). Believe (or check) that you spend much more than you spend per view of your Facebook News Feed.
Strictly by notes
The next item in the system is listing. There are people who love lists, and there are those who don’t. I belong (more precisely, belonged) to the second. It seemed to me that I already knew everything, I remember everything and did not forget anything. However, looking back critically, I realize that I remembered very little and did even less. Now I have a beautiful notebook in which I write down even the smallest trifles: “replace the battery in my watch”, “look at the schedule”, “buy a newspaper for my mother”, “go to the theater website” … A separate conversation is grocery lists. In the hustle and bustle of the store, it’s easy to forget to buy an important little thing, and already at home it’s scary to be upset when you find yourself without it at the right time. Lists help me to see in volume the scope of upcoming events and events. The main thing is not to forget to add the item “make a list” to the list. And what a pleasure to cross out the things done! It’s worth making lists just for that.
Work in hot spots
In each apartment there are separate places that are too quickly overgrown with dirt or trash. Of course, they require special attention. So, plumbing and sinks for this system need to be washed every day. Without clean, shiny plumbing, a room will never look tidy. Moreover, even if the kitchen or bathroom is not in perfect condition at the moment, the perfect sink will make the room feel clean and tidy. Such is the magic of the shell.
A little more about the sinks, or rather about the dishes. The good news: you don’t have to wash the dishes. But only until its number exceeds three units. That is, if after breakfast there is a cup, a plate, a fork, you can safely leave them until the next time. But as soon as another plate joins this company, for example, nothing can be done – you have to wash it. Let me remind you once again that the system is designed not to complicate our life, but to make it easier. Four items are washed for an average of three minutes. And it takes 30 minutes to sort and wash the accumulated dishes.
The system helps not only to keep the apartment spotlessly clean and not to accumulate things. Thanks to it, you can learn how to allocate time so that it is enough for everything that we like or don’t like to do. Partly thanks to this system, I was able to find time to study (in the “for myself” mode) a foreign language according to a very simple but magical formula: 20 minutes, but every day. 7 days a week for 20 minutes is already 2 hours and 20 minutes of pure time.
What can be done in 20 minutes, you ask? Listen to the song, look in the dictionary and write down unfamiliar words with translation in a notebook. To learn them tomorrow. You can study a grammar lesson, and the next day try to do an exercise (5-7 phrases). And although I’m still far from the real Flylady, already in the Flybaby state – that’s how newbies are called in the system – it no longer seemed to me that the time of my life was going nowhere solely because I didn’t know how and what to spend it on.