Marla Cilley

There are so many diet books on the market. There are so many ways to be constantly reminded of how you are not eating and exercising correctly. Fly Lady goes beyond the obvious. She delves into other areas we must all consider: socially, mentally, physically, etc... This book has gems of information that are really not addressed in most diet/nutrition/exercise books. It is worth reading slowly and taking notes. Each person is different, and this book addresses way more reasons that could sabotage weight loss goals. To me it was also inspiring. She mentioned dressing for the body you have in an ATTRACTIVE way. Your number does not dictate your beauty. You should only wear items and colors that make yourself happy. I rated this book five stars because if you keep the book, and your life situation changes, you can always go back to remind yourself how to handle the stresses of life that may be keeping you from your goals.… (plus d'informations)

I liked the friendly tone to this housekeeping tip book. It was a very quick read, but one I’ll need to page back through to remind myself of the tips I want to follow. The thing I like most is her emphasis on not being a perfectionist about cleaning. Her take is perfectionism causes procrastination—people don’t want to start anything they don’t have time to do perfectly (and maybe she’s equating perfection with thoroughness a bit here). Time is definitely my setback, and I’m very skilled at making it a versatile setback. For work days, it’s “I work all day, so I want to rest when I get home and not spend it cleaning.” For days off, it’s “It’s my day off. I want to have fun, not clean.” Yes, I’m very talented.

With each chapter (they’re extremely short, so it’s easy to scan back through for what you want to reread) she emphasizes how little time different tasks can take. “Set your timer,” she says, and then she’ll outline a 5, 10, or 15-minute cleaning job you can do. It doesn’t have to be perfect—doing a little bit is better than waiting until you can spend a thousand hours on it (side note: the time estimate in my household for any unpleasant task is “5,000 years”).

These short tasks are meant to be worked into routines until they become habits. The author spent a year devoting a month per habit in order to get her act together. I’m not ready to launch into that, but I do plan to try a few things out.

What I’ll probably try:
1. The author’s crisis cleaning techniques
2. Using old shampoos as makeshift cleaning products (gets rid of stray bottles without wasting the little bits of leftover soap that are keeping you from throwing them out)
3. Extinguish my hot spots (drop/piling points for stuff when I get home from work)
4. Clearing surfaces and finding a home for everything (this one’s hard because I don’t have a lot of space, but I admit it looks better).
5. Store extra sheets folded flat under the mattress (genius!)
6. Sneak attacks (5-minute cleaning forays) on the basement and “computer room” which no longer has a computer but is filled with stuff

What I probably won’t try:
1. The author’s sticky note system
2. Getting dressed “to the shoes” before I start my day.
3. Getting rid of books to make room on shelves (someday, FlyLady, but today is not that day)
4. Get rid of old t-shirts, even ones with sentimental value (No can do. I need my old gymnastics t-shirt from 4th grade. Besides, my teddy bear is wearing it. Do you want Teddy to be naked? What? I should do what with Teddy???)
5. Do a load of laundry a day (we are a household of two)

I would have loved to see a chapter or two dedicated to apartments and small homes. I hate cleaning, true, but part of my problem is definitely limited space. I don’t have a linen closet to clean out and convert into a pantry, for example.

This book is as much about being kind to yourself as it is about improving your home and developing good habits. Worth a look for folks who feel overwhelmed by a messy house.… (plus d'informations)

This was very interesting as a lot of home organisation guides I have read go into minute detail on how to clean this or that *perfectly* whereas Marla’s chief aim is to get you into the habit of gradually chipping away at the home and bringing about gradual change to the level of comfort in the home. This means that you don’t get the “WOW moment” till possibly a few weeks in, but it does help develop habits that would stick and make for a routine that becomes much more natural to maintain.
… (plus d'informations)