I hope the Fly Lady doesn't mind me using her photo to promoteHer Blog!
I know a lot of you are familiar with Fly Lady. Just this morning when I was reading over some of the things I copied and put into my Fly Lady binder that I made is 2002, I realized that the FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself. I think the point may be that when you finally realize your sanity is worth the time and effort it takes to get organized, you'll find a method that works for you. She is hoping her method is it. I have to admit that it is quite good and I am not sure why I stopped using it but I do know that some of the things I learned from her back then are still a part of my life now. And maybe that is the ultimate test of a good system.
I think that the original thing about the program was directly related to organizing your home. But as your home becomes more organized you can then move on to other things and I think this is how it has evolved to more of a life plan. I just basically took the main ideas and then incorporated them into a program that works for me.
The reasons I made the binder were many. For me it helps to be less stressed if I eat the elephant one bite at a time. I am such visual person that it helps me to be able to see the plan on paper. I also held a position at church that required me to sometimes step in and help women in crisis and I wanted something visual that might help.
Trying to put more color in my life with discipline and order
Here are some of the things I put in my binder. I copied some of the start up ideas of the FlyLady. Then I made section headings like Morning Routine, Work Day Routine, Evening Routine. These included all the things that I do everyday. They included things in generalities like, personal hygiene time, straighten the house time, etc. They were big blocks of time so that I could then be more specific on each day of the week. The key to this system is to plan but also to be flexible. Really flexible. I am a person that needs variety in my life but also recognize that I have time now and I can spend it all just doing fun things unless I get a lot of discipline factored into my days.
Next I made a Section for things I want to do weekly. Then I made one for things I need to do monthly. There is also a page for Annual Goals.
Then I made a section of each day of the week. This included things I do every Monday, every Tuesday, etc. Again these are set up in such a way that you have a lot of discretionary time and flexibility. They are more like reminders of what I need to get done during the week. I put all the pages in sheet protectors and then with a white board marker you can just cross the list items off when done I keep it on my desk and it is very handy. With a damp cloth you can erase the previous day and start over without having to make a big To Do list every day. Instead you can just jot down a few specifics in the categories you have allotted for that day and time period. As an example, if I don't have a time slot for doing my family history, it is never going to get put on my daily schedule. Say I set aside 1 hour a week for that. Maybe I will do research online, or call an aging relative, or do some journaling, or write a letter...but the time is set aside for something in that catagory on a regular basis. Otherwise 52 weeks go by and nothing gets done. Does that make sense?
It sound rather tedious but honestly, once you invest the initial time to get it organized it is breeze each day. I really do love it and now it is time for me to update my lists and pages. By tomorrow I'll be all set for the year and I know that I will accomplish more because I have an easy plan to follow. Do you think something like this would help you or drive you nuts? I love the flexibility of it and the handiness. Left to my own devices I know I would just watch movies, blog, shop for houses, and play and be on a perpetual holiday. So something had to be done!
I read the other day that the measure of a person's character lies in discipline. Yikes, I have to get some! One of the whole ideas that motivates me on this is by planning there is actually a lot of time for fun and progress too. Who knew?
I think that the original thing about the program was directly related to organizing your home. But as your home becomes more organized you can then move on to other things and I think this is how it has evolved to more of a life plan. I just basically took the main ideas and then incorporated them into a program that works for me.
The reasons I made the binder were many. For me it helps to be less stressed if I eat the elephant one bite at a time. I am such visual person that it helps me to be able to see the plan on paper. I also held a position at church that required me to sometimes step in and help women in crisis and I wanted something visual that might help.
Trying to put more color in my life with discipline and orderHere are some of the things I put in my binder. I copied some of the start up ideas of the FlyLady. Then I made section headings like Morning Routine, Work Day Routine, Evening Routine. These included all the things that I do everyday. They included things in generalities like, personal hygiene time, straighten the house time, etc. They were big blocks of time so that I could then be more specific on each day of the week. The key to this system is to plan but also to be flexible. Really flexible. I am a person that needs variety in my life but also recognize that I have time now and I can spend it all just doing fun things unless I get a lot of discipline factored into my days.
Next I made a Section for things I want to do weekly. Then I made one for things I need to do monthly. There is also a page for Annual Goals.
Then I made a section of each day of the week. This included things I do every Monday, every Tuesday, etc. Again these are set up in such a way that you have a lot of discretionary time and flexibility. They are more like reminders of what I need to get done during the week. I put all the pages in sheet protectors and then with a white board marker you can just cross the list items off when done I keep it on my desk and it is very handy. With a damp cloth you can erase the previous day and start over without having to make a big To Do list every day. Instead you can just jot down a few specifics in the categories you have allotted for that day and time period. As an example, if I don't have a time slot for doing my family history, it is never going to get put on my daily schedule. Say I set aside 1 hour a week for that. Maybe I will do research online, or call an aging relative, or do some journaling, or write a letter...but the time is set aside for something in that catagory on a regular basis. Otherwise 52 weeks go by and nothing gets done. Does that make sense?
It sound rather tedious but honestly, once you invest the initial time to get it organized it is breeze each day. I really do love it and now it is time for me to update my lists and pages. By tomorrow I'll be all set for the year and I know that I will accomplish more because I have an easy plan to follow. Do you think something like this would help you or drive you nuts? I love the flexibility of it and the handiness. Left to my own devices I know I would just watch movies, blog, shop for houses, and play and be on a perpetual holiday. So something had to be done!
I read the other day that the measure of a person's character lies in discipline. Yikes, I have to get some! One of the whole ideas that motivates me on this is by planning there is actually a lot of time for fun and progress too. Who knew?
I love the neatness and order of this beautiful
and colorful street in San Francisco.
and colorful street in San Francisco.
5 comments:
Thanks for the great post, Bon! It's inspiring me to break out the Fly Lady habits from days gone by. Next time I come over, I'd love to look at your binder to see how you set it all up...Mine wasn't working that great for me, and since I love everything you do..... :)
Love you, my friend!
Con
Of course, Con! Anything I can share to help any of you with this idea is not a problem at all.
My sister Laurie and I used to do Fly Lady all the time. I wonder what happened?
Deanna :P
I get the Flylady emails and they are piling up in my inbox. I have a hard time keep a schedule, I guess I don't like them. But I should make some sort of lists like you have that are flexible and force me to get more things done than I am right now. Thanks for the reminder.
The sheet protector idea is genius!!! I'd really like to see your binder when I visit!
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