54 Ways to FLY

Fifty-four Ways to FLY
by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley

We all love lists. I started this list when I turned 50. I decided to update it this year. It is always fun to look at what I have learned and how I have grown.

My journey is about progress not perfection. Things change and life goes on. Learning to finally love myself was the key that unlocked my purpose for living.

Here are the lessons I have learned along the way:

1. Sidetracked paths can be wonderful places to visit.
2. There are no decisions to make if you lay out your clothes at night.
3. Post-It Notes on my mirror to floss makes my dentist happy.
4. Drinking water is the cheapest beauty and health treatment.
5. Beautiful music keeps away the bad news.
6. With a happy outlook there is always something to be thankful for.
7. My calendar is my memory!
8. Audio books bless me with the written word.
9. My floors never seem that dirty when I dust mop for 2 minutes.
10. No one can write "Dust Me" when I feather dust daily.
11. Sink shining is an obsession that changed my life.
12. Fifteen minutes is an amazing amount of time. My timer is my best friend!
13. Weighing every morning is my guidepost for the day, not a whipping post.
14. Being in a hurry doesn't get you there any faster.
15. Smiling is contagious to everyone around you.
16. Making up my bed makes me smile.
17. Birds at our bird feeders make me happy.
18. A daily bathroom swish and swipe blesses me.
19. Eating like a baby every couple hours fires up my metabolism.
20. Our home is not a landfill. Getting rid of clutter saved my life!
21. Our home is not a museum either. Tossing out the bad memories saved my sanity.
22. Lace-up shoes empowers me!
23. Shiny sinks give me hope
24. Cleared coffee tables inspire me to write.
25. Flowers in gardens are God Smiles.
26. Gratitude is a precious gift to me. I say "Thank You" often.
27. Attitude is everything! If you think you can, you will!
28. Hate is like the poison pill you take to kill the other person.
29. Martyr attitudes are just self-pity expressed to hurt loved ones.
30. A load of laundry a day keeps Mount Washmore away.
31. Forgiveness is freeing to your soul.
32. My home is my happiness file!
33. Front porch rocking chairs are essential any time of the year.
34. Telephones don't have to be answered.
35. Sometimes hyper-focusing can be fun! You just can't do it all day and all night!
36. Meditation lets the God Breezes blow.
37. Babysteps keep me from feeling overwhelmed.
38. Flowers arranged imperfectly in a vase still look pretty.
39. Routines are not strait jackets, they are the framework.
40. Cooking is fun in a clean, well-stocked kitchen.
41. Fiber in my diet keeps things moving!
42. Taking care of me keeps me feeling healthy, wealthy and wise.
43. I can't help someone who is not willing to help themselves.
44. Having only clothes that make me feel pretty keeps my closet from being mean to me.
45. Surrounding myself with Born Organized was the best advice I ever heeded.
46. Establishing routines helped me grow up and find my purpose for living.
47. Finally Loving Yourself is the gift that keeps on giving!
48. Delegating is a learned skill; I don't have to do it all, just follow up.
49. Loyalty is a gift that you give freely. To receive loyalty, you have to give love!
50. If you multitask you can't listen. Stop, Drop and Listen.
51. Facebook reconnects with you with old friends. Time FLYs when you have fun.
52. Most everything is small stuff; so what doesn't matter; just doesn't matter.
53. Laughing every day is good for me; even if I have to laugh at myself.
54. Love like there is no tomorrow, because one day there will not be a tomorrow.


For more help getting rid of your Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome, check out The Flylady's Web site and join her free mentoring group at http://www.flylady.net/. You can get her book, "Sink Reflections," published by Bantam and her New York Times Best-Selling book, "Body Clutter," published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley Used by permission.

Flylady Column, March 3

Stress Free Start to Your Day

by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley

Do you ever look at the clock and find yourself in a panic because you are not dressed yet? It doesn't matter if you are headed off to work in the morning, work from home or you are retired; that same panic tells you that once again that time has gotten away from you!

There is no worse feeling than to walk into the bathroom and be startled by what you see staring back at you. Well, there is something that is worse; running to hide when your UPS man comes to the door with a package.

Why do we wait to the last minute to get dressed? I have heard every excuse in the world for not getting dressed, but the truth is we don't take the time. One minute we are having our coffee watching our favorite morning program and the next minute we need to be walking out the door. It slips up on us!

Even though getting dressed is something we do every day, most of us don't know how long it takes us to actually put our clothes on. This is because we get sidetracked with ironing, getting kids ready, watching TV and everything else that gets thrown our way.

The ease of getting dressed in the morning starts before you ever go to bed. By picking out your clothes and getting them ready you don't have to think. It is all laid out for you. That will help you put an end to your procrastination. Unless you keep hitting the snooze button! This tells me that you are not going to bed and getting enough sleep! If getting up and getting moving is hard, then it is time to set your bedtime just a little earlier.

Our habit this month is to practice getting up and getting dressed, to lace up shoes first thing in the morning! As soon as your feet hit the floor, start getting ready. There are no more excuses! You can do this and you are going to be less stressed in the morning. Stress-free mornings make for a peaceful day! What have you got to lose? Just your nasty attitude and hateful words.

Get up, get dressed and feel on top of the world. Then when you walk into your bathroom you will not scare yourself! You can get more done before you leave. You won't be hiding from a knock on your door. This one act of getting dressed to shoes has you ready for anything that comes your way.

Here are the tools to help you establish this empowering habit:

1. Pick out your clothes before you go to bed.

2. Go to bed and get plenty of sleep.

3. Get up 15 minutes before the rest of the family.

4. Start getting dressed as soon as your feet hit the floor.

5. Then lace up your shoes.

Your day is off to a peaceful start. That stress-free morning sets the tone for the rest of your day.

For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out the Flylady's Web site and join her free mentoring group at http://www.flylady.net/ or buy her book, Sink Reflections published by Bantam and her New York Times Best Selling book, Body Clutter published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley Used by permission.

Flylady Column, Feb. 25

Operating System Overload

by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley

Whether we like it or not we are in the computer world. As we have found out the hard way when something goes wrong with our operating system, the data we put in does not come out with the result we expected.

Let's stop trying to figure out what caused the problem and let's concentrate on the facts. It takes time to replace an operating system. Right now we have to understand its idiosyncrasies and work around them.

The first little quirk that is in our operating system is if we put too much information in, it tends to shut down and stop working. In order to work around this, all we have to do is load one thing at a time. Doesn't that sound familiar? We get overwhelmed and nothing gets done! When we focus on one habit or one thing we can trick the operating system into getting something done.

This got me to thinking using reverse psychology on myself. I may have a strong urge to do something, let's say eat chocolate cake, but I have given up bad carbs for Lent. There is half of a chocolate cake in the kitchen. So, instead of going to the kitchen to gobble down a plate full of cake, I decide to sidetrack myself. My water bottle is full so I take a great big drink and head to the opposite end of the house to do something else for just three minutes.

With a load of laundry in hand, I take it to the basement. Before I know it, that uncontrollable urge has been forgotten.

This is the part of my operating system that I understand and have learned to use to my advantage. Gotta love those little quirks! Sometimes our operating system can get us in big trouble. I am talking about our mouth and how fast we can fire off an e-mail, instant message, text, Tweet or Facebook post.

When we feel we have been wronged in some way, we are determined to defend ourselves and others. We feel like the protectors of all. This calls for some more sidetrackery! I love making up new words to describe our operating systems. This is the hardest urge of all to fight and we can do it.

When you feel that overwhelming response spilling out of your fingertips, grab a pen and paper and not your computer. Bite your tongue and go write. This is what we need when we are about to explode. Then you can vent without all the drama. I also keep hearing a cute song in my head by Carrie Newcomer, "Don't Push Send!" This stops me from hurting feelings and being rude.

Practicing doing just the opposite of what we really want to do can help us change our operating system. This takes time and a lot of FLY (Finally Loving Yourself) Washing. We can do it. We have the ability to sidetrack ourselves just long enough to stop our quirky operating system from making our lives more chaotic.

Are you ready to download your new operating system? Finally Loving Yourself comes in babysteps that can give you the results you really want!

For more help getting rid of your CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), check out her Web site and join her free mentoring group at http://www.flylady.net/ or her book, Sink Reflections published by Bantam and her New York Times Best Selling book, Body Clutter published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley Used by permission.

Make It Fun and the Family Will Help

Make It Fun and the Family Will Help

By The FlyLady, Marla Cilley

As sidetracked people, we are put off by anything that sounds like mundane housework. We are a fun-loving people. Why do we have to be stuck doing jobs we think will take us forever, when others are out having great time?

I have heard you many times as well as my own voice. We have a challenge every day to muster up enough gumption to get us moving. This is why I have tried to make it fun.

Timers have added an extra bit of fun and challenge to a project, but they also keep us on track. We all need to be reminded from time to time on what task we are doing. We can stay focused if all we have to do is 15 minutes. Children love timers, too.

Housework is such an ugly word. This is why I have tried to help you realize that you are not working when you are blessing your family!

We have been raised to believe that house cleaning is an all-day affair. No one needs to spend that kind of time maintaining your home. When you establish your routines and start dancing through your day with every move blessing your family, it is not like work at all.

I have always hated to dust. My mother made us remove everything from the tables, then dust and put everything back. It took what seemed like hours.

Now all I do is pull out my magic feather-dusting wand and buzz around my home while I am on the phone. Before I know it, our whole home -- every surface -- has been dusted. No mess or fuss! It has been done and I felt like a fairy princess gliding and dancing around my home. When was the last time you had that much fun dusting? If you take 2 minutes and feather dust every day, you will never have to see dusty finger streaks on your furniture. You know, the ones where someone in the family writes, "DUST ME!" In fact, you may never see dirt and dust again.

A real feather duster is a fun tool and mine even has some purple feathers in it. I feel so special when I use it. Just let me warn you, they can be addictive. When your family sees how much fun you are having, they will want to do it for you. This is kind of like Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence.

Children love the feather dusters too. It’s a tool that becomes a toy and does a job in the hands of your babies. Of course, you have to set the example and teach them how to use it.

Have you ever wondered how to get your children excited about keeping their rooms clean? I have a friend who figured it out many years ago and now she is making it available to everyone. Her creativity has children cleaning their rooms all over the world. Pam Young created the persona of the House Fairy. Go check out this other great tool for our children at http://www.housefairy.org/. Your children will run to clean their rooms.

Housework doesn't have to be dreaded. It can become a fun family game with everyone pitching in to help. You just need to make it enjoyable.

For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out her Web site and join her free mentoring group at www.FlyLady.net. Or get her books, “Sink Reflections,” published by Bantam and her New York Times best-selling book, “Body Clutter,” published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley. Used by permission in this publication.

The Fly Lady Feb. 3

How to Save Your Saturdays

by the FlyLady, Marla Cilley

Our whole lives we have played "Catch Up on the Weekends"!

This put a sense of dread into our daily life. We no longer looked forward to a wonderful weekend filled with fun with our friends and family.

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This all started when we were children. It is how our mothers did it! We would have to spend all day Saturday cleaning house or we were banished to our rooms for the evening. I truly believe this is why we despise cleaning house. It has always been a punishment for us.

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I want you to have a reward for your Home Blessing Efforts. A Saturday to play is a great gift for you.

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The solution to saving your Saturdays is very simple. Let's think about how many hours you spend frantically cleaning to catch up from a whole week tossing your routines out into the street. Between our piling and procrastination, our homes look like a bomb went off.

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You can look at a room and see evidence of the things that were done this week. You know, the package that had to be wrapped for a birthday party or the whole week's worth of mail piled on the kitchen counter that is about to fall into the floor.

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On Saturday you don't wake up all excited about cleaning all day. You sleep in a bit, then drag around in your pajamas for a couple of hours with a pot of coffee to get you moving in the right direction. By the time you get started it is already noon. The next six hours are spent cleaning like a banshee so you don't feel terrible. All the while you are yelling out orders for everyone in the family to get in gear.

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I get sick just thinking about what we have done to us and our family, all because we lie to ourselves with these words: "I DON'T HAVE TIME"! The truth is that what you don't have are ROUTINES.

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You have the time, you just choose not to do anything because you don't think you have six hours to do it right. Well, you don't have six hours to clean like a banshee -- but you do have 15 minutes. Implementing just five minutes in the morning, when you come home from work and before bed will give you back your Saturdays.

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Maybe we can call this our 5-Minute Room Saturday Rescue. The secret is to pick up after yourself and get the family to do it right along with you. It can become a fun game. Set your timer three times a day -- mornings, when you get home from work or school, and just before bed. Everyone has to put away the things that belong to them. It is up to you to remember to do it. When you forget you only make it harder to do the next time.

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This does not mean you can leave the dishes in the sink and on the table. This is part of cleaning up after dinner and shining your sink. If you do this all week long then on Saturday you can do your Weekly Home Blessing Hour. With your piles put away and hot spots extinguished, your Weekly Home Blessing Hour is a breeze. Then you are off to have some fun.

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For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out the FLYlady's Web site and join her free mentoring group at http://www.flylady.net/, or get her book, "Sink Reflections," published by Bantam. Also look for her New York Times Best Selling book, "Body Clutter," published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley Used by permission in this publication.

Is Your Armor Keeping You Down?

It's the FlyLady, Marla Cilley!

The FlyLady can help you with your household clutter, your purse clutter, and the clutter within yourself.

For this column, you need to know the meaning of a couple acronymns:

FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself
CHAOS is for Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome

You know, the kind of CHAOS where you don't answer the door when someone knocks because your house is too messy to let anyone enter.

The FlyLady will appear here weekly, usually on Monday afternoons. Her columns contain common sense approaches to house cleaning. I hope you'll not only check back here every week to read her column, but you'll also go to her Web site to learn more about the FlyLady's system.

IS YOUR ARMOR KEEPING YOU DOWN?

Have you been wearing your heart on your sleeve? Do you perceive that you have been wronged in some way by others? Are you wearing all the wrongs like a cloak of armor? Have these wrongs been the foundation for your whining? Are they what have kept you from FLYing?

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Armor is heavy stuff! When we blame others we need to look closely at our own actions. This is why we tell you that this is a NO WHINING ZONE!

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Tribes used to sacrifice a poor innocent goat for their sins. They would heap all their sins on the scapegoat and send it out into the wilderness. Have all the wrongs been heaped upon you? Do you feel like the scapegoat? Are you acting like a martyr? Have you been hoarding these wrongs?

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This is just like we do with clutter; we hold on to things past their usefulness. When we get our feelings hurt it is best to discuss it as soon as possible. The longer it festers, the worse it is on you!

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Are you hearing this? The person who has wronged you may not even know he or she has done anything to hurt your feelings and may not even care. If you don’t talk about it and clear the air, you will be the only one suffering. Discussing the wrong will let you know two things; they are mean and need to be prayed for, or they didn’t know they had hurt your feelings and they apologize. Either way you have released the wrong and it is no longer being hoarded.

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Some of you are going to argue that it is not easy to forgive and forget. If you notice, I didn’t say forget! When a snake shows its fangs, this is a warning! If you pick that snake up and put it in your pocket, whose fault is it when you get bitten?

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Forgiveness is the gift you give yourself. You get what you give. But if you give in order to get, you will always be left wanting!

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At the start of this New Year let’s symbolically take off that armor of wrongs! Put each wrong on a Post-It Note. Imagine that you peel each wrong off your sleeve and put it in an old pie pan. Then take it outside and put a match to them, or put them in your fireplace. As you watch your wrongs (the ones you have been hoarding) go up in smoke, send a prayer of gratitude up with it. Be thankful you no longer have to hold on to this and thankful that now you know!

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Leanne and I also have a whole chapter in our book, “Body Clutter,” devoted to forgiveness. I just listened to our new audio version. This chapter is powerful!

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My wish for you in this New Year is that you release the wrongs by forgiving others and yourself and open up your wings to FLY!

For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out the Web site and join the free mentoring group at http://www.FlyLady.net, or check out her book, “Sink Reflections,” published by Bantam, and her New York Times Best-Selling Book, “Body Clutter,” published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley Used by permission in this publication.