Stop Me Before I File You

I have spent the better portion of my life trying to get organized. I love, love, love the idea of knowing where stuff is. I love color coding, files, organizers, storage tubs, cubbies, folders, notebooks, etc. I love the idea, get it? Alas, I have never been able to accomplish it. I love MISSION ORGANIZATION on HGTV. LOVE IT! But it seems, I get one thing organized and I've messed up the other part. If you know me very well you know that I spend my life looking for something I "put in a safe place". I wake up in the morning wondering what I did with something. I love to make piles of things to do later. Organized and color coded piles, of course! Don't even ask Tawana and Becky about my piles of hidden stuff. How, did I run an office? You know, you've heard that story before.

But, I have found the most incredible website for organization and I can see exactly how it could work. She ( they? ) is called the FLYLADY. She is a reformed "try to be organizer" who has used her skills to perfect the art. She has a great story and a very fun website with all kinds of hints, strategies, tools and tips to succeed. As with anything it takes time to accomplish. She refers to her syndrome of old habits as the CHAOS stage or Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. I thought that was an hilarious conception. Of course her website is her business and she sells all kinds of gadgets and gizmos to help you on your journey to be FREE of clutter in your life and your brain. NO pressure to buy anything so far but I've seen some pretty neat stuff. The information and the concept is free though and I just have enjoyed reading back on the archives and hints. You can get on her daily email list and she emails you daily project/ TO DO LISTS. I LOVE LISTS! She calls them "flying" lessons. It is a step by step DETAILED hint list to totally have your entire house decluttered and organized in a specific amount of time. She gives you only a certain amount of projects a day to perfect your household chores to a fine science. None of them are that out of the ordinary but the way she tells it and the way she explains it just makes alot of sense and I can see how it would so work. I wish I would have had this information when I had a house full of kids! AMAZING. None of the chores are overwhelming or would consume you everyday for hours. Contray she wants you to adapt this routine in small segments or "baby steps" as she calls them. ( Refer to What About Bob) . For instance, the first lesson was the daily bathroom cleaning routine. She calls the different areas of your home the "fly"zones. There are also hints to help your children ease back into school routines with a more structured routine. To say it impressed me was true! I loved it. So go over and check out the web and see what you think. It is http://www.flylady.net/. I guarantee it will make you think. Chaos is NOT HEALTHY. Internal or external.

Now, lest you think I am a slob, I am not. I love to entertain and I do it often. I love to plan parties and have guests and gatherings at my house. But, I just am not organized behind the doors. I knock myself out to make sure things happen and everything is perfect down to the last flicker of a candle and the stray leaf on the sidewalk. With this system it always seems that a level of constant organization could happen. Making life a lot easier and less stressful for those that just have to give up projects and errands and start again in the morning. The Scarlett disease. I am not a perfectionist by any means. I just have always loved the thought of opening up a cabinet and 5,000,000 plastic lids not falling out on me. Or someone stopping by for a visit and me not wondering if I took my jammies ( or worse ) off the back of the bathroom door. You know the scenario. My daughters joke now about a process that they used to fool me about their chores. I would leave for work and say, " Now, when I get home "this" better be done." So, they would drag out the vacuum and immediately vacuum enough to leave the carpet perked up to look great. Out would come the rags, the furniture polish and paper towels. To sit all day. They would dump half a bottle of PineSol in all the toilets and leave it. I don't know more details about that! Windex was close at hand to spray around when I pulled up in the afternoon. Sometimes on each other. Remember that girls? Who was grounded for the Windex incident? When my car hit the driveway they would turn the TV off and perfect the "I am a slave labor child" look and whine that they worked all day. They learned from a professional! I am a clean swiper and a speed cleaner. I am a saver, a rescuer of objects and a self professed collector. I like to think I am tasteful about it but I could see how it could get out of hand! Check it out. I can't wait you to tell me what you think.