Flylady Big Fail

After feeling very pleased with myself for sticking to the Flylady system for the first week, by Thursday last week, my resolve was starting to crumble.  It didn't help that I just felt exhausted on Thursday afternoon and went to bed for a few hours. Since then, for one reason or another, I've done very little cleaning and really let my routines lapse over the Bank Holiday weekend.

This was partly a conscious decision, because I had cleaned my toilet so much in the past week, that I was happy to just let go a little and let it get a bit dirty.  I am going to try to get back on board with Flylady again this week, but I think I will reduce my routines and maybe do the toilet every few days instead of every day as it really doesn't get that dirty that quickly.  I don't think a few days of not cleaning it will do any harm to any of us and I'll use a lot less product.

I will still be washing up every evening and leaving my sink clean, I'll probably get to bed at a decent hour, read for a while and try to get enough sleep, but I don't think putting out my clothes for the next day is too essential for me either.  I don't have a vast wardrobe, so choosing what to wear isn't a big challenge. I'll try to do it for special occasions or for work at the shop, but other than that I don't think it's too important for me.

I'm going to try to get on board with the Zone Cleaning from this week, as I do want to get into a more regular cleaning routine, but I'm not going to be too hard on myself if I lapse a bit here and there. It's very easy to get too obsessed about cleanliness and routines which can detract from my enjoyment of life and can be very annoying  to other members of the household. I don't want to be too rigid, as life is just too short.

Some nights, for example, I might get engrossed in a job or project and then be too tired to do the routines and I don't want to feel too bad about that, especially when the job I get engrossed in might be more important in terms of making progress in getting my life in order, than the cleaning routine.

This week I haven't yet had chance to do much, as I've been working at the CS for the past two days, but I have done some work on my control journal and written out all of the zones, daily plans, weekly blessings, baby steps, etc., so I now feel I actually understand a lot more about how the Flylady system works. I've also added in motivational quotes and clarified my morning and evening routines, so that I'm now properly ready to fly.

I'll continue to follow the baby steps and see where they lead me, but I have taken a bit of a step backwards, in order to assess just what I can take from the system and what won't work for me. I don't want things to be too prescriptive, as it's just not realistic or enjoyable.

I'll let you know how I get on with my more balanced approach to the system.