Do you continually set a resolution to get more organized? But where do you start, where do you learn how to be more organized? For me, it started with a simple conversation.
Shine your sink she said. Let your sink give you a warm hug in the morning, she said.
Was she crazy?
Probably!
Was she right?
Absolutely.
Have you ever been there? Drowning in a sea of clutter, not only physical clutter but mental clutter as well. The more unsettled and burnt out you are feeling, the more you tend to just go mindlessly shopping?
I would purchase things I didn’t need, or worse: something I already had but forgot about, or couldn’t find.
The Friendliest Advice
I first heard about Flylady from a dear friend after I admitted that I had a problem with my house and that I was thinking about hiring a professional organizer to come to my home and help me. “Save your money and check out Flylady.net, it’s free” was all she said.
“well, what is it?” – Seriously, why do I always insist on questioning things? Why can’t I just say ok and then check it out?!? But true to form, I continued to ask and pester about what it was exactly and what I would be signing up for. Just check it out and trust me.
I left the conversation unhappy that my questions weren’t answered. And I decided that I would not check it out as I had no idea just what this Flylady was all about. But it kept bothering me all day and I kept thinking about it…what can this Flylady really do to help me control the chaos in my home?
Shine Your Sink
Finally, at the end of a long day, I sat down and went to Flylady.net – what did I find? A video about why I needed to shine my sink – not just clean it but really shine it until it gleams. Was she crazy?!?!
After all, I had piles of junk falling over onto my curious little toddler. I had mountains of laundry spilling onto each other so that I couldn’t even tell what was clean and what needed to be washed. I had boxes of who knows what out in the garage.
And she wants me to shine my sink – yep it was confirmed she was crazy. How would shining my sink help me learn how to be more organized?
I tried to go about the rest of my evening without thinking about this crazy lady. But I just couldn’t let it go; could she be on to something here? What could it hurt to try?
How to be more organized
So after the little munchkin was put to bed I ventured into the kitchen and started to clean my sink – just the sink. Once it is emptied she has a very specific routine to follow to really get your sink crazy shiny, you just have to watch the video and do it yourself. Go ahead and try to prove me wrong.
You won’t regret it when you wake up in the morning, head into the kitchen to make your coffee, and you are immediately greeted by your beautiful shiny sink. It is an amazing and wonderful feeling.
And then the craziest thing happens over the next week it starts to spread around your kitchen and you start wiping down your counters – after all, you can’t have a beautiful shiny sink and dirty counters. Then it spreads to the kitchen table, and then next thing you know you are sorting out your pantry – tossing that decade-old rainbow cake you meant to make for a party that one time.
Meet the FlyLady
So, who is FlyLady? Well, she is a sweet lady from North Carolina and she sprinkles her southern charm in with no-nonsense advice about how to clean your house, create routines, and finally take control of your C.H.A.O.S once and for all.
She defines C.H.A.O.S. as: Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Isn’t that so true? When your house is a mess you think twice about opening your door and inviting someone in for a cup of coffee.
As you work through her program, which is completely free, it is amazing how much more at peace you feel in your own home. Once you move out of the kitchen and into the other rooms you realize that she wasn’t crazy after all, Flylady knew what she was talking about the whole time.
Check it out for yourself and try to prove me wrong! I can’t wait to hear about your kitchen sink experiences in the comments below. I truly hope her system help you learn how to be more organized as it has for me. If you want to read more about my story, you can do so here. Also check out my honest review of her book, Chaos to Clean.
