How flylady has changed me

It's been a while once again since I updated this, part of that is not having ideas, or time! It's been going through my head lately that I should document on here how flylady has changed me, as really that's where the anti-procrastination idea came about.

Last week I worked a 70 hour week. Normally I work between 50 and 60 hours, so 70 was a bit of a shock. I was away one night too as part of that. Before Flylady when I was working 50 hours I would spend most of Saturday cleaning and I still didn't have a clean house. I would use holidays (I'm a teacher -yes teachers don't finish at 3pm!) to get the house clean and then in term-time it would deteriorate. I always liked people to think that I was a domestic goddess so would only invite them in during the holidays!

I've been following Flylady for quite a few years and over time things have become more even, I keep on top of things much better and have realised that some things don't take very long, especially if done regularly. During my 70 hour week things didn't fall apart. Yes, the laundry didn't always get done, and the basket was overflowing by the end of the week but it hasn't taken me very much to get back on track. I've just gone back to the normal stuff and I'm beginning to catch up. We were even able to have people to stay at the end of the week! Now that's progress even if it's not perfection :)

3 minutes

I've been laid up for a few days with a painful sprained ankle. The medical advice was to rest and elevate it for 3 days and then slowly begin to do stuff. Today is my first day of doing stuff. Now, I hate being ill off work (but when you can't walk...), particularly because as a teacher I feel responsible for education! So, when the doctors said a week off work I cried inside. But then I listened when I was told that it could take 8 weeks to heal properly and if I don't take a week off I could make it worse.
I've been feeling frustrated by the state of the house as I haven't been able to do anything, but this morning thought... why not just 3 minutes? So I've done little rescues in 3 minute chunks and rested as needed. After that I wondered about baking, remembering Diane's post last week. I thought that I might try shortbread, as that is easy and I had the ingredients.

So I set the timer for 3 minutes
and started measuring out the ingredients. Shortbread is easy as you do a 3:2:1 ratio of flour, butter, sugar (I got this the wrong way round when I first measure but fixed it by doubling the amount of butter and flour!)

That was about the first three minutes. I had a break and then carried on. You have to beat the butter until it is soft.



Then you add the sugar. It was at this point that I realised I'd got butter and sugar the wrong way around! I quickly measured out some more butter and flour, softened the butter and carried on! You stir the sugar in and you get a creamy paste. After this you sieve the flour in and stir and knead. In the middle of this another 3 minutes was up, so I rested and went back to it!


once you get it to the right consistency flatten it into a baking container, I scored mine (not so neat!) into fingers and sprinkled some more sugar on the top. Then it goes in the oven at gas mark 3 for 40 minutes.


Take it out of the oven once it is golden and leave it to rest for a couple of minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack.

Leave to cool and perfect with a cup of lady grey tea.

Anti-procrastination week

Flylady has declared this week Anti-procrastination week, so I figured, as that is the point of the blog I should make sure I write in it! (I know it is no excuse but I have tried to update it on my phone, but it lost the update when I published it :( )

One of the things I want to look at is why we procrastinate. Flylady says that we procrastinate because of our perfectionism. If we can't do it right we don't do it at all. To some extent she is right, and I definitely used to put things off for that reason (for example when I procrastinated cleaning the bathroom), but I do feel that I understand that reason now and so there must be other reasons for my procrastination. For example, I put things off because I get sucked in to the computer, I think that I have a habit of just looking at nothing! I find it very hard to pull away from the computer.

I recently read some notes by Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church about why we procrastinate. He listed 5 reasons:

1. Indecision. He says that "Indecision causes you to postpone buying a car, choosing a college, getting married, buying new clothes, changing a job."

2. Perfectionism agreeing with Flylady

3. Fear. We're frightened of booking an appointment for the dentist, so we put it off.

4. Anger. Rick Warren says that: Procrastination is a way to get back at people we don't like. We delay. Kids are great at procrastination. You ask them to clean up their room. They do it but they take so long doing it. One of the reasons may be that they're resisting your control. Procrastination is passive resistance. I don't want to do it because I don't like you telling me to do what I have to do. Anger causes us to put things off.

5. Laziness. We do things if they are easy, but if they are hard we put them off.

I guess that we could add being sidetracked to that list. I don't know whether I would class the time I spend at my computer as laziness or sidetrackedness!

Have a great Anti-procrastination day, during Anti-procrastination week tomorrow! I'm looking forward to that!

What has flylady done to me?

Today I have felt very tired due to a late night that included beer and wine! However, I am ending the day having felt like I have relaxed and not done much. BUT my kitchen is tidy, my sink is shiny, My laundry is done (including turning around the bedding for the spare bed -it is all made up ready for next week's guests!), my bathroom is clean, the house is good and I have done a little bit of decluttering. How on earth have I managed to do all this and sit out and enjoy my garden?! I even went to the DIY centre with my husband to get some bits for the garden which he has now fitted. But I feel like I have had a relaxing day. I feel very confused!

Tomorrow I have to get some school work done. I know that this is the point that the old me would procrastinate, so somehow I have to not do so and just get on with it. So I am telling you now that I need to do it, in the hope that the accountability that this blog holds me to will mean that I will continue to change my ways!!

momentum building...

My in-laws have come to stay and it wasn't stressful!!! The bathroom was already clean (I don't feel like I've cleaned it for weeks, swish and swipe makes such a difference!), the spare room was ready (although I spent 10 minutes just making it better!), I did a weekly home blessing so the place sparkled and I felt like I had time so went out for coffee with a friend! Wow! What a difference. I don't think that I ever thought that I would achieve this.

Today the four of us spent the day working on the garden. Since we moved in we haven't done much so it had become an overgrown mess. We stripped back some of the beds, saving the few plants that I love. The men then did two trips to the tip (once we'd filled our wheelie bin!) and my M-I-L and I went to the garden centre to buy some herbs and some lavender. We also put down some slate for pots to go on. It looks so much better and I now feel that I might have the confidence to go and do 15 minutes regularly to keep it looking good and to start work on the areas that we haven't done. I need to add it to my routines.

We finished about 4pm and I then had a bath and got ready an hour early for our meal out to celebrate my husband's birthday. So now I am ready to go but can relax and not rush. That is a culture change for me! It feels so much better. I am usually the sort of person to think "I'll just do this, then that" then I end up being rushed and late!

Also my study is slowly taking shape. We had some furniture arrive for the lounge, so I was able to move some books down, giving me a bit more space. I also put a few reading books in the spare room, freeing up more space. As ever there is still a lot to do but if I can't spend a lot of time in here I just walk in and deal with one item. I have also started dealing with some clutter in the kitchen. These are all things that were in drawers in the last house, but we don't have the space here and are just piled up. A lot of really is junk and not needed.

To finish, my M-I-L gave me a tea towel yesterday with the following quote:

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" William Morris

getting started!

The week has been going well. The house is mostly tidy and it's staying clean. The most difficult part was starting decluttering my study. It felt really overwhelming and I didn't know where to start. After putting it off and doing lots of cleaning elsewhere in the house I eventually did 5 minutes. I just picked up a few things that could be binned. The following day I did a few things more and I am now able to see a bit of a difference. There is still a lot to do but it is beginning to feel like it might happen. Somehow though I need to get a lot out as the room is much smaller than in the previous house and I want it to be a much tidier room.

Just doing a little bit at a time is a change of culture for me. I am the sort of person who would declutter all day and be exhausted. So I am finding it difficult but it is nicer than being exhausted and still not finishing it. I just hope that I will get there soon!

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having fun!

I really enjoyed pottering on saturday morning. I managed to get a few rooms looking better. I then went out to help set up at church for the holiday club.

Sunday wasn't a great day. my husband had a migraine. but I did what I needed to and relaxed.

This week I have a routine set up to get things done and also have fun. Each morning I am going to set up the sound system for the holiday club. I am then coming home to do home blessings (housework for those for not familiar with flylady) before going back to put it away. This should leave me with the afternoons to do what I like. Yesterday I got lots done in the morning and then in shopping for my husband's birthday presents (which he loved -i went to his favourite deli and wine merchants to get nice things). This afternoon I have a friend who I haven't seen for a year coming round for coffee. She only lives a 10 minute walk away. I feel bad that we haven't caught up!

Today I am sat enjoying my clean lounge and will work on my study later. It does feel nice having things tidy and clean around me. And by getting things done it feels good and leaves me time to have fun!

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