What is the FlyLady method?
Some years ago, the method by the Japanese lady Marie Kondo went viral and tremendously successful on social media, but now the home cleaning and maintenance revolution through the FlyLady method, by the American writer Marla Cilley, is here to stay.
So what does her method consist of? I’m sure that at some time you will have heard your mothers, grandmothers and aunts say that housework is never finished, and it’s true. Homes require constant work and maintenance, but it is also true that today's lifestyles mean we are not able to spend as much time on housework as necessary.
That is why Marla Cilley designed a simple, easy-to-do method to keep a cosy, clean, tidy house every day.
The FlyLady method consists of routines to keep everything in order, without having to spend too much time on housework.
What is the FlyLady method cleaning system?
- The sink always clean and empty.
For the author of the FlyLady method, keeping the sink always clean, empty and dry is very important, since it is the part of the house that gives the impression of most dirt and disorder. Whenever we use a kitchen utensil, she recommends cleaning it, drying it and putting it away, or leaving it in the dishwasher. This simple gesture will help make our kitchens look tidier.
- Shoes and slippers.
According to the American writer, getting up and dressed as if we were going to go out will help us get into the right mindset to start the day with energy. It is a mental state, and it will give us the right attitude to take on the day. It will also help us to be quicker.
- One room in 15 mins.
We should choose one room every day and spend exactly 15 minutes on it. In fact, in her book, Marla Cilley explains that the house does not get dirty in one day, so 15 minutes should be enough to tidy up and clean any room, since it will not be particularly dirty. She also recommends setting the timer so as to only spend the set amount of time and no more. This technique will also help us not to lose sight of what we are actually doing, and get straight to the point. Nevertheless, we do need to be realistic about it, and if we have large rooms, it is best to divide them up into sections if cleaning them in 15 minutes is impossible.
- Routines.
When we have made some progress with the method, it’s time to establish routines. To do this, we divide the day into three parts: morning, afternoon and evening/night routines. For example: make the bed as soon as you get up, leave the bathroom clean and tidy (remove any hairs, tidy things off the sink, put clothes away), identify the most problematic parts of the house to tidy every day. We can also take a bin liner and throw away 27 pieces of junk that we don’t use. This could seem like a lot, but if we put it into practice, I’m sure you will be able to find more than 27.
Spend 10 minutes tidying up messy items before going to bed. This will get the house ready for the next day.
If we do this every day, it will become a routine and we will do these things automatically and they won’t feel like a chore.
- Room organisation schedule.
We should prepare a schedule to decide which rooms we are going to spend 15 minutes on each day. Keeping a weekly schedule will help us to keep our house clean and tidy, and we will know where we need to clean and tidy up more.
