8 Comments to 'Question: “How Do You Eat An Elephant?”'
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Question: “How Do You Eat An Elephant?”
Posted By Homekeeping Moderator
Answer: “One bite at a time.”
Housework is a never ending chore. It’s not like we as wives and mothers can just hang up our apron at 5:00 and call it a day. We’re on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some days, it just feels like the work is never ending.
I use to dream of becoming Miss America, or inventing the cure for cancer. Now, quite simply, I dream of getting my home into a state of relative clean and orderliness. I know, I dream big. I can’t say that I’ve arrived, well, I could, but that would be a big fat lie, but I’ve found someone that helps me tackle the housework, and feel a sense of accomplishment. No, I didn’t hire a maid. I found a website called Flylady, and she has some of the best ideas on cleaning that I’ve ever seen.
The basic premise is to divide up your house into manageable “zones”. There are five zones in your home, and you spend each week working in one zone. If you devote 15 minutes a day to this zone, you’ll see amazing results in no time at all.
I’ve tweaked the 5 zones to fit my house. For example, Zone 1 is my entry way, front porch and front library room. Zone 2 is the all important kitchen. Zone 3 is the kid’s bath, laundry room, and kid’s bedrooms (two). Zone 4 is the master bedroom, master bath and closet. Zone 5 is the dining room, family room, and back porch.
There are some things which need to be done every week. Like cleaning toilets, sweeping, etc. And you need to set aside a laundry day (I have two). But the Flylady is a great motivator, and has terrific ideas about how to tackle the tough jobs. You can even sign up to receive a daily e-mail, reminding you what you need to accomplish, but I found this just one more unnecessary e-mail to read. You can go to the website, and once you get the hang of it, you can “fly” on your own.
So, go check out the Flylady here. And as always, if you have any good housecleaning tips, leave them in the comments section!
Written by DeeDee at It Coulda’ Been Worse
May 21st, 2007
I am a three time Flylady Flunky. I am so not organized enough and too “fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants” type to follow it. You may not be able to eat off my floor (but the children do it anyway) or drink from the toilet bowl, my house is fairly clean. As long as company doesn’t break out the white gloves, they’re welcome to come.
I’m off to check out Flylady. I have found that it helps me to assign certain tasks to certain days (i.e., clean bathrooms on Tuesday, laundry on Monday, etc). I left Friday with no chores so I can catch up on things I didn’t get to on the assigned day, or, better yet, enjoy a day free from chores (except dishes, of course).
I’ve been a FlyBaby for years! I think what I love best about her system is that it’s built for restarts!!
There are just WAAAAAY too many times the whole house gets the better of me and I need to start from the beginning. Hooray for Baby Steps!!!
I’ve done Flylady for a few years. When I first started, it worked great! I REALLY need to get back to it…if I just do what she says, without telling myself other things must be done first, it really does work. ESPECIALLY for those of us who have to fit in the housework in between our other responsibilities!
Yes! I’ve found flylady to be enormously helpful! And there are some great, quick-and-easy crockpot recipes there as well.
I have to check this website out for sure. I don’t tackle… I slowly maneuver my way around the house so this should be a good way to get me motivated. Thanks bunches!
I’m definitely checking this site out! I’ve been laid off, am working from home, and trying to get a blogging business going. So, taking care of my dear husband, who works way too many hours, and working so I can someday soon earn some money to help; I kind of let the housework slide….and I am ashamed of it. I can use all the help I can get to motivate me. Thanks so much for the Flylady tips. I’m going right now to check her out! I’m grateful!
I have been flying for a little over a year and I LOVE what FLYLADY has done for my home, my family, and my priorities and motivation. (my husband loves it too)
I only did the first 13 days of the beginning steps and it completely changed my life. I have tweeked a lot of the concepts myself as well, an would love to start back up and finish the last 17 days!! =)