This is the first in a series of posts about the FlyLady phenomenon, what I've learned from FlyLady, both what to do and what not to do, some of which is good, and some not so good.
If you don't know who FlyLady is, go visit her web site at http://www.flylady.net. You will be among the thousands who do. Subscribe to her FlyLady Mentors email discussion list and you'll join over 309,000 subscribers who receive her reminder messages every day. Lots of messages, over 570 in the month of May, but you're supposed to delete them every day, and ignore the ones that don't interest you--where I ran afoul of FlyLady. More about that later.
I first learned about FlyLady from a coaching client and friend who had discovered her site and was enthusiastic about how much FlyLady's organizational and housekeeping strategies were helping her manage her house. She loved FlyLady, and soon, so did I. There is lots to love about FlyLady.
FlyLady is Marla Cilley. The name flylady comes from her email screen name when she first got into the household management/organizational milieu as a student of Pam and Peggy's Sidetracked Home Executive tongue in cheek approach to getting things done around the house. She used "flylady" because she was not only an avid fly fisherperson, but also taught fishing fly lure making at a local college.
The Flylady title has followed her to her new occupation, being the house mother and angel in a tutu on her FlyLady.net web site where she tells it like it is, no excuses, no backtalk, and no bare feet.
Flylady has rules, and she insists on them. Her followers follow the rules, more or less, some willingly, some half heartedly. And, in the process they get their homes "decluttered," and learn to "FLY" (finally love themselves).
Her FlyLady Mentors email list, an announce only list, sends out reminders several times a day to subscribers, telling them what to do next, and also includes testimonials from subscribers who have seen the light, done what they were supposed to do and it has worked for them. Included are also informational messages, and inspirational ones too, written by FlyLady herself.