Being stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic is the perfect time to clean up. While, for a time, home cleaners became hooked on Marie Kondo’s methods, many going through their closets and drawers lately have opted for a different cleaning method. Discover why the FlyLady cleaning method has become a huge trend!
About The FlyLady Method
Pinterest and Instagram users have found a new way to clean up: The FlyLady method. Invented by organizing specialist Marla Cilley, the FlyLady herself, it’s built on the idea of cleaning in 15-minute segments. Cilley says that the primary purpose of cleaning this way is to make it a smooth and fun process instead of a mundane and stressful one. Meanwhile, the FlyLady cleaning method also takes the massive task of cleaning and breaks it down into small, bite-sized tasks.
For example, why not start by cleaning out all the dishes and giving the sink a squeaky clean each night. Cilley recommends beginning with one 15 minute task per day, before adding on more. Eventually, you’ll build up to a schedule, at which point you can use the Printables from the FlyLady website or the official FlyLady app.
Once you’ve added your first daily task, Cilley has plenty of suggestions for what to do next…
How To Start
On the FlyLady website, Cilley lists lots of recommended, 15-minute cleaning tasks that you can do once a day or week, from which you will build a schedule. For instance, Cilley’s morning schedule looks like this:
- Wake up and make the bed.
- Take a shower, clean the bathroom, then load the laundry in.
- Clean the kitchen if needed and make breakfast.
- Create a to-do list for the day, including planning dinner.
- Move clothes to the dryer.
- Take time for self-care, take vitamins or medicine, meditate or do yoga, and then relax while having breakfast. Cilley says this has a large impact on your desire to clean and not live in a mess.
While this works for smaller places, Cilley also has some tips for those that live in homes.
Bigger Spaces
For larger locations, consider breaking the home down into different zones and assign them to a day of the week or week of the month, depending on your preference. So, for instance, on Monday, all your 15-minute cleaning tasks would center on one room, like the kitchen. Cilley says there are five main zones in the house. The first zone is “the whole,” or tasks that should be completed often. Then, the second zone is the kitchen, the third zone is the bathroom or any other important room like a home office, the fourth zone is bedroom and closets, and the fifth zone is the living room.
The FlyLady cleaning method is surely worth trying if you’re full of tasks like handling business, raising kids, or helping out elderly parents. It doesn’t add to the stress, but instead helps get rid of it.