3 | Bex!
June 4, 2008 at 2:10 pm

Uh oh. I must be one of those ‘naturally orgnaized’ people. I has one bag, a fabulous Tom Bihn Cafe bag, that I love and use all the time. Having to change bags (when I use paniers to ride to work or a cute purse for fancy evenings on the town) actually stresses me out. I get worried about what to bring and whether I’ve forgotten anything.

11 | SloppyJo
December 21, 2008 at 8:54 am

#10, Mini: I “found” FlyLady in 2003, and the “Slob Sisters” in the ’80’s, and Don Aslett in between. Oh, and “Confessions of an Organized Homemaker,” by Deniece Schofield, when I was in high school. I have a lovely organized bookshelf of organization and time management and zen books, and the rest of the place looks like heck.

The point is, FlyLady’s system is no worse nor better than the rest, although she has quite a business selling her feather dusters, timers, t-shirts, water bottles, etc. You can sign up for free at her site and she will send you twenty or so emails a day, reminding you to do your laundry, put your shoes on, get supper started. Occasionally she will tell you to shave your legs and take a warm bath. While this might be a good system for someone who is on the computer all day, or someone who really has challenges in the hygiene department, I found it patronizing. It was just too many emails and my son actually got upset that this little purple cartoon character was telling me what to do, taking me away from him “just 15 minutes at a time.”

I’m known at work as hyper-organized and efficient, yet at home I’m a clutterbug. All of my family likes “stuff,” we are archivists and collectors and junkers and recyclers and inventors and librarians, and it wasn’t really until Martha Stewart came along that I began to feel guilty about all our wonderful stuff. I no longer feel that my collections are a pathology, but an expression of my brain wiring (I’m also good at Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit, you know, keeping all those useless facts and dates and eras and biographies in your head). My house is sanitary, there are no bugs or mice, and *we manage* even though Minimalist Magazine is not going to ask for a photo shoot.

The key for us is maintaining a central family calendar and staying on top of it; paying the bills on time and keeping the checkbook balanced; keeping the kitchen and one central area presentable for company. And keeping our word and following through on promises. All of us have so many hobbies we could go nuts with it, but accepting that this is just how we are and working with it has done more for my family’s happiness than any system imposed from the outside.

Best of luck to you in your new home, and don’t let anyone ‘guilt’ you into a system that doesn’t fit–take the best and leave the rest. Oops, I guess that’s the problem, I see the best in everything and try to keep it all!

PS: Guilty confession: I have one closet shelf full of bags and purses. Each purse has a matching wallet and some have matching cosmetic cases. BUT at least I’m keeping it to ONE shelf!