About a year ago, I discovered FlyLady through an online message board.

I kind of imagine her as a sweet grandmotherly type of lady. She gives great advice and lots and lots of encouragement along the way to getting your house out of CHAOS (which she defines as Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome - don't we all have that sometimes?). Because she is a sweet older lady, she has an old-fashioned website that is not very well laid out and she sends a lot of emails - kind of like my mom when she first discovered forwards - ugh! I'll admit I was intimidated by the routines to start with, but I promise you....it works, and it does not feel like a tonne of work!

Her secret is doing a little bit each day, and she believes that anyone can do anything for 15 minutes at a time. I love the short increments - it appeals to the procrastinator in me and it makes sense for someone with a baby around. She also stresses time and time again that we cannot get caught up in perfectionism and that you must limit yourself to the short increments or you will tire out and not be able to keep up with the routines. I am so prone to this!

Anywho.....I thought it might be helpful to do an organization themed week since I find when my house is clean and organized, I have a lot more fun during the day with my little guy! FlyLady's daily routines have made a real difference in the feeling of dread about cleaning our house since it gets done a little bit each day. No more wasting weekends madly cleaning the house top to bottom and folding piles and piles of laundry. Whew!

FlyLady really advocates a daily morning and evening routine. I did not find that ALL the aspects of her routines worked for me, so I tweaked them to fit my life. You should do the same! Don't feel like you have to follow everything she says to a tee! Here is the morning routine that I have adapted for our needs. You can read her routines here.

- Wake up with the baby - hopefully a nice sleep in!

- Nurse the baby and then put him in the bouncy chair while I shower

- Get dressed, do my hair, put on a bit of makeup - not staying in my pajamas all day does amazing things for my motivation to get stuff done, and go out! (She says to get dressed to lace-up shoes but I don't. We don't wear shoes in our house!)

- Go downstairs and put on the kettle for some tea

- Unload the dishwasher while the kettle is boiling/tea is steeping

- Put in a load of laundry (a load a day keeps the CHAOS away - so true!)

- What's for dinner? Take out anything that needs to defrost. We do meal planning each week so this step is easy!

- Clean the kitchen, load the dishwasher and set it to be done by tomorrow morning

- Shine the kitchen sink

- Fold the one load of laundry I did that day.....soooo much easier than piles and piles on the weekend! I actually enjoy folding one load and only one load of laundry

- quickly tidy up any hot spots (the counter at the front door, the mail on the kitchen counter, etc)

- Reload the diaper bag and set out anything I will need for the next day's outings/errands at the front door, including my car keys!

In addition to the routines you should do 15 minutes of decluttering in your home. There is also one task per day in a certain zone of your house. These are outlined in her emails. You can subscribe here. The emails can become a bit overwhelming, so I highly recommend the daily digest. I usually just scroll through all the letters and testimonials etc until I see the "flight plan" for the day.

All in all, you will spend about one hour (or less) each day doing the routines and your house stays clean and tidy.

She also has a focus for each day of the week. My plan this week is to blog about the daily focus and routines for each day. I hope you all enjoy it, and that it inspires you to start some routines in your home - and hopefully reduce some of your stress!

Here is a preview of the week:

Monday - Home Blessing Hour (full house clean)

Tuesday - Plan and Play Day

Wednesday - Anti-Procrastination Day

Thursday - Errands Day

Friday - Declutter your Purse and Car

Saturday - Family Fun Day

Sunday - Relaxing Day

So, if you want to get on board, here is how you can start. Shine your kitchen sink. FlyLady says a shiny kitchen sink will inspire you and I know it sounds silly (and the way she describes it is suuuuper cheesy) , but it is really nice to look at! And it deters you from piling dishes in it. Starting the day with a shiny sink is really nice since my biggest pet peeve is waking up to dishes that need to be washed!