The Bottom Line
Though not the perfect book for everyone, there will be something that every reader can adopt as part of his or her quest to overcome the clutterer syndrome. "You can do it" attitude is encouraging.
Pros
- Emphasis on "BabySteps" helpful, healthy
- Beginners' before bed and morning routines do work
- Fun tools for decluttering include 27 Fling Boogie
Cons
- Religious emphasis may bother some readers
- Typical American Family/female focus excludes many
- The book itself is somewhat disorganized
Description
- Author Marla Cilley is the Internet's famous FlyLady. "Fly" stands for "Finally Loving Yourself."
- Contains useful decluttering tools and helpful pointers on attitude readjustment.
- Planning and routines sections may not appeal to or be appropriate for all readers.
- Definitely "Mom" centered - sometimes hard to adapt ideas for other circumstances.
- Not every rule works - "give away paperbacks after reading" shocked me, because I reread mine!
- Great lesson: Housework done incorrectly is better than none at all.
Guide Review - Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley
Don't start reading this book after a long day: the FlyLady puts you right to work cleaning your sink, a process that takes at least 90 minutes, mostly after you soak it in bleach for an hour. It took me a good two hours to do the job, and when the author gushed, "Wasn't that EASY?" I snarled back, "Not if you have fibromyalgia!" But in spite of the fact that scrubbing and I don't do well together, I found some gems in "Sink Reflections." There is a sense of fun and "can-do" that is encouraging. I'd suggest that if your home is as badly cluttered as mine, you might want to stop after the first five chapters, read Chapter 10, then use the tools presented for awhile before going on to the maintenance phase.
