31 Beginner Baby Steps

Dear Precious New Member,

I know that you have become overwhelmed by your home and the chaos that
you have been living in. We are here to help you and it doesn’t cost you
a dime. Keep in mind that your home did not get this way overnight and it
is not going to get clean in a day. We are going to teach you how to take
babysteps and establish little routines for getting rid of your clutter
and maintaining your home. This system will work for anyone; it doesn’t
matter if you work outside of your home, stay home with children, retired
or work at home. You can do this, you have just needed someone to
pat you on the back and give you a great big hug to get you started.

The voices that you hear in your head keep telling you that you are
behind and you have to get it all done now! We are going to quiet those
negative voices that are beating you up constantly and replace with a
loving gentle voice that tells you that you are not behind and you can do
this one babystep at a time!

Please do not get impatient with the process. Everything we do is going
to help you replace those voices that put you down. We are here to lift
you up and celebrate every little accomplishment.

Your very first babystep is to go shine your sink. Don’t listen to those
voices that tell you that is not going to help your messy house. This is
exactly where I started and this little habit has changed my life! Take
this babystep in faith and go do it. Here are the directions for shining
your kitchen sink.


Day 1

Go Shine your sink.

http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Shine.asp

After you do this; you will keep it shiny by drying it out after each
time you use it and making sure when you go to bed that it is shining so
it will make you smile in the morning. This is how I get to hug you each
day! That shiny sink is a reflection of the love that you have for
yourself.

Our FlyLady system is all about establishing little habits that sting
together into simple routines to help your day run on automatic pilot.
You can do this!


Day 2

Today I want you get up and get dressed to lace up shoes when you first
get up in the morning. This means fix your hair and face too.

In order for us to change ourselves we need to remind ourselves of what
we are doing. I did this with yellow sticky notes throughout my home to
guide me through my day. This was the beginning of my home control
journal. I had little notes on my bathroom mirror to remind me to get
dressed to shoes. When you see the many reminders in your inbox from
Yahoo; just think of them as yellow sticky notes. You don’t have to do
them yet; they are just there as a little reminder. Read the subject line
and you will be absorbing the flow of them. Do not allow those voices in
your head to say this can’t possible work with so many emails. Then when
you hear those voices say I don’t have time. Set a timer for 2 minutes
and just read a little and then delete at will.

Shine your sink before you go to bed.


Day 3

Today you are doing what we have already done. -Getting up and dressing
to lace up shoes -Keeping your sink shining -Reading your reminders for 2
minutes.

Then I want you to read something on our website. This will help you to
understand more about what we are doing and how together with our
reminders, essays and testimonials you are going to see changes in your
home and attitude.


http://flylady.net/pages/FlySpecial_FlyLifeLines.asp


Day 4

So far we are;

- Getting Dressed to lace up shoes - Keeping our sink shining - Reading 2
minutes of Reminders

Your next thing is to write these things down on a sticky note and post
them on your bathroom mirror and above your kitchen sink. This is the
beginning of your Control Journal. The little notes help us to remember
the habits we are trying to establish.


Day 5

- Getting Dressed to lace up shoes - Keeping our sink shining - Reading 2
minutes of Reminders - Looking at our posted reminders in the kitchen and
bathroom

Are you hearing any of those nagging negative voices popping into your
head? I want you to take a piece of paper and write down what you hear
then I want you to turn those ugly words around and say something nice to
yourself to negate the ugly words that they said.

Day 6 - Getting Dressed to lace up shoes - Keeping our sink shining -
Reading 2 minutes of Reminders - Looking at our posted reminders in the
kitchen and bathroom - Recognizing the negative voices when you hear them
and changing the words to be nice to you. That is what FLYing (Finally
Loving Yourself) is all about.

Today we are going to learn about Hot Spots. We all have them. Here is a
link on our website to read the definition of a Hot Spot.


http://flylady.net/pages/FLYFaq.asp#hotspot

Now I want you to set your timer for 2 minutes and let’s practice
putting out your Hot Spot. You don’t have to work till you have finished;
just do what you can in 2 minutes. Put your bills in one place. This will
keep you from having to search for them.


Day 7

- Getting Dressed to lace up shoes - Keeping our sink shining - Reading 2
minutes of Reminders - Looking at our posted reminders in the kitchen and
bathroom - Recognizing the negative voices; change them and FLY! - Put
out your Hot Spot for 2 minutes; just pick one.

Today we are going to add a new habit to our before bed routine. Tonight
before you hop in bed; I want you to pick out what clothes you are going
to wear tomorrow. You can lay them on a chair, on a shelf or hook in the
bathroom or on a hanger on your closet door knob.


Day 8

Here you are; you have been FLYing for a whole week. I am so proud of
you. Let’s review your new habits. I am going to break them down into
what you do each morning and what you do each evening.


Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face -
Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom - Reading 2
minutes of reminders - Recognizing the negative voices and changing them;
YOU ARE FLYing NOW! - Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining - Lay out your clothes for tomorrow - Put out
your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the
morning!

Over the last week we have introduced you to our reminders and the basis
of our routines. As you establish these habits it will become easy to add
another habit for you to practice.

Today I want you to find an old three ring binder and just put some paper
in it. Then at the top of one page write Morning Routine and on the top
of another page write Before Bed Routine all in pencil. This is a working
document; do not allow your perfectionism to interfere with the process.
Now you can write your simple routines on each page.


Day 9

Here is what we are already doing; Look in your Control Journal; leave
the sticky notes up to help remind you. It takes us 28 days to develop a
new habit. These are just BabySteps on our way to a new way of living.

Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face -
Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom - Reading 2
minutes of reminders - Recognizing the negative voices and changing them;
YOU ARE FLYing NOW! - Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining - Lay out your clothes for tomorrow - Put out
your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the
morning!

Today we are going to learn how to declutter our homes a few minutes at a
time with some fun tools that I know you have been wondering about from
the reminders you have been reading in our emails. Making it fun will get
the job done!


http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Declutter.asp

Add a 5 minute room rescue to your Morning Routine.


Day 10

Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face -
Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom - Reading 2
minutes of reminders - Recognizing the negative voices and changing them;
YOU ARE FLYing NOW! - Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes - 5 Minute
Room Rescue (pick any room in the house) set your timer and go!

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining - Lay out your clothes for tomorrow - Put out
your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the
morning!

We have already been using our timers for 2 minutes and now 5 minutes.
Today we are going to learn the power of just 15 minutes. You can do
anything for 15 minutes. This is all about getting started and giving
ourselves permission to stop when the timer goes off. You cannot restart
the timer either. This is not a race to finish in 15 minutes either! The
timer helps to keep us focused on what we are doing.

Now set your timer for 15 minutes and go gather up all the trash you can
find to throw away and put it in the garbage can outside. Then set your
timer for another 15 minutes and sit down and put your feet up and read a
favorite magazine till the timer goes off.


Day 11

Morning Routine

- Get up and get dressed to lace up shoes; fixing your hair and face -
Looking at your posted reminders in the kitchen and bathroom - Reading 2
minutes of reminders - Recognizing the negative voices and changing them;
YOU ARE FLYing NOW! - Put out your Hot Spots for 2 minutes - 5 Minute
Room Rescue (pick any room in the house) set your timer and go! -15
Minutes Decluttering each day. You can’t Organize Clutter!

Before Bed Routine

- Keep your sink shining - Lay out your clothes for tomorrow - Put out
your Hot Spot (I have to do this twice a day) It makes me smile in the
morning!

Today we are going to add another page to our Control Journals. We are
going to call this our Inspirational Page. On this page I want you to
spend 15 minutes writing down some of your favorite inspirational
phrases. Some of mine are; You can do anything for 15 minutes, Housework
done incorrectly still blesses your family and You can’t organize
clutter; you can only get rid of it. I know you have others that you
love. Use this page as a place to write them down when you see something
that touches your heart.


Day 12

Check your Morning Routine in your Control Journal

Check your Before Bed Routine in your Control Journal

Keep the sticky notes up to help remind you to look at your Control
Journal. Can you believe that you have been FLYing for 12 days? I am so
proud of you! BabySteps will get you there.

You have your basic routine started and these are what you do for now. Do
not try to do too much too fast; you will just crash and burn. Continue
to take BabySteps to build your Control Journals. Do not allow your
perfectionism to take over. We are building our routines and our Control
Journals one habit at a time.

Today I want you to delete from your inbox all the emails from FlyLady.
Now don’t cringe. They will all come back around and I write something
new every day.


Day 13

Check your Morning Routine in your Control Journal

Check your Before Bed Routine in your Control Journal

Today I want you to find one of Kelly’s Missions and go and do it. They
are fast and easy! This is going to introduce you to how we break our
home into zones so that we never have to spring clean again.


http://flylady.net/pages/FlightPlan_Missions.asp

Here is what we are doing so far. We are practicing our Morning
Routines, decluttering for 15 minutes a day and doing our Before Bed
Routines.


Day 14

Check your Morning Routine in your Control Journal

Check your Before Bed Routine in your Control Journal

There is tons of information on our website. I do not want you to get
confused. Today I want you to go read an essay that Kelly wrote. Most of
us are calendar challenged. Kelly has a way of making it so easy for us
to understand.


http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_UsingCalendar.asp


Day 15 Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

You are starting on our third week of FLYing. Each day you are going to
your Control Journal and using your sticky notes to remind you along with
the reminders that you are getting in our inbox. Our habits are coming
along nicely and we are seeing changes in our attitudes and our homes.

On our new week of FLYing you are going to add Making your bed to your
morning routine. If you will do this as soon as your feet hit the floor
you are less likely to forget it.


Day 16

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Today I want you to look in your inbox for an email from me. It can be a
Morning Musing, a testimonial or an essay. Just take a few minutes and
read over it. You never know what I am going to discuss.


Day 17

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Today I want you to think about what time you are going to bed each
night. Set a specific bed time and stick to it. You need your rest. Put
this on your Before Bed Routine.


Day 18

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Did you know that we have Eleven Commandments? You may want to print
these out or write them in your Control Journal.


http://flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_11commandments.asp


Day 19

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Here is another inspirational testimonial that is the first page of my
book, Sink Reflections. Your home can be this too. You are taking the
babysteps to get you there.


http://flylady.net/pages/TimeFLYs.asp#thing1


Day 20

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

One of the many reminders that we send out has to do with our laundry;
when you include laundry in your morning and evening routine this makes
getting up and getting dressed much easier. Laundry doesn’t take long to
do when we don’t procrastinate about one of the five steps: Sort, wash,
dry, fold and put away. It only takes a few short minutes. When you
include laundry in your routines everyone is blessed. Nothing says I love
you more than clean underwear!


Day 21

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Today I am going to show you something else on our website. Each
day(Monday-Friday) our WebDude Lee puts up an Ask FlyLady Question and I
answer it.


http://flylady.net/pages/askflylady1.asp


Day 22

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Have you been procrastinating about building your Control Journal? I know
that perfectionism can rear its ugly head and keep us stuck. If you just
can’t seem to get yours together; I have made one for you. It is in our
FLY Shop


http://flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_CJ.asp

All the babystep directions are on the website too. Just click on the
link underneath FlyLady’s feet.


http://flylady.net/pages/cjmain.asp


Day 23

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning and Evening

Today we are going to add another routine to our day. I like to call this
our get home from work routine or get home from school. Whatever you name
it; it is your afternoon routine.

Make a new page in your Control Journal for your Afternoon Routine. As
with any of your routines; you will have to adapt to fit your family.
Your Control Journal is your guide for babystepping your way through you
day.


Day 24

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning, Afternoon and Evening

One of the things that make our home always ready for company is the fact
that our main bathroom is clean. Each morning as part of my Morning
Routine I do something I call a Swish and a Swipe. This means I swish the
toilet with a toilet bowl brush and I wipe down the counter tops and sink
with a rag and put away all the things I have gotten out. This takes all
of two minutes to keep our bathroom ready for anyone.

Add Swish and Swipe to your Morning Routine


Day 25

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning, Afternoon and Evening

You have only been doing your routines for 25 days now. I am so proud of
you. Keep in mind that you are not ever going to be perfect and we don’t
expect you to be. In fact we don’t even like that “P” word. Right now you
have your routines written down in your Control Journal. It will help you
to practice them each day. These habits are not automatic yet; so you are
still going to have to use your Control Journal, sticky notes and our
reminders to help you establish your habits. Another tool you have is
your calendar and stickers. We love giving ourselves a sticker when we
are establishing a habit. I know that I have thrown a lot at you in the
last 25 days but don’t give up now. Every time you do your routine you
are one step closer to developing your habit and running on automatic
pilot. Today I want you to read how I started developing my routines one
habit at a time. It took me several months to do this and here I am
expecting you to get it in four weeks. Well here is the deal; I don’t
expect you to do this in one month. Be nice to yourself and don’t beat
yourself up. Your consistent babysteps will get you there.


http://flylady.net/pages/WhyFly_PersonalTest.asp

Now go give yourself a gold star for doing your Morning Routine.


Day 26

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning, Afternoon and Evening

It takes us a month to establish a habit. I set it up this way because I
knew that I would miss a day here and there and I didn’t want to throw
the baby out with the bath water. That was how I had always done it with
my perfectionism. If I missed a day I gave up; well I factored in this
part of our personalities into our FlyLady system. This is why we take a
whole month to establish one habit.

Today I want you to go look at the bottom of any email that I have sent
out. The first sentence is what I want you to look at and incorporate
into you FLYing!


Day 27

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning, Afternoon and Evening

Today I want you to think about what you are fixing for dinner before
6:00 pm rolls around. You can do it as part of your before bed routine
for tomorrow or as part of your morning routine for today. Write this in
your Control Journal.

WHAT’S FOR DINNER?


Day 28

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning, Afternoon and Evening

Many times when we can’t seem to get going it is because we are not
taking care of ourselves by eating right, drinking our water or getting
enough sleep. As part of your routines I want you to remind yourself to
eat good food, drink your water and get your rest.


Day 29

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning, Afternoon and Evening

We have worked very hard this past month. I hope that you have become
familiar with our email FLY Washing system and you are seeing some
progress in your home. It took me nine months of building my routines one
habit at a time to get our home running on automatic pilot. Please do not
beat yourself up over this. Anything you do today is better than it used
to be! Celebrate each accomplishment and enjoy the process. Before you
know it you will be having more time for the things that you love to do.

Right now I want you to look at the bottom of our homepage and find the
weekly Pamper Mission and read it. Then think about when you are going to
do it. You may have to put it on your calendar to really make it happen.


Day 30

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning, Afternoon and Evening

Look at your calendar for next month. Does anyone have a birthday? We
forget to send cards and purchase gifts. Put this on your errand list so
you can to buy cards and gifts on your errand day. To learn more about a
Basic Weekly Plan; You don’t have to start doing it yet. Just think about
it.


http://flylady.net/pages/FLYFaq.asp#weeklyplan




Day 31

Check Your Control Journal Every Morning, Afternoon and Evening

Don’t get bogged down by wanting to know everything about our system. As
your clutter goes away you will find that you will have time to do the
zone detailed cleaning, weekly home blessing hour and some of the fun
things we do in our email and on the website. You don’t have to see the
top of the staircase to take the first step or the 30th step; you just
need to keep FLYing!

I am so proud of you!