Good habits are as addictive as bad habits but much more rewarding. Marilyn’s Way To Organization For Home And Garden came up with a fun system with a fun name called ‘Dance Till You FLY! mw’.  It’s theme is different types of dance related with the core system being like any dancer has to practice basic dance steps each day to warm up.  Dance Till You FLY! mw has Nine Habits Each Day Every Day as a warm up. The system was influenced by FlyLady and training I have had along the way of my career in outside sales.  Dance Till You FLY! mw is a smaller system than Flylady’s as some members of Flylady can not do all the that she asks.  I am one of them.  I am not saying my system is better than hers by any means.  What I am saying is, if you have struggled with Flylady, don’t quit!  I didn’t.  I just came up with a way to FLY that works better for me because of my disability having fibromyalgia where I deal with pain on a daily basis.  Sure, there were many times I wanted to just give up but I didn’t.  I didn’t like the way I was living.

It was March 2011 when my life would change.  How much I didn’t know at the time.  Flylady has monthly habits to practice.  March is ‘Getting Dressed To Shoes’.  I decided I was going to take the monthly challenge upon myself.  It wasn’t the first time I had tried.  The first time was back in September when the habit was practicing the Before Bedtime Routine and part of it was laying out your clothes for the next day.  I only got to Day Nine.

Here comes March 2011.  The Habit to practice, ‘Getting Dressed To Shoes’.  I was going to do it ‘this’ time!  I got up to the ninth day and I was really struggling.  For me, my magic number seems to be nine.  On Day ten I took a picture of myself and published it on Facebook on the FlyLady facebook page.  I needed accountability for myself.  I got a good response.  There have been others that have taken on the challenge themselves.  So, on Day eleven I did it again.  My goal was to ‘Get Dressed To Shoes, Hair and Makeup’ for 31 consecutive days.  I got a tripod for my camera to make it easier.  As each day progressed, I would write something about the day and they turned out to be mini blogs with my picture.  Everyone in FlyLady Land was so excited I made it to Day thirty one!  I posted a picture of myself and wrote a mini blog for 436 consecutive days!  I still ‘Get Dressed To Shoes’ today.  Previously, I was one of those people that got into a rut and lived in my pajamas for five years.  I was really sick at the time and no one came over as they never knew if I was sleeping or not.  When I look back, I see it as a prison I created for myself.

For FlyLady, it was her shiny sink that turned her life around.  For me it was ‘Getting Dressed To Shoes’.  I still keep a shiny sink and have since December 25, 2010.

This leads me into the core system of ‘Dance Till You FLY! mw’.  After trial and error and consideration of myself and the majority of my members in Marilyn’s Way, I came up with ‘Nine Habits Each Day Every Day.’  They are all FlyLady influenced.  I am not trying to create a brand new system, I was really trying to find something for me that I could be consistent with.  Many of us that are reading this, consistency is one thing we tend to be weak in when it comes to taking care of our homes.  It isn’t very rewarding.  Many family members don’t say, “Great job Mom! You shined the sink!”  They are more concerned with ‘What’s For Dinner?’  If you don’t think of it early enough, it may end up being pancakes and the pancake mixing bowl not getting washed and you have plates full of sticky syrup on plates that don’t get washed either.  

What I come up with is making sure that before anything else like big projects we love to take on but then don’t get them finished. It leaves us not only with an unfinished project but dishes stacked in the sink in mysterious water and laundry backed up that the kids have to find something in the hamper that might not be quite as dirty so they have something to wear to school.  Here are the Nine Habits Each Day Every Day that I allot time to do these habits so my home will remain to function and I will never have to feel like I am starting at square one as so many of us do.  I am showing you a form I made that has the time it takes to do each habit.  There are three routines with the before bedroom routine being the most important.  It allows you to start fresh when the morning arrives.  Now, if you don’t rate ‘Getting Dressed To Shoes’ as important as a ‘Shiny Sink’, Nine Habits Each Day Every Day will not work for you.  Why? By ‘Getting Dressed To Shoes’ you work making your bed into the equation.  Then while you are in the bathroom it takes all but a few minutes to ‘Swish and Swipe’ your bathroom and while you are doing that you can be thinking of ‘What’s For Dinner?’ and when you leave the bathroom, go to your freezer and take out the meat you are going to use to make your meal.  If you are going to be making a salad or side dish, you can make it early afternoon before you make the main meal.  Always, always start out with a sink full of hot soapy water before cooking!  FlyLady taught me that.  A very good habit to have.  You don’t have to wait to do your load of laundry and declutter until the afternoon if you don’t want to.  What I have learned is taking breaks are just as important so you can pace yourself.  Make dinner early too.  This is one area I have had to work on and when I do what a difference it makes for me to wind down from the day, I get my clothes laid out and I look at my calendar and use my launch pad for the projects I will be doing the next day.  Then I have time just to relax and do something I enjoy before I go to bed.

Good habits ARE AS ADDICTIVE as bad habits BUT MUCH MORE REWARDING!  Practice ‘Nine Habits Each Day Every Day’ for three days and see if you can see a difference!
Dance Till You FLY! mw
Marilyn