I was overwhelmed by the emails too, and I unsubscribed. I do check back to the site every now and then, but I find the 'system' complicated and hard to wrap my head around. I think if you're the kind of person who can just follow directions (via the emails) it can be transforming. Many people have been helped by Flylady.

I LOVE Flylady and still do - she has truly helped me shape some good habits. And I still learn from her.

But I too unsubscribed from the emails - maybe they need an email list for people who just want a weekly list of things to do!

never heard of it, but will definitely check it out now. my apartment can become a mess in an instant!

If the emails were more concise, I'd use it more often. Just, "clear off your nightstand" is sufficient. I don't need to read a story about it, or a pat on the head. It's too cutesy.

Ugh. I checked the site and just looking at it was irritating! And why on earth is she a fly? Ick.

They send out WAY too many emails after you sign up. Always trying to get you to buy one of their products. It was very annoying so I unsubscribed.

She's a fly because they use the initialism FLY for Finally Loving Yourself. True, it's not an image ordinarily associated with domestic cleanliness.

I find the cutesy part annoying but have found that the central message works for me. It is business and I understand the reason for the constant advertising. I wish it were more streamlined as well, but have made my peace with the format and ignore the parts that I don't want to deal with.

Like many others, I also unsubscribed due to the overload of e-mails, but I did like the motivational kick it gave me. The "clean sink" video actually made my eyes get a bit teary. I know what it can feel like to have just a sinkful of dirty dishes feel like the weight of the world is upon you. Some of it was a little bit condescending (dressing "to shoes") etc. We are grown-ups, after all... or are there really that many people who putter around in pj's all day? :-)

Yes, she is annoying. And Yes, she is way too cutesy. But her suggestions can be really helpful. And every habit that she has suggested has helped me in some way (though I don't always do them). Get the daily digest (all of her emails in one email once a day only in the morning) - of just make your own list of routines and follow those. I like getting the one email a day because it reminds me that keeping routines (for home and work) need to be something I work towards every day.

Love it....the e-mails are a bit much, but it takes two minutes a day to delete them all. I like getting the weekly e-mail listing the daily tasks. It has been very helpful for me.

I like FlyLady.

But Flylady treats me like she's a mom and I'm a child.

A filthy, dirty, little child.

When all I wanted to know was a better way to clean my oven.

So I told FlyLady to buzz off.

I have joined and quit FlyLady a few times. (She's also a fly fishing enthusiast, hence the fly imagery.)

I adopted several of her strategies that I always use, the main one being to set a timer.

I make a list of what I want to do and assign a certain number of minutes to each item on the list, then I set the timer and sweep or unload the dishwasher or fold a load of clothes. It keeps me on track and reminds me that cleaning doesn't take as long as I think it will while I'm dreading getting started.

Yep, couldn't stand all the emails and the maternalistic tone is sometimes too much. But I will always be grateful for her teaching me the habit of cleaning the kitchen sink and the countertops off before I go to bed at night. It makes all the difference when I walk in the kitchen the next morning.

There are good ideas on the site, but the tone is very annoying imo.

I agree the emails can be overwhelming. I get the emails in digest form. 1 email a day that I can skim over. I find that the daily tasks that come up are things you would often overlook, like dusting the top of the refrigerator or cleaning the cabinent fronts. Having that reminder is nice. I just ignore the cutesy stuff.

I agree with all of the above. My house was a chaotic mess (with no style, because what was the point?) in 2005, when I joined the email list. Fast forward 5 years, and my house is quite neat, with all the residents on board with the general cleaning program. And now there's room for it to be nice-looking, too.

I did unsub from the list long ago, but I still do most of the stuff the emails told me to do. It's great.

I also get the emails only daily, I would freak out if I got them all separately! I totally have the love/hate thing going, but for the most part the spirit behind the website is really helpful: spend a little time, just get it done, get into a routine. It's so obvious, but also something that you can forget about if you're the sidetracked kind of person.

I'm still subscribed after 5 or 6 years. I can't say that I follow her advice enough, but I'm convinced that she's right, both in her specific, step-by-step approach, and in her fight against perfectionism.

As for the tone, I've decided to ignore it because it's a free service. And she has addressed that issue head-on--she acknowledges that some people are annoyed by her tone, and/or by her poor writing/copyediting skills, and she says to just get over it and listen to the message (or unsubscribe). Otherwise you're being too perfectionistic.

As with many others, I unsub'd because of the emails. The frequency, the tone, the lack of concern about grammar and spelling. I know a lot of people will ding me on the last thing, but c'mon people. If you're running a business, put a little effort into spelling things properly. Plus I don't like to be talked to like a child.

I think the business model is valid and a lot of people benefit from a daily "reminder" and a schedule. But it could be more concise and less "fluffy" for those of us who actually have lives and don't have time to wade through the stories and cutesy suggestions and dozens of emails.

I couldn't read her anymore. Her tone annoyed me, but really- get dressed to clean? No.

I've found the Home Routines app on my ipod the perfect solution to all the annoying emails. It seems like it was designed with fly lady (as well as some other programs) in mind.

I had never heard of this before - seems like a good concept but I can't seem to get over the cluttered-ness of the website. Surely someone who can de-clutter their house can de-clutter their website.

However, I desperately need something like this right now. Any suggestions on similar website?

Never heard of it before, but since you posted it already, I checked it out.
As a neat and orderly person already, I found the clutter of this website jarring.

Never heard of her. But her description of CHAOS had me to a T. With AT to help me actually do the home renovation projects I've started (and give me confidence in my choices), and FLYLADY, maybe some day I'll seem like a normal person. I'll give her a try, I can always unsubscribe when the irritation gets too high.

My aunt recommended it to me a few weeks ago. I looked at the site and was kinda turned off. Poorly designed website, way too cutesy, asking me to do things that are kinda unnecessary.

Lots of people love it, though... so what do I know?

I think I'm going to stick with unclutterer.com. The fly lady website has way too much going on for my taste.

@naprysta, Check these:
http://browse.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/index.html
http://smallnotebook.org/

It's kind of funny that beneath all that frantic activity of the website and the wildly overdone emails lies a great simple system for organizing a household that relies on routine and eschews perfectionism. Her weekly zone cleaning approach works for me. When I am really working the system I will read--and perform--Kelly's Missions consistently. One reminder a day to do some task (wipe off your switchplates! Dust your baseboards!) meant nothing every got really disgusting and I was never overwhelmed--or embarrassed to have people over. It beat erratic exhausting marathon cleaning sessions and transformed the way I keep and feel about my house.

Just checked out the website. What a mess! Also, the terminology and tone is terrible. Just a step away from Maggot Gal. But I do think the ideas seem decent. Some consultant should definitely get in touch with these people.

i think she definitely has some good ideas, but the overall presentation of the site and the constant emailing are suuuuper annoying.

I appreciate Flylady. I am on the list and get the digests, the individual emails are a bit much. It did not start out as a business and for someone who lives in CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome), she can be a life saver. My house is better than before I started, though still needs improvement. Some of us are not BO (born organized) and neither were the people who gave us life lessons on how to take care of our homes. Some of the advice may seem patronizing, but if you really have a mess and have no idea how to get out from under it, she is a lifesaver. At least now I don't see myself auditioning for Hoarders!

I took a year off from working to move home and care for my mother before she died. It was a drastic change to go from just being responsible for myself to being responsible for another person - from being a carefree twentysomething to a weighed-down full-time caretaker. I was grieving and depressed and feeling very disorganized and not up to the task. But following Flylady did help me set a routine and feel some sort of accomplishment each day, and so I really appreciated it despite the sappy tone. However, after she passed away and I started working again, it became way too much and just clogged my inbox. I don't have the time to think about housework and my schedule is so crazy during the week, I just find the emails make me feel guilty. For that reason, I stopped using it but will probably find it helpful again someday if I am a stay-at-home mom.

The system she uses is actually based on a book by two sisters called "Sidetracked Home Executives" from back in the 80's. Their system is totally non-tech, using a card file as a basis, but is waaayyy simpler in its approach. I'm sure someone with minor tech skills could convert to computer based if 3x5 index cards were not for them. Not as cutesy, but still full of cheesy acronyms and personal testimonials from the sisters about their journey to a clean home, the book has the advantage of not being able to send you e-mails, having been edited well to eliminate grammar and spelling errors all while teaching those good habits. I highly reccommend it.

FLYLady was helpful to me once I determined how best to use her site for me ... as an encyclopedic resource (not as a daily coach/teacher). The emails created inbox clutter; so, I just perused her site to determine what tips/tools work for me.

The tools/routines seem so simplistic (I rolled my eyes & thought “oh please” as I read them); but, once I actually did them ... they made a big difference in my home & life. For instance:

~ Timer (15 minute intervals): great way to attack my most dreaded/difficult/time-consuming tasks (i.e., work 15 mins & then stop). You may be amazed at how much you get done in just 15 mins once you dig in (& end up kicking yourself for procrastinating).

~ Swish & Swipe routine: indispensable when our home was on the market (so much so that we’ve kept this routine long after the house sold)! It just means that you clean the counters & toilet daily b4 leaving the bathroom each morning instead of waiting to clean the whole bathroom once a week. Swipe = clean bathroom sinks & mirrors with all-purpose spray. Swish = clean toilet seat & bowl.

~ 27 Fling Boogie: toss (or put away) 27 items that don’t belong

~ Article: Eyes register clutter long before our minds are fully awake. So, the bedroom should be kept as a haven (pile/clutter free) to avoid waking up feeling behind!

Never heard of her until now. There is nothing about that site or her approach that seems appealing to me. She seems to have turned keeping house into a self-help adventure. NMS. Keeping a clean house does not have to be so complicated or all encompassing. Plus her website looks so early internet. No thanks.

It's good, basic advice -- especially the "clean sink" thin -- but I just read her bedtime routine. A nightly bubble bath before 8:30 p.m.? And her nightly pick up involves a water glass and a newspaper to put away? Clearly Fly Lady doesn't have children, or her children have already flown the coop.

I love the site. If you don't like all of the e-mails, you need to subscribe to the "e-mail digest" format instead. You'll get one big e-mail, and you can scroll right past anything not interesting.

I love the Flylady! I've been following her on and off for 5 years now. I've never been much of a housekeeper. She gave me ways to keep the "shoulds" at bay. The emails start to drive me crazy, so I turn them off. When I start to stray too far from my routines, I turn them back on to give me a jump start.

i adore flylady. love her. her crisis cleaning 101 podcast has saved my butt about a million times. i think her maternal ways are adorable.

I had never heard of her so just clicked on the website....good lordy, that's obnoxious. No thanks.

I think the book, Sink Reflections, is better than the website/emails. I'll second the recommendation of Home Routines for the iPod

There's no right or wrong about liking her; it's a question of whether her approach works for your personality type. Me, I like the low-pressure, no-guilt methodology.

Many of her points are obvious to a lot of people, but were not to me - e.g. 15 minutes of cleaning is still worth doing.

Other concepts I appreciate:
- putting out "hot spots" before they turn into "wildfires" (e.g. the mail dumping ground)
- designating sacred spaces (she doesn't call them that) that get cleaned religiously - for her it's the kitchen sink, for me it's the dining room table (aka the mail dumping ground)
- don't expect to overhaul your way of living overnight, that way lies failure. Pace yourself. Develop habits gradually, one at a time, and then build upon them.

I've sort of flunked out, but I still have residual habits that I dig (i.e. the sacred space concept, doing unappealing tasks in 15 minute increments, the daily 'swish and swipe' of bathroom fixtures) and for which I give Fly Lady all credit.

I get the daily digest but haven't actually read it in a year. I didn't mind reading the success stories and anecdotes, but the cross merchandizing of conventions and radio shows and products became too much to slog through. I say this as someone who actually bought her feather dusters. (For the record, I don't find them as effective for dusting as a damp rag, but the long one does reach cobwebs.)

her original website was a lot simpler, but as someone pointed out already, it's a business so it has to keep growing.

And she doesn't tell people to "get dressed to clean", she's talking to stay home moms and encouraging them (I was one) to not spend the day in pajamas or sweats. It just plain felt better to spend my day in real clothes, and her nudge helped me.

Her routines are simple and those of us not Born Organized need tools like that. Without her, I'd be hip deep in squalor long ago.

If you're Born Organized, please don't judge those of us who weren't. Her website makes us feel less alone and less like failures.

I keep re-signing up for this because I think again and again that I will be able to keep on top of choirs if I have a reminder. However the program has you flying solo for the first month with a months worth of prewritten instructions that I have to constantly look up. I sign up for this program for a hand holding... which sticks to admit but I can't be held accountable on my own for motivation. Also I can't help feeling like this program is more geared towards hoarders then it is for light house work. This only makes me feel like I don't need the program anyway. My sister-in-law swears by it but I just have never understood how it could be that helpful. I will say that my sink has never been cleaner!

Like most people, I find the cutsey stuff a touch irritating, but things are slowly sinking in. Having a clean kitchen and sink makes my morning 100% easier and better. Finding the nuggets of gold underneath the trimmings is hard but worth it.

I LOVE Flylady. I unsubscribed from everything except a weekly digest but I have two of her timers and have a tendency, as ridiculous as it sounds, to do things in 15 minute increments, per Flylady's suggestions. Between that and Karim Rashid's "Design Yourself," I've whipped my place into shape.

The website is clunky but has lots of good information. There is a good section of easy dinner recipes too.

never heard of it, but most homes i have seen are Very dirty and messy. I just dolittle cleanups (5 minutes maybe) as I go. House is always loving and welcoming me. I grew up around a very clean grandmother who never looked like she deliberately cleaned, so I feel lucky in fact. she never talked about cleaning.

She saved my life, I think. Her website is a junked up mess, but it used to be better.

As obvious as it sounds, some people (like me) really have never been taught how to keep their lives in order. I know how to clean....but I would organize books rather than deal with every dirty dish in the house. I called that "cleaning". It got me nowhere.

Getting showered and dressed every day seems so obvious, but when you're overwhelmed and/or depressed, it's much easier to crawl back into bed for a few days.

And it's hard to know where to begin when the whole house is a mess. So I "shined my sink". I had to pile the dirty dishes on the floor, but my sink was beautiful. And 15 minutes at a time, I did the dishes. It took three days, because I couldn't do it more than two or three times a day. But I did it.

And eventually all my laundry got done. "Where's Your Laundry", at first, meant that I should grab some dirty clothes and throw them into the bathroom. And soon enough I started washing piles of laundry.

My house is not spotless. Not by any stretch of the imagination. But now I know where to start, I know how to handle the most important things, and it's not so overwhelming.

And I always, always use a timer. Fifteen minutes. Sometimes ten.

Her website, though, is a huge barrier to her program, though. And she's got too many extra things going on, like the meal planning and body stuff.

I do like reading the "Testimonial" emails, where members describe their success stories.

And I submitted one of my own a few years ago. It wasn't about me, though. It was about someone I didn't even know.

I was a cashier in a grocery store, and there was this one lady who came in a few days a week. She was a mess. Her hair never washed, wrinkled sweat suits she probably slept in. She looked older than she probably was. A sad and distant look on her face.

A lot of people look like that. But she started looking different.....her hair was cut and combed. Her clothes looked better. She looked "cleaner". She was standing up straighter. She started smiling and having a bit of conversation with me. She started wearing makeup. She almost looked like a different person.

This is why I noticed her....I noticed the positive change.

One day after I completed her order and she walked away, I noticed she left her pen behind. The pen was a purple "FlyLady" pen.

I know this sounds all Chicken-Soupy, but it's absolutely true.

I used to think the tone of the emails was annoying too, until I listened to her online radio show. Then I realized that she's not trying to be condescending, or be your "mom", at all. They sound different when you read them with her voice and southern accent in your head, instead of your mom's voice! I still receive all the emails (filtered into a separate folder) and it is usually less than 10 per day now. I don't do all of the system but I do the parts that work for me. I think the best part of the system is the attitude. She teaches you that keeping your home is not a "chore" or work you have to do for a punishment, but a way of "blessing" your home and your family.

I sure love it! She literally changed my life. No, not just my house, she also changed me into a positive person that truly enjoys life.

I even have a blog about her. Please feel welcome to visit me there!
http://www.lifewithflylady.com/

I like the flylady system a lot, and I like her attitude generally, and those of the "flybaby" testimonials. But her writing style is so disorganized, in my perspective. I have a really hard time figuring out what the system is, in some respects, especially when I'm returning to it after I've fallen off the wagon of my personal version of flylady. I also can't subscribe to the email list, even though I like the attitude boost--instead I have a web-only subscription and I occasionally pop on to read it. People should also know that they have a flylady-directive-only email list, I think it's on yahoo.