First of all, I wanted to say that: though I am writing this article, I have BY NO MEANS gotten these ideas down-pat. I have very bad days where my room is a complete mess and my “Hot Spots” are so cluttered you wouldn’t know there was actually a COUNTER UNDER THERE! Gasp. However, I’m working hard on it, and, as long as I have this knowledge, I feel I must pass it around.

I like FlyLady. Rather, I like to wear shoes all the time and I love the “Hot Spots” idea. Earlier in the year, we had a little sticky note stuck to a designated “Hot Spot” counter that said, “Don’t even think about it! Just PUT IT AWAY.” Every guest that came through our house thought it was hilarious, and we began to move the sticky note around when we got to where we wouldn’t put anything in front of the microwave.

Thankfully, it stuck, and now that certain counter is ALMOST always free of “clutter” or whatever you want to call it. It’s still stuff, and it still needs to NOT BE THERE.

Yesterday, I got the idea to write this article when I told myself, after much complaining and grumbling not-so-inwardly, “Quit complaining and DO something about it, Alex!”

(Don’t you get fed up with yourself sometimes? This was one of those moments with me.)

And so with that, I picked up the articles on the counter that needed to be removed, put them in their respective places, and viola! You wouldn’t BELIEVE how much better it felt in the kitchen!

Now, my poor grandmother has been trying to beat this into my hard head for years: “EVERY DAY IS A CLEANING DAY, ALEX! You just don’t GET IT, do you?!”

Actually, she’s nicer than that. She didn’t phrase it quite so, but it gets the point across to my readers. J

HOT SPOTS HELP. Really, I promise. I guarantee that if you put a sticky note on the surface of an area you want to keep clean – write yourself a message on it – you will notice a big difference. (Be careful about leaving those around when guests come.)

Oh, be SURE you get your kids into helping you with this. Make it a challenge! Growing up with my cousins, they were like brothers and sisters to me, and my aunt Rachel was like a second mom. She was so creative, and she figured out the best ways to help us pick up after ourselves. One of those ways was to put treats around the house in tight spots and little nooks and crannies. Then, if we cleaned that area without being asked, we would most likely get something. (She didn’t do it all the time, however, because – I see how smart this was now – she didn’t want us to work ONLY for rewards. When we become mothers and fathers, there won’t BE anyone to reward us for picking up the video off the floor or dusting the piano.) My grandmother used to also put pennies or something on the floor in a cranny where you wouldn’t usually sweep, and if it was still there when I was done sweeping, I didn’t do a good enough job.

And now I get to the last point in my article.

IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO LEFT IT THERE. It still needs to be put away.

Just think about all the mothers out there who learned that if you didn’t do it, you don’t put it away – and you should see the messy house they live in. Of course, if your kids are OLD enough, then they SHOULD, by all means, pick up behind themselves. They need to learn, too, that it doesn’t matter who left it there – that it still needs to be picked up.

It doesn’t take more than a few minutes a day to whip your house into tip-top shape. Especially if you do this EVERY DAY. It MUST be every day, because if you leave it for a week, it WILL take more than a few minutes. 

Thank you for reading this. PLEASE, go do something about your house. I hope this has helped you. 

Allie Billings