The FlyLady: Why is my home messy?

Do you want to know why our homes get messy? This answer is going to change

your life.Many years ago when I was first getting organized, I decided

to have our big holiday celebration at our house. Having those words

come out of my mouth scared me to death. I had been developing my

habits and building my routines for several months. Even though the

clutter was leaving I was still afraid to let anyone into my home without notice. There was one habit that was missing.I decided to crisis-clean like I had always done to get ready for a

party or book group; except this time I did it two weeks before the

party. This would give me plenty of time to cook and decorate the

house. The only problem was we live in our house and it was not going

to stay clean. I would have to crisis-clean all over again the day

before our family arrived. How could I cook and clean at the same time?

That is when I ask a dear friend who is born organized how she keeps

her house clean all the time.She turned to me with a puzzled look as if to say \"why don't you know

this?\" and said very matter-of-factly, \"Marla you just have to pick up

after yourself!\" Well for me that was one of those light-bulb moments!

She continued telling me how she keeps her house clean. \"If you get it

out, then put it away when you finish with it!\" Could it really be that

simple?I went home that day and made a conscious effort to put things away

when I had finished with them. By this time my clutter was gone, I had

a place for everything and my hot spots were no longer an inferno. When

anything was out, I could tell it immediately.When we get sidetracked, we leave a path of items we have left out.Let