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The Flylady phenomenon Sheri Bowers of Central Point is the local organizer of the national group, Flylady. Through a Web site and online discussion groups, Flylady offers participants daily tips and motivation to keep their homes free of clutter. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Mail Tribune Jim Craven Sunday Apr 4, 2004 at 2:00 AM Feb 16, 2011 at 9:48 AM BUFFY POLLOCK,for the Mail Tribune A national group of women has declared war on clutter, bringing housekeeping into the 21st century In some households, laundry piles and heaps of paper are part of the everyday shuffle. But for Central Point resident Sheri Bowers, they're a call to battle. Bowers is a member of a national group known as Flylady, founded in 1999 by a North Carolina woman named Marla Cilley, a.k.a. the Flylady, who declared war on clutter, she says on her Web site, when her husband could no longer find the kitchen sink. The group boasts more than 270,000 members nationwide ' 60 in Jackson and Josephine counties ' who use the Internet to offer each other encouragement and daily tips to recover from CHAOS, a degree of untidiness known as Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. While some might see the Flylady Web site () as an unlikely meeting ground between a Donna Reed approach to life and 21st century technology, Bowers said Flylady is a source of inspiration to many. I love Flylady, said Bowers, 37, of Central Point. I'm very thankful to have found her. My husband loves Flylady. When he can tell things aren't as crisp as they normally are, he asks me if Flylady has a broken wing, said Bowers with a laugh. — People need constant encouragement and pats on the back. For me, it gives me motivation. — It makes housework kind of fun. Bowers, who began flying a year and a half agoand today organizes the Southern Oregon group, said members run the gamut from working professionals and stay-at-home-moms who use the cleaning tips to people who face issues including anxiety, depression and serious problems caring for their homes and families. The group helped Medford resident Sheri Barnes tackle what she calls the family wreck room, formerly a home office. A year ago I wouldn't have even attempted to tackle this room, said Barnes. When I first got into it, my girlfriend was cleaning her bathroom and she said that the Flylady was making her do it, Barnes said. She said, this woman is just nuts. She's making me clean out my bathroom!' I got online and checked it out and I was hooked. ... She doesn't tell you how to clean your house. She motivates you to get up off what she calls your 'franny.' She helps you remember that your house didn't get dirty in a day, and it's not going to get clean overnight. Barnes said even her husband has gotten into the act. He'll pick something up and say, 'Am I using this?' and if, not, 'It's gone!' It sounds absolutely ridiculous, I know it does, but the Flylady has infiltrated my house and even my husband and he doesn't even realize it. As a basis for the Flylady system, Cilley uses the Sidetracked Home Executives approach to organization popularized by authors Pam Young and Peggy Jones in the 1970s. Her Web site offers a mountain of free advice on everything from clearing a home to clutter to cleaning specifics to packing for a vacation. Most days, participants get an e-mailed mission from Cilley, and many also are involved in online discussion groups. She advises those just starting out with the system to begin by thoroughly cleaning their kitchen sink. That, she says, should give them a feeling of accomplishment. If you will just start with building your framework of your simple routines, get dressed to shoes each morning and keep your sink shiny; then you will begin to feel a sense of accomplishment and some of your stress will go away! she tells Flybabies on her Web site. Cilley did not return calls seeking an interview for this story. With everything from feng shui to clutter counselors gaining popularity in recent years, experts, too, see a push to clear out the clutter. Reducing the stimuli in one's environment is a natural way to reduce stress, said Dr. Paul Murray, coordinator of the mental health counseling track at Southern Oregon University. I believe that everything you have, everything you own, requires a piece, some attention, some energy, some something, and the less stuff you've got, the less that all that is demanding of you, said Murray. People say woo-hoo, feng shui, but there's no woo-hoo about it, he added. It's not magic. If you're loaded down with stuff, you feel loaded down, period. I'm totally down with what these ladies are saying. Get rid of it, clear it out. So what if some of them are clutching their pearls with sincerity? Flylady's traditional approach doesn't sit well with everyone, however. From a sociological standpoint, the group seems to enforce outdated assumptions about housewives, said Echo Fields, associate professor of sociology at SOU. You notice that it's Fly lady, not Fly man, Fields said. Many, many women are working outside the home full-time, but parts of country are still telling them it's completely up to them to make sure they are de-cluttered and de-laundered. I think the Web site is a modern version of those 19th century manuals on how to have a proper home and fulfill the role of servants. While it's addresses women directly, the group offers a source of help for anyone who chooses to take on the role of keeping the house clean, said Bowers. A handful of men openly use the Flylady Web site, but even more are likely flying incognito, she said. I never feel like I have to do the laundry, but women do feel like their place is in the home, even if they work outside of the home, she said. My husband does a lot of housework. He's the one doing laundry and dishes. ... I just feel that it's my desire to take care of the home. Flylady is geared around housework, but I think it needs to be. She's a light at the end of the tunnel for a lot of people, and whether the men or the women take on the role, it really makes no difference. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Meeting on the fly People interested in the Flylady system can learn more at the Southern Oregon group's annual meeting in Central Point on Monday. The event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at 4901 Hamrick Road, near Mon Desir Restaurant. For more information or to make reservations, contact organizer Sheri Bowers, 665-2394, or e-mail Bowers at [email protected]. Flyladies walk the walk and talk the talk Become a devotee of the Flylady, and you'll do more than simply pick up the rooms in your home. Keeping in touch via e-mail and online discussion groups, FLYers and Flybabies, as members are known, use a lingo developed by founder Marla Cilley to keep devotees on track. CHAOS: In the Flylady's world, this is Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome, and if you're in CHAOS, it's a sign you need the Flylady's help. 15-Minute Declutter Zone: Cilley reminds members to spend 15 minutes a day decluttering a specific zone, or set of rooms, in the home. Zones change weekly. Members are encouraged to dress to their shoes for extra motivation and to take baby steps in working just a little each day to meet their goals. Control Journal: Despite the big name, it's just the book in which FLYers write down their routines and other cleaning information. Hot Spot: An area of the home which, left unattended, will gradually take over like a forest fire. Think of the counter by the door where you leave your keys, and mail, and ... 27 Fling Boogie: As quickly as possible, members grab a garbage bag and walk through the house collecting 27 items, which they toss. Then they do it again. The second 27 are given away. Purple Puddles: tears shed by Cilley over testimonials from women who have changed their lives using her housekeeping tips. This group has always been her gift to whoever joined. All Marla ever wanted to do was help people, Cilley's Web site biography says.