![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I admit, I cheated on this step. I've already slapped paper in a 3-ring binder and started on the 'building your own control journal' steps. But I also have a HUGE problem with this 'baby step'. What is it, you ask? Well, let me tell you!
Throughout the process, FlyLady stresses abandoning perfectionism - except when it comes to the sink, of course - and this is no exception. You're not supposed to have a 'pretty' control journal, you're supposed to slap it together and go. Unless, of course, you can't handle staring at your chicken scratch every day, in which case you're more than welcome to buy hers...
Which basically boils down to 'yes, I know you won't be able to handle how crappy a thrown-together journal looks, and I'll make money off of is!'. And part of me understands that - it is a business. She's not helping people out of the kindness of her heart, she's making money.
But really, how long does it take to make something a little pretty? If you have even basic computer skills, you can toss together something pretty quickly, and I really don't see that as holding you up or back. And here she is telling us we have to make ourselves pretty every day, because it makes up feel better/more productive, why isn't the control journal (which you are supposed to consult often) any different? Oh right, she wants you to buy hers.
Even there, though, if you're willing to shell out the $12.95 + shipping (which doesn't include the binder, by the way) there's a problem. You see, her control journal comes partially filled out, if the sample page is any indication. And if you're a working person, who has to adapt the program, that means crossing out/ignoring/changing whatever. Or if you want to change up the zones (I know my house doesn't work the way she has the zones set up) there's another problem. Yes, it says you can customize it, but... how much? And how well, without it looking as crappy as my tossed-together, chick-scratch of a 'journal'?
Yes, your control journal is going to be a 'living document' until you get it figured out. That's what is so great about the computer. Make and print out a blank control journal. Fill it in, cross things out, make it work - THEN type in what you're left with, re-print, and have a nice, pretty document that won't make you cringe when you consult it.
I found the one I worked on way back when. I admit I spent some time adapting it to the little 4x6 index card binder I found (I don't like the idea of a full-sized binder, and this was way cheaper than the only half-size binder I could find). I probably won't print anything out until I get some things ironed out in my crappy scrawled journal, but I will, eventually, have something very pretty (I plan on covering the plastic binder with fabric!) that I enjoy looking at every day (um, if I stick with this).
As for the rest of the day, I stuck with most of it, including doing the dishes - which I resented the hell out of, but in the back of my mind I know I will appreciate it tomorrow.
Throughout the process, FlyLady stresses abandoning perfectionism - except when it comes to the sink, of course - and this is no exception. You're not supposed to have a 'pretty' control journal, you're supposed to slap it together and go. Unless, of course, you can't handle staring at your chicken scratch every day, in which case you're more than welcome to buy hers...
Which basically boils down to 'yes, I know you won't be able to handle how crappy a thrown-together journal looks, and I'll make money off of is!'. And part of me understands that - it is a business. She's not helping people out of the kindness of her heart, she's making money.
But really, how long does it take to make something a little pretty? If you have even basic computer skills, you can toss together something pretty quickly, and I really don't see that as holding you up or back. And here she is telling us we have to make ourselves pretty every day, because it makes up feel better/more productive, why isn't the control journal (which you are supposed to consult often) any different? Oh right, she wants you to buy hers.
Even there, though, if you're willing to shell out the $12.95 + shipping (which doesn't include the binder, by the way) there's a problem. You see, her control journal comes partially filled out, if the sample page is any indication. And if you're a working person, who has to adapt the program, that means crossing out/ignoring/changing whatever. Or if you want to change up the zones (I know my house doesn't work the way she has the zones set up) there's another problem. Yes, it says you can customize it, but... how much? And how well, without it looking as crappy as my tossed-together, chick-scratch of a 'journal'?
Yes, your control journal is going to be a 'living document' until you get it figured out. That's what is so great about the computer. Make and print out a blank control journal. Fill it in, cross things out, make it work - THEN type in what you're left with, re-print, and have a nice, pretty document that won't make you cringe when you consult it.
I found the one I worked on way back when. I admit I spent some time adapting it to the little 4x6 index card binder I found (I don't like the idea of a full-sized binder, and this was way cheaper than the only half-size binder I could find). I probably won't print anything out until I get some things ironed out in my crappy scrawled journal, but I will, eventually, have something very pretty (I plan on covering the plastic binder with fabric!) that I enjoy looking at every day (um, if I stick with this).
As for the rest of the day, I stuck with most of it, including doing the dishes - which I resented the hell out of, but in the back of my mind I know I will appreciate it tomorrow.