FLYing Lesson: Building Your Own Control Journal

The Control Journal is your own personal manual for listing and keeping track of your routines. You can use a notebook, a binder, or even a scrapbook, it doesn’t matter — it just has to work for you. You may even want to divide it into two or more books: one that you leave at home, the other that you take with you when shopping, etc. FlyLady uses a notebook with plastic sheet protectors so she can use a dry-erase marker to check off the completed items. She also color codes each section and the zones so they are easy to find.

Make your journal special for you; think of it as a positive thing. FlyLady has a zippered pouch for family pictures. She also carries stamps, post-it notes, change, paper clips, money, her credit cards, drivers license, library cards, etc. in the pouch. On the back side of FlyLady’s journal, she has phone numbers for her husband in case of an emergency and a very special poem that her husband read to her.

You cannot build a control journal overnight. It takes a while, and even when you think it is done, you will find that you may change your routines once in a while to make them better and more efficient. Go slow — build a control journal that works for you! These are 15 steps to help you build your own control journal. Work on only one at a time; they don’t necessary need to be done in the order given. Work on the section that interests you today.

If the idea of creating a control journal is overwhelming to you, don’t worry! FlyLady has built one for FlyBabies that you can buy in the FlyShop!

Other Sections

When you have gone through these 15 steps, you may want to consider some of the following for your Control Journal:

Spiritual Focus

This is FlyLady’s spiritual focus schedule (she also has a special quote for each day):

Sunday – Love
Monday – Order
Tuesday – Happiness
Wednesday – Beauty
Thursday – Abundance
Friday – Peace
Saturday – Health

Weekly Schedule

Continue to do dailies everyday on top of weeklies and focus. This is FlyLady’s schedule for the week:

Sunday – Renew your spirit/Family day
Monday – Weekly jobs/Zone missions
Tuesday – Free Day
Wednesday – Zone missions
Thursday – Errands/grocery day
Friday – Paperwork/Misc.
Saturday – Family day

List of Virtues

You are a special and unique person. Write down what makes you unique. Ask people close to you about what makes you special. This is important. Whenever you feel down, overwhelmed, or like you just can’t do anything right, flip to this list and look over all the wonderful things about you.

Personal Section

This could be a “happiness file” for personal accomplishments, inspirations, compliments, goals and dreams, journal notations, etc. This could list places you want to go, books or music you love, books you want to read, books you want to write. Maybe you want to keep special quotes or articles or pictures that make you laugh. It’s up to you! FlyLady keeps a list of “wants” (stuff you really would like for a gift but you won’t buy for yourself). She told her husband that he had permission to look at that one!

Family and Friends

List ideas for gifts for these special people, their sizes, favorite colors, and what they collect. FlyLady has a section for each family member: in-laws, friends, and SHEs. She also lists correspondence letters or thank you notes that she needs to write. And the most important part: Love letters to her best friend, her dear husband. FlyLady writes them when she feels the need to tell him how much she loves him. Then she puts them on his pillow or in his daytimer.

You may also want to add sections for…

Other shopping lists – presents to buy, books, garden supplies, special items for the home, etc.
Special Projects lists – don’t forget to include your monthly goals!
Calendar
Professional, member, volunteer, etc. work – things you may be involved in

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