Ever get dressed to the nines and feel glamorous? Or wear a suit to a meeting and feel professional? Or don a new jogging suit and feel ready to exercise? Then you'll know why Flylady requires shoes. There are no jobs in this world short of lifeguard or lady of the night where being barefoot is de riguer (ok, maybe sensai at a karate school). The idea of putting on shoes is to tell your brain that it's time to work. I don't wear lace up shoes, but I wear sturdy, real shoes. Flylady suggests lace-ups because that guarantees that these are "real" shoes, not slippers, and it also makes the shoes harder to kick off. I don't tend to kick my shoes off, so I don't think I need the laces. But wearing shoes definitely does make a difference. By putting on shoes, we are showing respect for this job of ours -- keeping our houses.
Psychologists have long known that what we wear sends a message to our brains about what we are meant to be doing at the moment. When we're barefoot in our nighties, our brains think "bed" not "scrub." That's the theory, anyway, and it's been working for me for 2 years.
