How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing
Who Would Like This Book:
This book is a breath of fresh air for anyone who’s ever felt overwhelmed by housework, especially those struggling with mental health, neurodivergence, or big life transitions. KC Davis offers a radically kind, non-judgmental approach that reframes chores as morally neutral “care tasks” - no more shame spirals over dirty laundry! It’s super accessible, with short chapters and practical tips designed to respect your bandwidth. If you love bite-sized advice, a gentle tone, and need permission to let go of perfectionism, this will feel like a hug in book form.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers might find the book too brief or wish it included more step-by-step, mechanical cleaning instructions. If you’re looking for a rigid, highly structured system or a deep dive into advanced organizing hacks, this won’t be your jam. And for those who prefer tough-love motivation over gentleness, KC Davis’s soft, compassionate tone might feel a little too soothing or repetitive.
About:
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis is a compassionate and practical guide that offers realistic advice for managing household tasks without judgment. The book provides validation and encouragement for readers struggling with keeping their homes clean and organized, emphasizing kindness, habit formation, and small steps towards improvement. Davis's writing style is described as loving, kind, and caring, making readers feel seen and understood as they navigate the challenges of housekeeping.
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From The Publisher:
An NPR Best Book of 2022
USA TODAY Bestseller
This revolutionary approach to cleaning and organizing helps free you from feeling ashamed or overwhelmed by a messy home.
If you're struggling to stay on top of your to-do list, you probably have a good reason: anxiety, fatigue, depression, ADHD, or lack of support. For therapist KC Davis, the birth of her second child triggered a stress-mess cycle. The more behind she felt, the less motivated she was to start. She didn't fold a single piece of laundry for seven months. One life-changing realization restored her sanity-and the functionality of her home: You don't work for your home; your home works for you.
In other words, messiness is not a moral failing. A new sense of calm washed over her as she let go of the shame-based messaging that interpreted a pile of dirty laundry as "I can never keep up" and a chaotic kitchen as "I'm a bad mother." Instead, she looked at unwashed clothes and thought, "I am alive," and at stacks of dishes and thought, "I cooked my family dinner three nights in a row."
Building on this foundation of self-compassion, KC devised the powerful practical approach that has exploded in popularity through her TikTok account, @domesticblisters. The secret is to simplify your to-do list and to find creative workarounds that accommodate your limited time and energy. In this book, you'll learn exactly how to customize your cleaning strategy and rebuild your relationship with your home, including:
-How to see chores as kindnesses to your future self, not as a reflection of your worth
-How to start by setting priorities
-How to stagger tasks so you won't procrastinate
-How to clean in quick bursts within your existing daily routine
-How to use creative shortcuts to transform a room from messy to functional
With KC's help, your home will feel like a sanctuary again. It will become a place to rest, even when things aren't finished. You will move with ease, and peace and calm will edge out guilt, self-criticism, and endless checklists. They have no place here.
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3 comment(s)
Great for those with mental and physical health issues.
This little book is more about how to think differently about keeping house, though it does also have some useful tricks for simplifying or eliminating tasks. I have found it immensely helpful in letting go of some very uncomfortable and unnecessary shoulds.
I think this is titled incorrectly. It is really more about figuring out how to FUNCTION well across multiple areas of life. As a clinical psychologist, I found her advice quite useful for myself, but also potentially for many of my clients.
What can you read after
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing?
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