How to Keep House While Drowning

A gentle approach to cleaning and organising

by

Paperback, 160 pages

English language

Published May 2024 by Penguin Books.

ISBN:
978-1-5291-5941-7
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4 stars (3 reviews)

Simple tools to make home care easy when life is hard

When you are neurodivergent, have undiagnosed ADHD or are struggling with your mental or physical health, keeping on top of the laundry pile and tackling dishes in the sink can feel like climbing a mountain. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Licensed therapist KC Davis has been there. Having relearnt the basics of self-care after an adult diagnosis of ADHD, she is here to revolutionise the way you look after your home and your mind. This gentle guide to staying afloat when life is tough shares practical strategies to create a functional home, make your space work for you rather than against you, and treat yourself with more compassion and kindness.

KC's philosophy: good enough is perfect. With her help, your home will feel like a sanctuary again.

7 editions

reviewed How to Keep House While Drowning by K. C. Davis

Household tasks are morally neutral

4 stars

I've been struggling with household tasks and cleaning up my whole life. Of course I've been feeling very bad about it. No matter what I had tried before, I would fail over and over in getting up and keeping up. Reading this book gave me a new perspective on the whole thing. I have to read this book again though, and then go at it.

The chapters are short and there's a guide to skip chapters if you wish to go through it quicker.

If this is something you've been struggling with, I'd recommend you reading this. I can't say if it's going to change my life yet, as I have not started to follow anything from that book yet. But a change in perspective is a great first step no matter what.

reviewed How to Keep House While Drowning by K. C. Davis

How to Keep House While Drowning

4 stars

How to Keep House While Drowning felt like a distilled therapy session about cleaning. I saw this recommended on fedi somewhere, and felt like this was useful for me to read right now. It's less "here's my life hack productivity advice for folding shirts" and more "here's some better ways to think about and emotionally approach taking care of yourself and your space". (Honestly, this is probably the more valuable thing.)

A bunch of thoughts I enjoyed that stuck with me: * cleaning is morally neutral * your space exists to serve you (do you hang clothes on a chair? if that works for you, then that's awesome) * interrogating preconceived notions of what cleaning looks like * prioritizing health > comfort > happiness in care tasks (and cutting out perfectionism saying you have to do all of these things all of the time) * balance in care tasks between …

avatar for gabuwu@bookwyrm.social

rated it

5 stars