How to Keep House While Drowning
KC Davis is a therapist who provides advice on caring for yourself and your home during challenging times. In this little book, she acknowledges that struggles, such as neurodivergence, trauma, health struggles (mental or physical), and other hardships can make daily care tasks of the home and self difficult. She emphasizes that care tasks are morally neutral and provides small tricks for completing them, such as starting with manageable amounts of time. Davis addresses specific chores that people may struggle with and offers tips for doing them–or for doing just enough–and gentle messaging to let go of the guilt.
I picked this up on a whim, but I appreciated the tips and parts that resonated with my own particular struggles–I think anyone can find something useful here. The book is an easy, fast read with short, unintimidating chapters, and Davis provides shortcuts for even faster reading. Highly recommended whether you consistently feel overwhelmed by all there is to do in life, or if you’d just like a few shortcuts (and permission to give yourself a break–from the chores and the shame).
This post may include affiliate links. That means if you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Please see Disclosures for more information.
Publisher’s Description
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.