Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis

41 reviews

avisreadsandreads's review

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Oh gawd, I feel like I've needed this book my whole adult life! I definitely need my own copy -- it feels like something to read over and over again.

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hollydyer328's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

5.0

This is a special book. The tone is so gentle and compassionate towards many of us, especially moms with little ones, who get so overwhelmed in our lives that we let our homes turn into a tornado. KC Davis provides both a big-picture philosophy and pragmatic tips to clean and tidy up your home. I love the mantra of "Your home exists to serve you. You don't exist to serve your home." She emphasizes that the goal is to get our homes functional and not try to strive for an idealistic aesthetic that is driven out of shame. I wish there was more about the cleaning / disinfecting surfaces side of cleaning (ie. mopping the floors, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping, vacuuming, etc - which is where I struggle in cleaning!), but I will say her strategies around laundry, dishes, and prioritizing your tasks was pretty revolutionary. Highly recommend for anyone feeling overwhelmed in their lives and struggling to keep up with care tasks; I wish I had this book a year ago when I had a newborn.

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zydecovivo's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

I’m pretty sure I have heard about this book on TikTok, but seeing it available from my library made me finally put it on hold. I’d like to start by saying this is a useful book. It does what the title says. It gives advice, tips, and reassurance to people who are struggling with keeping up with home chores. The author is both a therapist and a fellow struggler of housekeeping, so she combines personal anecdotes with the outside-the-box therapist ways of thinking (also known as “OMG you’re right that is a stupid rule/custom/thought/box I’ve put myself into”). There is also a section on hair care in which the author asks a black therapist with coily hair for advice on caring for her hair type, which I thought was a nice touch.

I just finished the audiobook version. And while I was able to listen to the information and finish the book quickly, I don’t think the audiobook is helpful if you need this book as a reference. Making a highlight in an audiobook requires rewinding and stopping whatever else you’re working on (a similar hurdle is mentioned in the book with cleaning). And if you are intending to listen and put the author’s advice into practice right away, you will quickly get overwhelmed. It’s better to find a passage that resonates with you, read, plan, and execute. And I can’t see myself returning to listen to a passage again and again without text. I would recommend reading the digital or print versions if you are reading for knowledge and not just entertainment.

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lexa's review against another edition

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4.0

Lots of repetition of the fact that care tasks are morally neutral. Which is fine because it’s true. A few good tips. Overall, beneficial short read.

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booksoversecondbreakfast's review

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hopeful informative slow-paced

5.0

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tangleroot_eli's review

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informative inspiring slow-paced

A practical and compassionate guide to letting go of clean-home guilt and making your home functional instead.

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emilywemily6's review

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hopeful informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

This book is short and sweet, with ideas for reframing how we see “care tasks” (aka chores) as morally neutral and should be considered only when functioning for our lives. It was written with neurodivergence in mind, but as a neurotypical person (or am I?) I found this book so helpful to help me start to think differently about the state of my life and home when I am juggling a full time job, parenthood, being a life partner, and all my other obligations. I think my husband, who is neurodivergent, would benefit from this quick read also. I’m looking forward to talking about it with him once he reads it! I love short books and feel like anyone would benefit from this one.

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gwenswoons's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring relaxing fast-paced

5.0

I loved this book so much. It’s way outside my usual reading palette, and I’m so grateful Storygraph’s 2024 Genre Challenge helped nudge me to read it! A non-fiction book about psychology?!? Would never have found my way to this on my own, and I already feel the huge impact it will have in my life. I was struck again and again by the author’s ability to both do necessary reframing for us - like separating care tasks from moral successes/failings, as they’ve been societally framed for us - and to simultaneously reassure us, letting us know that changing these patterns in our brains will take time, and giving us inspiring achievable ideas to begin that work. I also deeply appreciated Davis’s acknowledgment of different needs and circumstances - so many conversations about self care and self help ignore forms of oppression and challenge, like systemic racism, financial inequity, neurodiversity, and mental health struggles: factors that can quite literally change and affect people’s abilities to do the same tasks others find easy and accessible. This book explores these things honestly and gently, and as someone who’s had serious struggles with anxiety and depression I felt seen and reflected in this book in a way I haven’t in many modern takes on related topics (whether in books or on social media, journalism, etc.). I’m short, I can’t recommend this book highly enough - truly helped me and I hope it might do the same for you. 💜

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modernhobbitvibes's review against another edition

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informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

I feel like it's important to keep in mind the "while drowning" part of the book's title. This really is designed for those who are in the thick of it and meant to help them decide what's most important and reframe unhealthy viewpoints into something that can actually get them through their shit. If that's not you, you'll probably not get much out of it. If that IS you, I think this book is really compassionate and has some good tips for getting "back to basics" with care tasks and getting you through whatever is going on.

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ronilynnreads's review

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.5

I rated this book high because it made me feel better about how and why my life/house “seems” like such a mess right now. This book was a very quick read (and I love the short-cut options) and it reminded me to show myself grace! I know that sounds cliche, but I was on this major guilt trip. This book gave me permission to do one thing at a time and not feel bad if I didn’t get to those other things on the same day or even the same week.

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