How to Keep House while Drowning by KC Davis

HOW TO KEEP HOUSE WHILE DROWNING by KC Davis is indeed “A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing.” Davis is a licensed professional therapist and she relies on that background as well as her own struggles with drug addiction and mental health issues to create an extremely useful and comforting text. Davis’ message is clear: “I’m going to help you find your way of keeping a functional home – whatever ‘functional’ means for you. Together, we are going to build a foundation of self-compassion and learn how to stop negative self-talk and shame.” Chapters are short and main points are bolded; early on, she explains the “5 Things Tidying Method” which encourages readers to focus first on trash then dishes, laundry, things that need to be in their place and things with no place. Chunking cleaning and straightening into manageable bits does indeed remove much of the debilitating stress often associated with this overwhelming task. Thinking of chores as [self-]care tasks is a shift worth pursuing and Davis’ readers agree, calling this book “life-changing” and “incredibly helpful.”