How to Clean House While Drowning vs Outer Order, Inner Calm

 

Goodreads:  How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis

Blurb:  How to Keep House While Drowning will introduce you to six life-changing principles that will revolutionize the way you approach home care—without endless to-do lists. Presented in 31 daily thoughts, this compassionate guide will help you begin to get free of the shame and anxiety you feel over home care.
Inside you will learn:
· How to shift your perspective of care tasks from moral to functional;
· How to stop negative self-talk and shame around care tasks;
· How to give yourself permission to rest, even when things aren’t finished;
· How to motivate yourself to care for your space.

My Thoughts:  Most of this didn't apply to me. I'm not overwhelmed and by pretty much all standards my house is very neat.  However, I really liked her tone and her general message.  Just because your house is clean doesn't mean you're a better, happier, more worthy person.  Make your space serve you and not the other way around. There's a calming positive tone to the whole book and it is a quick easy read.  I'd say there's no new or groundbreaking information but these days with constant social media feedback I think an entire book saying "be kind to yourself" and "give yourself a little grace" kind of does feel groundbreaking.  My Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

Goodreads:  Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize To Make Room For Happiness by Gretchen Rubin

Blurb:  Bestselling author of The Four Tendencies and The Happiness Project Gretchen Rubin illuminates one of her key realizations about happiness: For most of us, outer order contributes to inner calm. In a new book packed with more than one hundred concrete ideas, she helps us create the order and organization that can make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.
In the context of a happy life, a messy desk or crowded coat closet is a trivial problem–yet Gretchen Rubin has found that getting control of the stuff of life makes us feel more in control of our lives generally. By getting rid of things we don’t use, don’t need, or don’t love, as well as things that don’t work, don’t fit, or don’t suit, we free our mind (and our shelves) for what we truly value.

In this trim book filled with insights, strategies, and sometimes surprising tips, Gretchen tackles the key challenges of creating outer order, by explaining how to “Make Choices,” “Create Order,” “Know Yourself–and Others,” “Cultivate Helpful Habits,” and, of course, “Add Beauty.”

When we get our possessions under control, we feel both calmer and more energetic. With a sense of humor, and also a clear sense of what’s realistic for most people, Gretchen suggests dozens of manageable steps for creating a more serene, orderly environment–one that helps us to create the lives we yearn for.

My Thoughts:  I've read several books by Gretchen Rubin and like her kind of straightforward writing style.  While she's probably not for everyone, I find her take on life interesting and applicable for most people.  A lot of this reads like a checklist for ideas of tackling unmanageable spots in your home.  The advice is fairly simple and easy to follow with a heavy focus on do what works for you.  My Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

My Thoughts on Both Books:  I'm not sure it's possible for these books to be more different in tone.  Davis is kind and warm and Rubin is blunt and straightforward.  However, their message is very similar - do what works for you.  Do what makes your life better and improves your days.  It's not about perfection but about improving in ways that are meaningful to you.  They actually work really well as a pair.  Davis's book for starting out when you're so overwhelmed you don't know where to start and Rubin for a list of action items once you've gotten started.  It was interesting to read them fairly close together and I would recommend them both.