Clean up this mess! Or don’t? Advice from an expert

In this episode of In It, hosts Gretchen Vierstra and Rachel Bozek welcome author and therapist KC Davis. KC is a therapist who hosts the podcast Struggle Care. Her new book Who Deserves Your Love will be out in May 2025. She is also the best-selling author of How to Keep House While Drowning.  

KC talks about being a “messy” person and reasons why we could all benefit from caring a little less about messiness. She offers tips for getting your home to “work for you.” And she helps us understand reasons to care less about the mess.

Related resources

• Messy room? How to help your child keep it neat
• Why kids with executive function challenges have trouble starting tasks
• Listen: ADHD and messiness (Jeannie’s story)
• My Home Is Messy, and I Don’t Feel Bad About It (KC in The New York Times)

Timestamps

(3:08) What makes us special can also be what makes us scattered

(4:41) The tendency to be messy

(5:52) Identifying solutions

(7:32) Executive function and home management

(10:18) The steps involved in a task

(11:20) Helpful tips

(14:28) Focusing on function

(16:37) How you talk about mess

For a transcript of this episode and more resources, visit the episode page on Understood.

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