It Ain't Gonna Lick Itself: Housekeeping In Spite Of It All
by Hanne Blank Boyd
Content Warning: This book makes use, occasionally casual and gratuitous, of profanity. I mean, the title is It Ain’t Gonna Lick Itself and it’s about housekeeping. What the hell kind of words did you think it was going to contain?
Does the word “housework” fill you with dread? Does looking at the state of the place where you live make you feel crappy or incompetent or ashamed? It doesn’t have to be that way. What’s more, making it better is nothing you can’t handle.
It Ain’t Gonna Lick Itself: Housekeeping In Spite Of It All shows you how to do battle with entropy, cope with the emotions that come up when you’re dealing with your house and all the stuff that’s in it, and handle your business like a champ. You’ll discover the importance of function and fit in your living space, get a better grip on your baselines, shake off the weight of Instagram expectations, and learn that the most important thing about your household isn’t what it looks like but that it makes your life work better.
Come grab a pew at the First Church of the Good Enough Job, take a deep breath or two, and get ready to clear the clutter and garbage out of your relationship to taking care of your space.
Introduction: It Ain’t Gonna Lick Itself
December 27, 2024
Entropy Takes its Cut
January 1, 2025
Basic Human Needs
January 10, 2025
Trust Your Instincts
January 17, 2025
The Rule of Other People’s Need
January 24, 2025
Handling Your Business
January 31, 2025
That Dog Won’t Hunt
February 7, 2025
Strategies for More Successful Hunting
February 14, 2025
Feel the Feelings, Do the Doings
February 21, 2025
Choose Shamelessness
February 28, 2025
Becoming Less Distractible
March 7, 2025
Competence is a Practice
March 14, 2025
How To Teach Yourself (You’re Right, It’s Not Obvious)
March 21, 2025
The Getting Shit Done Buddy System
March 28, 2025
The Perfect is the Enemy of the Done
April 4, 2025
6 Essential Principles: Knowing What You’re Doing
April 11, 2025
6 Essential Principles: What Do You Need To Finish?
April 18, 2025
6 Essential Principles: The House and the Bed
April 25, 2025
6 Essential Principles: Touch It Once
May 2, 2025
6 Essential Principles: You’re Not Done Until You’re Ready To Do It Again
May 9, 2025
6 Essential Principles: Repeat Yourself
May 16, 2025
What A Clean, Well-Maintained Living Space Looks Like
May 23, 2025
The Problem With Pretty
May 30, 2025
Function, Fit, and Feel
June 6, 2025
A Short List Of Shit That Really Isn’t The Same (No, Really) As Making Your House Cleaner And More Functional
June 13, 2025
Containers and How to Fill Them
June 20, 2025
Necessary = Valuable
June 27, 2025
Unfucking Your Misogynist, Racist, Classist Shit About Household Labor
July 4, 2025
Competence Looks Good On Everybody
July 11, 2025
Outsourcing the Labor (But Not the Responsibility)
July 18, 2025
How to Hire Someone to Help You
July 25, 2025
Shameless Outsourcing
August 1, 2025
Outcome over Method
August 8, 2025
Clean, Dry, Working, Accessible
August 15, 2025
Rules for Temporary Crap Zones
August 22, 2025
How to Get Rid of Shit
August 29, 2025
Special Topics in Storage
September 5, 2025
What to Do On Trash Night
September 12, 2025
When It Is All Just Too Damn Much
September 18, 2025
Yes, You Can
September 26, 2025
How To Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Living Space
October 3, 2025