How to Be Okay When Nothing is Okay

Author: Jenny Lawson Title: How to Be Okay When Nothing is Okay Publisher: Penguin Life Date Published: 03/31/2026

Read Dates: 02/22/2026- 02/27/2026
Rating: 

 📖 I received a gifted e-book ARC. The following is my honest review✍🏻

How to Be Okay When Nothing is Okay is a nonfiction book in a self help format. It offers tips and tools (interspersed with humorous anecdotes, quotes, and artwork) for making progress towards your goals while managing the many challenges life can throw in your way (like mental or physical illness). It is broken into 12 sections, each filled with several short segments. It is a blend of humor and helpful information.

I enjoyed this, although I’ll admit I went into it expecting a memoir and had to adjust my expectations when I realized it was a self help book. I think I will like this more as a physical book (ebooks are awkward for me to navigate) and it’s designed so you can read it in bits and pieces, jumping forward or back to the section that will be helpful at the time.

Jenny Lawson is full of contradictions. She’s a celebrated author but battles self-doubt, paralysis, and anxiety. She’s an award-winning humorist but struggles with treatment-resistant depression. The question she’s most often asked by people is “How do you do it? How do you keep going even when it feels impossible? How do you keep creating?” This book is her answer.

In How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay, Jenny shares one hundred humorous, heartfelt, and genuine tools and tricks that she relies on to keep her going even when her brain isn’t working properly due to depression, anxiety, and ADHD. She also offers tips to stay passionate and focused on creative endeavors, especially when everything around you is saying to give up.

With chapters like “Wash Your Brain More Than You Wash Your Bra” (sleep, you beautiful human), “Work on Easy Mode” (asking for accommodations is okay!), “Celebrate Good Times, Come On!” (make it a habit to celebrate the good things), and many more, How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay is a balm and companion, reminding us all that we are not alone. It’s for anyone who struggles with self-doubt, guilt, motivation, and mental blocks and wants to rekindle their passion for creating. Funny, simple, empathetic, and inspirational, it will encourage you not to just survive but to find and curate joy in the face of difficult times.