I have been a big fan of the podcast The Lazy Genius for about 4 years now. I appreciate practical advice that helps me figure out the best way for me to do things and not just "this is how you must do things" advice. So when host Kendra Adachi was writing a book...I pre-ordered that and not just for the pre-order bonuses. I keep saying I don't buy many books before reading them but in the past year alone I've bought 7 so...maybe I need to stop saying that (although 3 of those were mainly because I was running out of books with the library closed and also wanting to support small businesses...it was just a bonus that I happened to get some new books out of the deal).
The tagline of The Lazy Genius podcast is "Be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't." which 100% sums up how I want to live my life. There are things I want to be a genius about, like being a good wife & mother, my reading (planning it AND actually doing it) and organizing. There are a lot of things I want to be lazy about, such as packing Luke's daily school lunch and keeping the house spotless. One of the things that sell me on Kendra's approach is how much she emphasizes how we ALL get to pick which things to be a genius about and which to be lazy about (OBVIOUSLY within reason. If you have kids, you have to feed them, make sure they have clothes, etc. You don't get to decide to be lazy about everything and be a garbage person to everyone. But there is a whole spectrum of choices to be made about which things to care the most about).
It made me realize how I've been Lazy Geniusing things before I
had a term for it. I care about my kids not getting sunburnt but I am
lazy about it because I make them wear swim shirts for swimming in the
sun (for nighttime swimming and indoor swimming (neither of which we
really do) they aren't necessary). Boom, less to sunscreen. I care
about our boys getting a variety of foods and working on their motor
skills when they were at a younger age but I also didn't want to spend a
ton of time spoon feeding them purees. Baby Led Weaning, they have
almost exclusively delivered all their own foods to their mouths from
the time they were ~5 months old. Lazy AND Genius.
The Lazy Genius Way outlines 13 principles on how to achieve this balance of being lazy and being a genius. 13 sounds like a lot but as I read through them and read her real life examples, I saw how they all made sense. And you pick and choose which ones to focus on when, which parts of your life need different principles applied. A few of my favorites:
Choose Once
I LOVE eliminating decisions, we've maybe all heard how adults make a CRAZY number of decisions in a day so every single one we can eliminate is helpful. A few things we've decided once and now no longer decide, we just repeat as needed.
- We own a pontoon with Matt's brother and sister-in-law. When we are at the lake we do pretty much nightly sunset cruises as well as rides during the day, around Sam's nap. Instead of having to decide multiple times a weekend what snacks we will take on the boat (because there are going to be snacks) we decided once. We take a tub of pretzel rods from Aldi and a bag of Strawberry Twizzlers. Satisfying the salty and sweet and both are long snacks so we can grab a couple of each and not constantly be asking the holder of snacks (me) for more. Also one juice pouch per child and usually an applesauce squeezie for Sam. Snacks decided and DONE.
- The day we come home from lake trips, unless we brought back leftovers from the lake, we have refried beans and tortilla chips for supper. The only things that need to be in the fridge are sour cream (which we don't freeze) and shredded cheese (which I do). No meat to be sitting the fridge while we are gone. And we all eat refried beans and they are super quick to mix up.
- I walk to school pick-up every day as long as the weather is above 50° and there is no imminent rain in the forecast. Or the super rare occasion we have an appointment immediately after school but that only happens maybe once a school year. Ok, and a couple times a year we'll also go to the lake straight from school pick-up and then we drive too. BUT, otherwise, I walk (or sometimes run) to school pick-up. No mental debating if I feel like it. I just do it.
- When friends/family have a not first (I've usually attended a baby shower for a 1st baby) baby and I want to give a gift, I send a case of diapers. And not the Target brand that we use for our kids but nicer diapers. Sometimes I will also take a meal or give burb cloths or something else but within a few days I send over a case of diapers and then can worry about a visit later (in non-COVID times) when the parents caught their breath a little. Diapers were one of the best gifts we got when we got Sam and so that's what I gift immediately.
You probably have made similar "choose once" but just naming these as your "choose once" choices does make a difference. I don't feel bored by my choices but now I am giving myself a little more brain space by making fewer choices. And that's a huge win.
Ask the Magic Question
The Magic Question is "what I can I do now to make this easier later". There are A LOT of things this can apply to and I love it when I can thank my past self for making things a little easier.
- I now pack Luke's lunch while he's doing his homework at the kitchen table, before we've had supper. I will NOT want to do it in the evening and even by the time we are eating my brain is a little shot. The earlier I get it done the more on top of things I feel and I LOVE feeling on top of things.
- In the evenings I lay out everything I'll need for the morning school run on our dining table. I used to put by the back door but since we walk out the front door in the morning, I want everything on our way out the door. This included Luke's mask, glasses case and backpack. I put my keys and sunglasses. Any library books we are returning on our way back home. My work bag if I am headed to work. Sam's church books if we are headed to Mass. Whatever we need to head out the door in the morning besides my phone (since it's usually pretty close to me) and Luke's lunch & water bottle (in the fridge overnight). It's valuable moments saved by not backtracking to the kitchen 5 times to grab something.
- If we aren't having leftovers (my favorite supper), I get out the needed pots and pans for making supper while going through the after school routine. I KNOW, getting out a pot can take 5 seconds but something about having it ready on the stove top just makes starting dinner a little bit easier. Also grabbing necessary boxes or cans from the basement and having everything ready in the kitchen for when it's time to start supper.
Put Everything in Its Place
This is about my favorite piece of organizing truth ever. A place for everything and everything in its place. I wrote a whole post about it two years ago and it is still 100% true. I even ask Matt before he makes some of his various large purchases (mostly woodworking tools) where it is going to go because if it's not going to fit in the garage we can't buy it. The same with a Lego set I thought about getting for Christmas. I couldn't figure out a place for it and guess what, I didn't ask for the Lego set. If you value order and sanity, I think this is VERY important. BUT it doesn't just apply to things, also schedules and time management and all that.
This book was incredibly readable, funny, and so helpful. I was reading it right as school was starting back up, a slightly stressful time, and I really think it helped our adjustment to that go a little bit smoother. It helped me see how it's ok to put a lot of thought into the things that matter (like helping Luke have a good adjustment back to the classroom during a global pandemic) and to let a lot of other little things slide (just buy all the kid masks at Target. Every mask we've bought has been from there and I am FINE with it).
Kendra helps me make more sense out of everything that is going on in my brain. Helps me figure out what matters. And helps me feel ok that what matters to me isn't going to be all the same things that matter to anyone else. And that's ok. We can't be a genius about everything and we can't be lazy about everything. But we can work on living our best life when we figure out WHAT we care about and how to be a genius about it. Then let go of the rest.
I have to figure out where things fall for me, what works for my family, and feel good about it all. I highly recommend this book AND her excellent podcast. It has really made a difference in my life.
Previous times I've extolled The Lazy Genius
Things I Like - May 2017
{5} Podcast Episodes June 2017
One Year with a Bullet Journal February 2019
The Who and When of Listening to Podcasts May 2019 (and MULTIPLE podcasts I listen to also give endorsements for this book)
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