The Lazy Genius Podcast - #115 - Present Summer, Prepared Fall

Episode Date: July 22, 2019

After a three week hiatus, we’re jumping into practical ways to start preparing for fall while still enjoying what’s left of summer. Have you ever noticed how we tend to wait to get the school supply list or for our last trip to end before we think about what’s coming around the corner? In today’s episode, I offer a few tips on how to stop waiting for someone else to say go to keep our transition from summer to fall from feeling so jarring. Resources You May Find Helpful Make sure you’re on The Lazy Genius Collective VIP list before next month’s Latest Lazy Letter. It goes out on the first Wednesday of every month. Get a jumpstart on purging your house with The Lazy Genius House Purge and Reset the House Without Burning It Down. If you’re bored (or overwhelmed!) with cooking this summer, take a look at my Summer Dinner Queue that’s helping me getting dinner on the table until fall arrives. Here’s a helpful, but not at all comprehensive, list of school supplies you might need to replenish before the first day of school (or work). Brush up on some past episodes about routine and new seasons with: The Lazy Genius Morning Routine, The Lazy Genius Evening Routine, and The Lazy Genius Welcomes Fall. Now that we’re back from break, join me over on Instagram on Friday around 12:15 p.m. when I’ll be LIVE talking about being present this summer while preparing for fall. Download a transcript of this episode! This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon presents Laura versus Fruitflies. Swarming your fruit and terrorizing your kitchen, these little freaks multiply at a rate that would make a rabbit say, yo. Chill. But Laura shopped on Amazon and saved on cleaning spray, countertop wipes, and fly traps. Hey, fruit flies, your baby boom ends here. Save the Everyday with Amazon. Hi everyone. You're listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi and I'm here to help you be a genius

about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. It is so good to be back. I have been off for three weeks after a scheduled bit of rest, which is something we really should all do in like the tiniest and biggest chunks that we can. It's so great. But I am back now and I'm so glad to be. we are going to get back into the swing of things with episode 115 present summer prepared fall we still have a decent bit of summer right there's it's like the end of july but for some of you school starts back in like only a couple of weeks and even if you are not directly connected to the start of school like because you have kids in school or you are a teacher or something like that the start of school it still seems to signal the end of summer for all of us even if we're not in school. So I still have another month until the first day of school, but summer, gosh, it is still gone by like really, really quickly, as it often does, I guess. So today I want us to think about ways

to stay present in the summer that we have left, right, but also be prepared for the fall so that we are not sacrificing future sanity for the sake of right now. This is one of those rare instances, I think where you can really kind of have it all. You can have both presents in the summer and still think ahead a little. They're not mutually exclusive. Before we get to that, though, let's do a quick bit of housekeeping and make sure that you are on the lazy genius VIP list. In some ways, it is what you think it is. It is a mailing list. It's you giving me permission to email you sometimes. No surprise. We are, however, working behind the scenes on the mechanics of our email system so that maybe not everybody gets every email. Some of you are super interested in the latest

lazy letter because you love book reviews, but maybe you don't care so much about emails having to do with meal planning or whatever. We are working on personalizing your experience as much as we can. So if you are at all interested in being a lazy genius in some area of your life, I highly encourage you to join that VIP list. There is a link in the info section of this episode on your podcast app. You can click that little I, or you can just go to the lazy genius collective.com slash join to sign up. I will be sending the next latest lazy letter in about two weeks, and there will be some bonkers good book reviews in there. It's not just book reviews in those, but I do share what I've been reading. I know I have said the last couple of months that I've read amazing books, and it was true then too,

but like I just been on a really good luck streak with books lately. So I'm really excited to share this titles with you this next month. And among, you know, other helpful things too. So join the lazy genius VIP list at the lazy genius collective.com slash join. Okay. Let's talk about having a present summer and a prepared fall. Here is the problem. When it comes to getting ready to go back to school or just getting back into the swing of fall,

we wait to know everything before we do anything. There is a lot to do. There's school supplies, transitioning, like pool stuff out of your house, transitioning fall clothes back into your house, finding a new routine, all the things. Maybe you are starting a new job or you're a teacher and you have to transition back to going to work. You can potentially give your energy to a dozen different things at any given time. But we often wait until we know everything before we do anything. it's like we're waiting for someone else to say go before we go. For me, that green light to go is the school supply list. Our kids find out their teachers at their elementary school open house, which is usually like a week before school starts, and then they have school supply lists at that

open house. For a while, I wouldn't really try and be prepared for fall until I got that school supply list, which is dumb, because there's so many other things that I could do mentally and like tangibly to be prepared way before one week before school starts. But it's like that list was my ticket to move. I was waiting for someone else to tell me what I needed to do rather than just doing what I already knew I needed. It was kind of dumb to use the school supply list as my green light, but I did because it was kind of the last thing I needed to prepare,

which meant then now everything could happen. But then everything tried to happen in that one week transition, and it feels like crazy town when we do that. You don't have to do everything at once, and you don't have to wait until someone else says go before you go. The nice thing about being the one to say go when you're preparing for something is that you get to choose the pace because you're saying go with plenty of time in front of you. Another tricky thing about preparing for fall is that we think that we can't stay present in the summer

if we're thinking ahead. We are cheating the present if we're thinking of the future. In some ways, sure, that's true. But also really, it's kind of not. It's actually kind of putting to rest some of our future concerns. Doing that helps us engage better right now. It's one thing to ignore everything that's coming for the sake of being present. But it's another to be intentional, like here and there, to kind of calm the crazy that is inevitably coming. Like, we can make little intentional choices throughout these next few weeks to help us be better prepared for the fall and still stay present in the summer. I think the presence that comes from a mental space that is

a little bit more clear. It's far more powerful than presence that just happens when we cover our ears and hum and hope that all the craziness goes away. So let's talk about how to do this, how to have a present summer and a prepared fall. So first, here's what I want you to do. Jot down a quick list, just a couple, it doesn't have to be like a dozen things. Jot down a quick list of things that you need to do or would like to do to feel prepared for fall. It's likely there are things that always need to happen or there are things that are like quietly or not so quietly maybe spinning in the background of your brain. Write those things down. What you'll do is take that list and then you're going to ask yourself our magic question. What can I do now to make that thing

easier later. Usually we use the magic question for dinner, but really it works everywhere. So make a quick list and then magic question your list. Since I knew that we would talk about this, obviously, I went ahead and made my list. So we will workshop this together for my own life. All right. So here's my list of things that I would like to do in order to feel prepared for fall. I've got four things. First thing, have cold weather clothes that fit my kids all ready to go. I do not like getting into late September, once it starts to turn, we have to wear pants, and realizing that my oldest doesn't have any pants. And then I'm at the mercy of whatever pants are at Target. Rather than having a few weeks beforehand to like check consignment stores or get in

pants that he actually likes and is going to wear. I get caught by this so often. So this particular issue, it like it needs some assistance. So that's the first thing. Second thing. I need to get school supplies because I feel stress under pressure, just in general. And I swear every single year, the stores are out of index cards on a ring clip. And my kids need them and the stores are always out because I wait too long. I wait too long and that I don't get what my kids need. So I don't want to do that this year because it makes me stressed out. Third thing, I'd like to purge like toys and stuff now because everything seems to have accumulated majorly over the summer.

and it's already kind of weighing on my soul a little bit. And what will likely happen is the fall will get underway, and then five minutes later, it'll be time to put up Christmas decorations. And I am still under the burden of ignored toys from the dollar store that we got, you know, to make it through the summer. So, yeah, a helpful way to be prepared for fall is to move out of, to move out all the summer stuff, like beach towels and pull noodles and, you know,

all that kind of stuff. but we sort of forget the things that we had for the summer that were contributing to sort of the sanity of summer that then contribute to the insanity of the fall. And then fall happens so fast and it's just overwhelming. So I want to kind of beat that overwhelm a little bit if I can. And then the fourth thing is getting my head around meal planning. If you listened to my episode a few weeks ago about what I'm cooking this summer, you will know that our meals this summer, they're so basic.

like almost to the point of absolute boredom. So many burgers and hot dogs and rice bowls, all of which I love in their own way, especially rice bowls. But I miss soups and like warm bowls of happy things. I cook not just different meals in the fall, but I use different techniques. You know,

like having a pot simmering on the stove all day. You don't want to do that in the summertime. So having a bit of a game plan for what I'm going to cook in the fall will help me a lot. So those are my four things. And now I can magic question them specifically. And you can do the same with your own list. Aw isn't something we need to travel for.

It's something waiting for us in everyday life, whether in a city street or a moment with a work of art. I'm Dr. Keltner, host of the Science of Happiness podcast. Join me for Cities of Aw, a special series on how our public spaces can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm not going to go into detail on all of those now

because a couple of them will be their own episodes in the future. Like next week, we're going to do an entire episode on transitioning kids' clothes from season to season. And then a few weeks after that, I will talk about what and how I am cooking in the fall. I've also already done some episodes on purging your stuff. So you can check those out in the show. show notes. Episodes like, let's see, number 89, reset the house without burning it down.

And then 78, the lazy genius house purge. Essentially, here's the deal. It's just super helpful to go slow, which is helpful now in the transition from summer to fall, because we've still got a little bit of time. You don't have to dedicate an entire day or two to purging the entire house, which kills that chill vibe of summer, right? Take an hour once a week to purge one area of your house, one basket, one drawer, one closet, and just pull out what you don't need anymore and then put it where it goes, if it's in the wrong place, or give it away. It's not about organizing and buying new containers. Just remove what you don't need one small space at a time over a longer stretch of time. That alone will help you stay present in the summer because you're not distracted and overwhelmed by an

entire house that needs, you know, decluttering and then you start yelling at people. Little bits, small, steps and you will stay connected to right now as you make later easier. All right, so words on clothes are next week, food a little after that. You can listen to the stuff on purging. And I am following my own advice by purging little areas here and there. I've already started doing that. So real quickly, we will talk about school supplies as an example. You might have to wait for your school supply list to be released. But that doesn't mean you have to be desperate when it arrives, right? What can you do now to make school shopping easier later? If you know that shopping for school stuff leaves you stressed out,

make it easier later by getting a handle on a few other things now. You know your kid needs a lunchbox and a backpack if they don't have one already. So get them now. You might go so far as getting some notebooks and pencils and, you know, kind of the basics along with tissues and hand sanitizer that you know every teacher is going to need and you want to contribute to the classroom. You can go ahead and get those things, get the things you know you need.

And then when the actual list comes in, you get the three or four, like specialty things you didn't anticipate. It is far less stressful to hit the second week of August and buy a pack of unlined index cards and be done rather than having to look for those index cards and pick a backpack and pick a lunchbox and find the right kind of eraser. Oh my gosh, like school starts tomorrow.

Everybody shut your face. Like it can get really, it can spin out really fast. even if it's just inside your own head. So get what you can now to make shopping easier later. You don't have to do everything. You don't have to know everything in order to do anything. You can get some of it now. Also, don't assume that the list is only available the way you've always known it to be.

And this is true of a lot of things in our lives. Just because it's always been the way we've done it, doesn't mean we have to keep doing it that way. You might find, like I did, you guys, that our school system posts a countywide school supply list by grade level on their website, on the school counties website. So I could actually get my kids school supplies like right now today, which I'm not getting them today, but I'm going to get them in the next week or two. That was a really easy fix that I didn't even know about until I was putting together this episode. Seriously, I got on our school website to look for last year's list because that was going to be my tip for you was to buy from last year's list now because a lot of schools will keep those

like posted online. Buy from last year's list if you kind of want to get a jump start. And and then you just return what you don't need. It's that same kind of thing of like getting enough of what you know so that you're not getting everything at once. And then I found that the school has this year's list on the site. And I did a very, very aggressive happy dance. So who knows? You might have your supply list posted somewhere and not even know it. Ask around. Whatever. Just remember that you can create margin for school supply shopping in several ways. You can just go ahead and do it now if you have the list. You can do some other stuff now, you know, like those other three things. things on my list to create some space and margin to do the school shopping later, or you can do some of the things that you know you need now, the lunchbox, the paper, all that, and get the rest later. This might not really even be a transition issue for you, like school supplies, but whether it is or not, asking yourself the magic question, what can I do now to make this thing easier or later and applying it to your specific situation? It really can work wonders. And here is the most

important thing now, I think. You can stay present in the summer. You can still turn on the sprinkler and eat popsicles and stay up late and all the summer things without ignoring what's right around the corner. Spending a few minutes of intentional thinking and planning for those few areas that kind of make or break your summer transition, it will help your future and actually I think will help you focus more right now. When our brains are less distracted and not running through, these like arbitrary nervous desperate lists in the background, we can more easily be where we are, which theoretically is one of our favorite things about summer. It's just being present, being right where we are. Moving from summer to fall is not all or nothing. Just start thinking.

Just start thinking about what you might need. That does not mean you're cheating your summer. Name the things that seem to cause you stress and think now about what you can do to make them easier later. if you struggle getting back into routine, let's say, listen to my episodes on morning and evening routines just to start thinking about it before you're forced into needing one or having one. If you need some help with your perspective on moving into a new season, I have an actual episode called The Lazy Genius Welcomes Fall. Just listening to a few episodes of this podcast could be the answer to your magic question. Make things easier later by being intentional in your thinking now. Start thinking in the background about the things that

matter. Background spinning is actually a good thing for your brain when you're thinking about things that matter to you. Your brain, it works behind the scenes. This is so bonkers to me, but it's so cool. Your brain, it works behind the scenes to solve the problems that you mull over often. So don't spin your wheels about stuff that doesn't matter. Name what matters now. Start thinking about it. Apply the magic question to specific areas, you know, that bring you a lot of stress, and then take small steps in that direction and and then your brain actually will kind of start to solve the problems in the background because it's going to run in the background anyway. So let it run in a direction that matters to you. And don't wait for someone else to say go. You don't have to be all

or nothing in transitioning from one season to the next. The transition is so much better when it's gradual. So small steps, they stick way better than big ones to. And I know that this is like the most annoying advice ever, but we really all need to keep breathing deep breaths, a reminder that you are not losing your mind as you start to feel like, oh my gosh, fall is coming. I haven't made enough memories and you start to panic. Like have a quick retreat by an open window, take a deep breath, or like stand by a blasting air conditioning event if you live in the South like I do and no windows or open ever. The madness of this time of year and any time of year really, it happens in the tiny moments. And the more that we can rescue those tiny moments with like deep breaths and little breath

prayers or mantras or whatever, the less frazzled we feel. So when our brains are in like survival mode and they experience stress, our brains don't really know how to simultaneously find solutions or remind us of true things. And breathing actually makes our brains think that we're okay so that we can sort of be rational and reasonable and alive. So just don't forget to breathe. and you can hate me for being annoying and saying that, but I don't mind because I think it's a good reminder. So I'll say it anyway. All right, so next week,

we are going to talk about transitioning our kids' clothes, and I promise it does not have to be quite as overwhelming as it often feels. I'm really, really excited about the episode. Also, I have some fun news that I kind of have to be vague about because all the details aren't quite in place yet, but I have been working for several months on a resource for you as you move into the later parts of fall,

specifically the holidays. I want you to have a tangible way to experience the holidays the way that you long to with space and intention. Most of the time we find ourselves thrown into the gauntlet of October through December and we can't catch our breath until January. I would like for us all to avoid that as much as possible this year. I have made something called the holiday docket and it will likely be available in the next few weeks. I'll definitely mention it on the podcast, but we will also have an early bird price that will share with that VIP list I mentioned at the top of the show. So there's another reason to jump in as a VIP. So you can get the first word on the holiday docket when it's ready.

I have been through the skeleton of this for my own personal like 2019 holiday season. You guys, this thing is so rad. I went through the steps and I was so excited about how the holidays were organized and like the experiences and all the things that I forgot it was June. and I couldn't start experiencing fall yet. Like I was viscerally disappointed when I realized it was still chute. Like my shoulder sunk and everything. You might have already used the other two resources that I've made in the past, the swap and the meal plan.

But you guys, this is my favorite thing I've ever made. I think it's really going to transform how you experience the last three months of the year. And I cannot wait to tell you more about it and show it to you and all the things. So just don't forget to join the VIP list if you want the, first word on getting your hands on the holiday docket. It's coming soon. Okay, that is all for today. Thanks for listening. It is so great to be back. Your encouragement while I was gone was the best. I loved getting your DMs and your emails about like how Mondays weren't the same without a new lazy genius podcast episode. And that for real was like such a gift to hear. So thank you to those of you

who took the time to share that with me. I look forward to seeing you guys next week when we talk about transitioning kids close. So until then, be a genius about the things that matter. matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra, and I'll see you next time. You ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that. More dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life, because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it. You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A plus life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves.

Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts.