The Lazy Genius Podcast - #120 - The Lazy Genius Plan for Fall Routine

Episode Date: August 26, 2019

Even though the fall/winter American holidays don’t technically start until Halloween, it does my brain – and likely yours – a lot of good to start thinking about time now. I want to create routines and view my time through the lens of what matters so that I can keep spending my time, even the time at the end of a busy day, in such a way that makes me feel more like myself. Here’s how you can do the same. Useful Links Grab your copy of The Holiday Docket at the early bird price of $22 from now until September 5. I shared a way to look at a season you might not like earlier this year in Grasping for Summer Routine. That may help you as we head into a new season with bigger expectations and more things to do. In Present Summer, Prepared Fall, I talk a lot about how to stay present in a current season while not careening head first into what’s on the horizon. If you’re on Instagram, I’d love for you to join me for an Instagram LIVE on Thursday around noon EST. Or if you like a little more community, join our Facebook group to swap ideas and stories with other Lazy Geniuses from around the world. 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

Hi everybody. 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. Today is episode 120, The Lazy Genius Plan for Fall Routine. I'm recording this a few days before you're listening, obviously, but on the day this episode comes out, just a couple days from where I'm sitting, school has started, for me at least. Today is our first day of school and I am thrilled. So are my kids. So no worries about that. In this episode, I'm going to recap my summer intentions for how we spend our time, what I learn from them, and then the three big things I'm going to do as I approach my time this fall. Hopefully you can use these steps to look at your time this fall through lazy genius eyes that help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm going to mention this later in the episode as a tool that's helping me think through my time this fall. But y'all, I'm so obsessed with the holiday docket. I made this thing.

It is a practical seven-step workbook. that you can buy at store.the lazy genius collective.com. And I'm using it myself this fall for my own time. The holiday docket is the lazy genius guide to celebrating well. And even though the fall and winter American holidays don't technically start really until like Halloween, it does in my brain, right? And likely yours too. A lot of, it does us a lot of good to start thinking about your time now. The way we begin the fall, how we structure our routine, how we intend to spend. our time, it kind of starts now. What we choose now will almost definitely set the stage for how we interact with time later when things start picking up speed and the holidays actually show up.

I will mention the holiday docket later in the episode and share how I'm using it to help me with my fall time. But I wanted to say its name and tell you where you can buy it at the start of the episode in case you get distracted by children or phone call or whatever and forget to finish. Early word pricing of $22 is available until September 5th. So you have a little over a week to grab it before it goes up in price to $39. In a few minutes, I will tell you how it's already made my life so much easier and happier. I love it so much. Okay, so let's get started with looking at fall routine and how we can approach our time by looking back first.

In episode 112, grasping for summer routine, I shared a way to look at a season you might not like. Name your frustrations and your loves. once you put a name or a label on the specific elements of a season that you love or really don't enjoy, you can make intentional decisions about what you want to be a genius about and actually spend time on those things. And then what you would be lazy about and let go of those things. Now in summer, I hate heat, I hate wanted children and the lack of routine. I love regular ordinary moments with my family and the fact that my husband is home for a few weeks since he works for the public school system. My biggest takeaway

was that living one day at a time despite not having routine. It isn't so bad. I have the tendency to make big sweeping plans about all kinds of things. I will build the entire machine and then jump on. But big machines, mine at least, they stall out really quickly. They break. I forget about all the features I put on them. And I end up going back to my small steps anyway. it's kind of like saying like I want to go camping this summer and then you buy like a tricked out RV and hire a private chef to cook for you because it feels overwhelming to figure out how to cook on a fire and then you get like a bunch of rock climbing gear rather than just like setting up a $20 tent in the backyard and having like a fun simple experience that's kind of how I typically

approach transitions into new seasons and stages of life like big machines all the things all the details all the planning but big machines don't work I learned that yet again this summer. Having loose plans for the week, or at least like kind of an overview of when I'm working, what we're probably going to eat, who has to get to camp or a play date or something, all that's super helpful. But like I can survive going one day at a time, making general daily intentions one day at a time. When it comes to the fall, things are busy for us and likely for you. So I'm taking that lesson into fall with me. One day at a time is good. it's okay. I'm not going to die, not knowing everything that's going to happen from now until

December 31st. Now, it definitely helps to have intention around things on the calendar that matter, which I'll get to in a second. But creating like massive routines that feel like steering an entire ship isn't necessary. In fact, those kinds of approaches to time usually create more work for you. You have to build the big machine, the big routine. And then there's like so much upkeep day day. It's really just like we're adding one more thing to our already busy to do list. I am excited to keep my mindset on the fact that I don't have to know everything to do anything, right? We talked about that in episode 115. Small steps, next right thing, one day at a time. Like, it's okay to make plans, but I don't need to be at the mercy of a big machine that I build

to stay on top of things. Maybe there are other ways. There are. Which leads me to my overall all big picture intention for my time and for routine in this upcoming season. Sometimes we jump so hard into fall routine that we immediately turn ourselves into robots. There's so much to do, so much to put in order, so many lines on the new planner. But I want to take the robot out of it. My goal this fall isn't to just create a bunch of routines for the sake of being optimized and efficient and still just crash at the end of the day. even if I'm on top of things, crashing isn't the goal. I want to create routines and view my time

through the lens of what matters so that I can keep spending my time, even the time at the end of a busy day in such a way that makes me feel more like myself. So if you have the tendency to go robotic when you get your structure back, consider creating routines that lead you in the direction of what matters, not necessarily in the direction of optimization just for the sake of getting more done. Now, how am I going to personally approach that this season? I'm so glad you asked. For me, the best way to stay intentional in my present day is to look back. I'm not naturally inclined to reflection and looking back, but the more I do it, the more I get out of it. I've been doing this a little already and we'll definitely continue to as school starts up, but I'm

I have three points of reflection, monthly, weekly, and daily. I know. I'm not, I'm not breaking any new ground with that. But the point is pretty simple. I want to look at the past month and ask one simple question, how's my energy? A great way for me to stay away from the big machine is to keep my reflections simple. And I want to reflect on my energy. How am I feeling? How's my body doing? how do I feel like I'm spending my actual emotional energy day in and day out? It's not just about being tired or not, but my general energy and being a person. So each month, I want to look back on my energy for that month. And then I will look at my actual calendar and what's coming up and then ask a similar

question. How do I want my energy to look this month? Now, some months, it's a time to like power through, you know, because there's a lot happening. I'm sort of in there right now because I have a book deadline, you guys. So it's like lots of time spent on work. And in that case, taking care of my stress is super important. The ride that steals the spotlight every time it hits the road, that's the Volkswagen TIG-1. Its sleek exterior makes a first impression you can't ignore.

Step inside to find available full leather seats and wood accents. Under the hood, the available 201 turbocharged horsepower engine gives it a fun to drive edge. The refined Tiguan, you deserve more style. Visit vw.ca to learn more. SUVW, German engineered for all. Amazon presents Jeff versus Taco Truck Salsa, whether it's Verde, Roja, or the orange one. For Jeff, trying any salsa is like playing Russian roulette. with a flame thrower.

Luckily, Jeff saved with Amazon and stocked up on antacids, ginger tea, and milk. Habaniero? More like habanier, yes. Save the everyday with Amazon. She knows. How? Did you blam?

No. The devil wears prodigoo. He's the movie event 20 years in the making. Honestly, can't with the secrets anymore, so I think we just should tell her. Will you two please spit it out already? This Friday, be the first to experience. and only in theaters.

In light of the recent scandal, I'm here to restore your credibility. Oh, because we're a team now? That's a nice story. The Devil Wares Prada, too, in Theat's Friday. 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 space can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Other months, though, they might come on the heels of a busy month and are a little bit more empty, maybe. And that's a month where I can set an intention to have like calmer energy and focus on longer stretches of rest because I can. Now, obviously, we can't like manage and manufacture one type of energy for an entire month. That's not what I mean. But reflecting on my life

month to month and looking at the energy, it's just really helpful to put a name on it. The real rubber meets the road, though, in the weekly and daily reflections. So I'm thinking about, I'm looking at my past month. I'm looking ahead at the month like, oh, yeah, this would be a really good, this would be a good idea. And then we kind of get deep into it. So every Sunday night, I, and it doesn't have to be Sunday for you, but that's, you know, a great place because it's the start of, you know, a new week. I look back. back on the week before, and I think through, again, how my energy was, how I'm feeling, what I need, what my family needs. You could go through any number of reflection questions, but I personally

love thinking about it in terms of energy, weekly as well. And that can translate to all areas of my life, like what we're eating, what we're doing, how much work I need to get done, what I need to let go of this week. Reflecting on the energy of the past week, it then lets me set an intention for the upcoming week. How can I continue? you feeling like myself. What parts of certain morning or evening or work routines have been beneficial and which ones are just getting in the way right now? Weekly reflection time, which for me, it only takes maybe 10 or 15 minutes is such a small way to have a huge impact. And then I reflect daily. Every morning as the most important part of my morning routine is I look to the upcoming day.

I pray. I might read scripture or listen to someone else talk about it. I look at the calendar. I nail down what we're eating for dinner, what errands have to run, what my most important goal is at work, all the regular stuff. But here's one thing I've been doing for the last couple of months that's been super effective for me. That might be for you as well. So my brain, it doesn't really shut off. I'm always thinking about something. And usually there's like a chorus of different things that get louder and louder, trying to outthink each other. For a while, I tried to just shut off my thinking completely. Like, is there a way to stop thinking? I thought the answer was meditation. And while I do love and practice meditation, I realize that that even is not about shutting down my thinking,

but more about showing myself that I don't have to be controlled by all that thinking. Those thoughts still happen, but they can kind of drift on by and I can be still anyway, right? But, specifically, one practice that's helped me is choosing only three things a day to think about. Now, this might sound super strange, but it also might be your saving grace if your brain works anything like mine. Because I'm always thinking about so many things, it's easy for me to think that to remedy it, I need to shut off my thinking. But really, what if I lean into the fact that I'm always thinking? My brain is always running. That's just how it goes for me. What instead, if I made a choice that made it more efficient, kind of. My thinking was more efficient. It's more productive.

It's not just noise. So every morning, I choose three things I can think about and the rest have to wait another day. Maybe that one thing will get its turn tomorrow or in a week, you know, like the things that I don't get to think about. Or maybe some of those things, they get space until like six months from now. But I'm actively choosing which things I think about. And it doesn't dismiss the other dozen things. It just gives them permission to not spend out of control right now. Their time will come. It's just not today. Now that might sound insane to you. But I've got to tell you that it's been life changing for me, truly. I feel calmer on the inside. My daily energy doesn't feel as hamster wheelish. I'm still thinking, but I'm thinking about fewer things.

and specific things that matter today, that give me life today. A specific example might be thinking about how my boys are going to settle into school these first few days. Now, I could spend a lot of time thinking about that and likely worrying, especially if I think about it weeks before they even get their teacher assignments. That's not a productive thing for me to think about in the middle of July. But today, today I can think about my boys at school. I can leave space to pray for them, stay present with them when they come home. I can be mindful of how today will be for them. And by only choosing a couple of other things that get my sort of backburner thinking attention,

I'm not overwhelmed by thoughts about a million things. I'm thinking about what matters today. And then tomorrow I'll choose new things. A way that has helped me bringing it back around is the holiday docket I mentioned earlier. I have the tendency to give at least a little bit of mental energy to the big sweeping idea of fall and winter holidays as a whole. And it gets me nowhere. I have this like under the surface tingle of like all that needs to get done. But it's August. So I can't really do anything about it yet. But it's just this general feeling of it starts out kind of like as excitement. But it quickly turns to dread as I think about like big holidays. Every day without any intention or specificity or sanity really. And that's why I love the holiday

docket and I'm totally using it myself. It gives me and you, if you want, a physical space, actual paper to process out all the things that can fall under big holiday thinking and then put them in the right context. You get to name what matters to you during the holidays. You get to break down some of those things so you can have actual tasks that make those holiday activities you love actually happen. You get guidance and figuring out the best time to start thinking about certain aspects of your season rather than just like low-key stressing about the entire thing for the next four months. The holiday docket has been a gatekeeper. It sort of holds all the important things, but only gives me what I need at the right time so that I get to be intentional about my holidays

rather than just overwhelmed by the gauntlet of everything at once. It's seriously a game changer and a huge part of how I'm handling my routine and my time this fall. If my brain sounds a little bit like yours. You can check out the link in the show notes to get the holiday docket. Right now it's $22 for a streamlined, very effective seven-step path to celebrating well this season, rather than being at the mercy of whatever comes next. I hope you get as much benefit out of it as I have. So this fall for me is all about reflection on a regular basis, remembering that I can survive one day at a time that I don't have to build a big machine in order for my season to work well. And then I can still think about what's coming, but think more intentionally.

All of these things together will help me crash less and live more. I'm so excited. So start small, my friends, and maybe you can start with a walk with the holiday docket, with just listening to this episode. You don't have to build it big as you move into the fall. your goal is not optimization. Just be a human. And the more you name what that means for you specifically, the more wholehearted a human you'll be. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Lazy Genius podcast.

I'll be live on Instagram at The Lazy Genius this Thursday at noon, which is a touch earlier this week, to answer any of your questions about this episode or the holiday docket specifically too if you have questions. I'll have my copy to show you some stuff if it helps. All right, my friends, until next time. Be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra, and I'll see you next time.

Have 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.