The Lazy Genius Podcast - #171 The Ten Things Saving My Life Right Now

Episode Date: August 17, 2020

I know that top ten lists can be a bit rote, but honestly, there’s something super life-giving for me personally to hear what other people are finding joy in. It gives me ideas of course, but more than that, it reminds me to pay attention to my own life and be even more intentional about nurturing the things in my day that give me a lot of joy. So I hope this list does that for you today! Stuff Mentioned In a turn of events that no one expected, least of all me, I’m a nail polish person. I ride or die for Olive & June nail polish. Having a summer meal formula is saving me this summer. I talk about that idea here and share my own here. I was influenced by Bri McKoy to get these joggers even though they cost around 80 dollars. For sweatpants. But my life is changed and here we are. My beloved Penny and Sparrow have a new album out. 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

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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. I'm so happy you're here. I'm guessing we're going to have some new listeners today since my book, The Lazy Genius Way, came out last week. Thank you to all of you for everything. I could fill this entire episode with words of gratitude. But that's not why you're here.

still i just want you to know how thankful i am for all of you for listening to this podcast and sharing about the book and buying it and for many of you waiting very patiently for it to arrive because covid is stupid um it was just a really really fun week so thank you for being a part of it okay so today's episode 171 the 10 things saving my life right now now i know that top 10 lists and even this topic specifically it can be a bit rote but honestly there is something super lifegiving for me personal to hear what other people are finding joy in. It gives me ideas, of course, but more than that, it just reminds me to pay attention to my own life and be even more intentional about nurturing those things in my day that give me a lot of joy. So I hope this list does that for you today.

So let's just jump on in. Okay. Number one, 17 minute naps. Okay, so I mentioned this on Instagram recently, and I had some questions. Um, I take 17 minute naps, like in the middle of the day. I have found that a 17 minute nap is the perfect amount of time for me to like fall asleep, but not sleep so long that I wake up groggy. It took a little bit of trial and error. I started at 13 minutes, but sometimes I woke up groggy. And then 20 minutes was too long. It was like a whole thing. So it did take a little bit of like, you know, finding the right number. but when my eyelids get heavy, usually around like in the one o'clock hour, I find a quietish spot. Sometimes I do it in the middle of the living room. Like I don't have to go away. I turn on my white noise app.

There are a lot of them, mine's I think actually just called white noise. And I set my phone timer for 17 minutes. Now, even if I don't fall asleep, it's nice to just be still and rest. But often I fall asleep. and then I wake up feeling ready to go. It's really pretty great. And it's how I always operate, assuming I'm home. Like if I'm feeling that way, if I'm feeling that, oh, I could really just fall asleep right now. My family knows. I'm going to be like, hey, guys, I'm going to go take a power nap. And then I just do it. Sometimes Annie, my four-year-old, she'll take one with me, which works out really great because it takes the edge off of her crankiness to kind of be still and maybe even fall asleep herself. but it doesn't ruin her for bedtime.

No. So anyway, I love, I love my 17-minute naps. Number two. Double-stuff Oreos. Okay, so fun fact, until a month or so ago, I had never had a double-stuff Oreo, which is shocking and awful to say out loud. A friend of mine who is actually a jewelry designer,

I will put Sabrina, I'll put a link to her shop, Letty and Row in the show notes, but she brought me a package of double stuff. and love them on the porch is like a good job on the book kind of treat. And I'm so angry at the world for not letting me in on the magic of these cookies sooner. My life is now marked by before double stuff and after double stuff. Oreos are like sort of a survival food in many ways for me. Maybe they are for you too. It's like they're engineered to just like to bring maximum satisfaction when you need them most like just a it's like a power cookie in the afternoon or whatever so they've brought me

much joy orios were always great but now that I have the double stuff are you kidding me it's just the best thing ever okay so that's number two number three thunderstorms so I'm not a fan of summer I mostly dislike it pretty aggressively actually but summer does bring thunderstorms and sitting on my front porch watching and like feeling a thunderstorm roll in is one of my favorite things in the entire world. Whenever a storm is coming, my family knows I'm going to go watch it. They know it is important to me and then it makes me happy. Sometimes they join me. Sometimes I'm on my own. But thunderstorms, they have this really strange ability to make me feel like myself. So why would I not take advantage of that every chance I get? So here's your permission

to do the same for yourself. If there's something that makes you feel really happy or settled or calm or whatever it is, try and experience it when it comes through. Don't feel guilty about taking time to rest in who you are. It's like really, really important, you know, especially in these here COVID times. So thunderstorms are like one of the only good things for me about summer, and I've loved every single one of them. Number four, Olive and June nail polish. Okay, so I won't go into this much here, but I broke down

why I love this brand and why it has turned me from a not a nail person at all into very much a nail person and my top 10 favorite shades. I posted all of it in an Instagram post. So if you go to my Instagram account, I am at The Lazy Genius. Just scroll to the photo of nail polish. There's only one because I'm not an L person, and so there's only one post. But basically, I just have really loved, like, the liturgy of it. It makes me feel, like when I look down on my hands, it makes me feel kind of put together and pretty and happy, but on the most low stakes level ever. And Olive and June itself, it's just a great product with really great shades.

I've just been very, very happy to discover it during quarantine. It is very much saving my life. and it's something to do with my kids because Annie loves to paint her nails, Ben loves to pay his nails. We just have, it's like a whole family thing. Number five, a summer meal formula. Okay, so I shared this in episode 164. So if you were interested in like hearing how this whole thing is broken down, you can go and listen to that. But it has been so helpful for me. A summer meal formula is basically just like a loose structure to plan your summer meals, kind of like almost all at once. And if you're new here, don't run away from me. Okay. Every other big

meal plan strategy that I have ever seen on the internet has been way too complicated and just kind of versions of the same thing. This is not. Okay. This is basically like guardrails for your decision making. And in this season of the pandemic and launching this book, having a summer meal formula has been like an incredible, incredible lifesaver for me. It's just taken all of the energy of what's for dinner off the table. 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 flamethrower.

Luckily, Jeff saved with Amazon and stocked up on antacids, ginger tea and milk. Habaniero, more like habanier, yes. Save the everyday with Amazon. 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 Dacher Keltener, 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. All right, number six.

Viori sweats. Okay, so the brand Viori and their sweatpants. I was influenced by Bree McCoy to get these joggers, even though they cost like $80 for sweatpants. I know. And one would think, why? Why would you do that? But here's the thing.

When you buy one or two pairs of joggers or sweatpants or, you know, soft pants every year, at least, because none that you have, like, they really make you feel like all that great to wear, not even just out of the house, like in the house too. You're going to buy one pair of joggers that work amazing and you love and that you feel great in wearing every single day. And then you're going to wear them every day. And that's what I've been doing. These joggers are the best ever. Brie has never steered me wrong. I have since gotten, like, rid of all other soft pants that would distract me and try to woo me like they know what they're doing.

And they do not. We have learned that they do not. So it has just been so nice every day because we're, you know, we're home. It's been so nice to know what to put on every day. And I'm going to be super comfortable. We're home. But even if I have to go, like, do a grocery pickup or something. it's fine. I don't feel like a slob, which it's okay if we look like slops or feel like slabs.

But if you don't want to feel like a slob, it's nice to not feel like a slob. But they're great even when it's hot. Like I've worn them in the summer. They're really cooling. It's not a big deal to wear them outside, even when it's hot. But I also got them early enough that I have worn them when it was cold and I stayed quite warm. Like they work in both pairs, both pairs of weathers. Is that a thing? They work in like all kinds of weather. They're just perfect. It's the perfect part of my pants. I love them so much. I will put a link in the show notes if you are interested in boogie joggers. Okay, but they have definitely been saving my life. Number seven, the new live album from Penny and Sparrow. If you have been around here for

any amount of time, I'm so sorry, you know they're my favorite band. But the point really here with this one is we all have some kind of emotional connection to some kind of music. right so paying attention to that and playing that music often is a big part in feeling like a person day after day so penny and sparrow they have a new live album and of course it's great musically you know i love them so much but it also has this really nice melancholy to it because it's live and you hear the crowd and you think about going to concerts and while for some people that is way too depressing to entertain. For me, it's actually been really hopeful. Like, we'll get back there one day and won't it be so great when we do? So I've really, really loved that album. I've been listening to it

on Spotify, but I ordered it on vinyl because I go hard and it is coming in a few weeks and I am so excited about that. All right, number eight. Whiskey, particularly bourbon and rye whiskey. So I have just developed a love affair with cocktails over this quarantine. And now I've become someone who drinks bourbon neat. You guys. My mastermind gave me a bottle of rabbit hole bourbon. If you're like a bourbon person, I'm not going to go into it because I'm not. I don't know enough about it. I just know that this is like a really good bourbon is magical, like all by itself, which is crazy for me to say because I have no tolerance. And I would use to get really overwhelmed like choosing a white wine from a restaurant menu. So I think what's been so great about discovering whiskey during these last

few months and enjoying it on a regular basis is that deep down, I think my inner self feels like a whiskey drinker. But I never thought I actually had it in me. And I was wrong. And I'm never going back. Like I just love the experience so much. Like what a beautiful world whiskey is. And if you pair whiskey, and a thunderstorm while listening to Penny and Sparrow? Like, I'm about as at peace with myself as a person can be. And I've done that multiple times this summer. And I hold on to those moments because they really, really matter in reminding me that, like, I'm okay.

And I still feel like myself. And life feels really lovely, you know, because it is. It is. There's a lot about it that is. So we hold it all in one place, right? Okay, number nine. The number nine thing that's saving my life is my comfort bird. So this is a weird one. And a little new in my life actually, but it already has had a huge impact. So my buddy, Emily P. Freeman, who is an author, that's hence the use of the P. She gave me a gift to celebrate my book launch.

And she called it a comfort bird, which apparently is a real thing. Some guy named Frank over a hundred years ago started carving these tiny, smooth wooden birds that fit right in your hand. And they're so comforting to like hold and rub. It's kind of like a binky for adults. Well, it has brought me like a tremendous amount of comfort, this comfort bird. I'm a fairly like a tactile person anyway. So having this little wooden bird, it's really saved my life, especially in really stressful moments or like whole days. I grab it. I remember to breathe. I remember to focus on what matters. And it changes things. It's like a, it's like a token, like from inception. It's like a token for shifting my perspective. And I love it so much. And then number 10, the most important sacred choice of them all is Cholula hot sauce.

So I have never been a hot sauce person. I don't really like heat. But Cholula has saved my life. It has changed my life. It has changed my dinners. I put it on almost everything. Tasting it makes me incredibly happy. Because we eat at our house, we eat a lot of the same things these days, and that's okay. That's really, really okay, you guys. Having Chalula, it almost adds like a freshness to the meals that I'm not used to, you know? Like these meals, I'm used to the meals, but it's like it adds like a difference by putting the Chalula on it. because I've never eaten most of the meals that we have with Jalula, but now that I've taken on this new life of being like a hot sauce person,

I love it. And it's like all the meals are different. It's so great. So those are the 10 things that are saving my life right now. Here is the thing about this. This list is silly and simple. I get it. It's also very accurate and deeply true of me.

These things have been saving my life. If we search for grand things to save our lives, we'll just keep looking around, missing the tiny things that are right in front of us. It sounds very cliche, but it's still true. Noticing the simple things makes us continue to notice and be thankful for them. Then we are giving more energy to that, right, to that simple enjoyment, than to spinning out over stuff that doesn't matter or that we cannot control. So maybe make your own list or name just one or two things.

The next time you do a porch sit with a friend, ask her what would be on her list. It has a lot of power if you just give it the space. And that's it for today. So obviously the lazy genius way is out in the world. We've had some delivery issues during release week. So sorry about that. But books are being shipped as quickly as possible. so I'm just so thankful for your patience if you've had to wait. And I hope that it's worth it. I really think it will be. I can't wait to hear how your life is impacted, even in the tiniest ways, with these lazy genius principles from the lazy genius way. So thank you for reading it and ordering it. Thank you for listening today. And 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 week.

you are 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.