The Lazy Genius Podcast - #303 - The 10 Most Helpful Episodes From the Last Two Years

Episode Date: February 27, 2023

I get asked often where someone should start with the podcast since there are over 300 episodes now, and I always point them to that episode 200. But we have made some really great episodes in the last 100 episodes, so this is part two of that.   Helpful Companion Links Episode #200: The Lazy Genius Starter Kit Episode #238 - How to Get Stuff Done When You Don’t Feel Like It Episode #257 - The Lazy Genius Guide to Work Life Balance Episode #279 - How to Fix Dinner When You’re Never Home Episode #209 - How to Keep Your Surfaces Clear Episode #246 - 5 Essential Mindsets for Time Management Episode #259 - 5 Steps to Lazy Genius Anything Episode #235 - When You Disagree on What Matters Episode #230 - How to Feel Like a Person with Aundi Kolber Episode #280 - How to Find Your Personal Style Episode #258 - The 7 Kinds of Rest and How to Know Which One You Need Sign up for the Latest Lazy Listens email. Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! 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 there, 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 302, the 10 most helpful episodes from the last two years. We did a starter kit a couple of years ago at episode 200, the 20 episodes that can change your life right now. And those episodes still stand very strong. If you'd like to listen to them, there is a playlist for you of those, just like

there will be for this episode. That way you can just listen straight through if you want. Now, I get asked often where someone should start with the podcast since there are over 300 episodes now. And I always point them to that episode 200. But we have made some really great episodes in the last 100. So this is kind of part two of that. If you're new here or haven't been listening long or you just need a reminder of what exists that could help you right now, this episode will be so helpful for you. I'm going to share the 10 most helpful episodes with a little description.

for you, and then you can decide to listen to whatever you want. Now, these next couple of episodes I'm going to share, they won't be in this most helpful episode list because they are helpful, but usually in very specific seasons. But the most downloaded episode of the last 100 was just a few weeks ago, episode 288, How to Make the Rest of 2022 Easier. And not far behind that was episode 229, how to magic question the rest of 2021. So basically, y'all really need some help planning your lives the last couple months of the year, which I get. I mean, y'all, the fact that the most downloaded episode of all time on the show was an episode that came out three months ago is saying something. A lot of the higher downloaded episodes, they've been around for months, if not years,

and people listen back to them. But that episode, the droves were like, give it to me. 2022 is destroying my soul. So those types of seasonal time management episodes are the most popular for sure and honestly one of my favorite kinds of episodes to do. Another favorite type of episode for me and for you are the What's Saving My Life episodes. Those also have very high downloads, but those aren't singularly hopeful in the vein of this particular episode list, right? They're helpful when you listen, but each episode itself isn't helpful in an evergreen way, which is why they're not on today's list, if that makes sense. So we will always focus on time management episodes and what's saving my life episodes, not going more than a quarter before talking about them again, because those are just absolute

favorites. But today is not a list of favorites necessarily, although all of these episodes all have a lot of downloads. Today's list is the 10 most helpful episodes. They will give you a huge bang for your buck as you listen, much like the list from episode 200. These 30 episodes altogether, the 20 from the episode 200 and the 10 from today, are like your lazy genius toolkit forever and ever, no matter who you are. So let's jump into the list. The first episode is episode 238. How to get stuff done when you don't feel like it.

This feels like an energy that exists most of the time, but I for sure feel it right now. The middle of boring winter has big, I don't want to energy. but we still have stuff to do. There are a series of questions to quickly ask yourself in that episode when you have to get something done but don't feel like it. And they are genuinely helpful. It's one of those episodes to commit to memory because you will always have stuff you don't want to do. The second episode is 257, the Lazy Genius Guide to Work Life Balance. Spoiler, there is no such thing. But what we learned in this episode that has come through and several others after is that we're trying to make our situation at work and home a little bit easier every day, like just a touch. There's not a big

fix-it formula that helps you achieve perfect work-life balance. Too often, we expect the world of every single day. We think that every day should be measured against our best day ever, or that if things are not well-oiled and running smoothly, and we don't feel stressed or overwhelmed or behind, that we have, like, unlocked balance that day. I think real balance comes in how we respond to our lives, not in how we manage them. We can try our best to plan and manage and set things right, but there are so many things outside of our control that can change what we planned. You know, a kid has to poop right when you're leaving the house. A meeting goes long and takes away the time that you need to finish a project that is due for work. A phone call takes time

from what you're doing, but also extra time after you hang up because of the emotional recovery that's needed. You spill your coffee. The toilet overflows. A button breaks on your pants. A coworker is out sick and you're picking up the slack. There's an accident on the way to work or to your appointment. You're barely fitting in a doctor's appointment or a haircut and that person is running behind. You know, you guys, you cannot anticipate everything or have a plan that is watertight. You just can't. So the thing to learn how to do is to pivot inside of those plans and to focus on simply making today just a touch easier than yesterday. Someway, somehow, with one small thing. We want the solution to work life balance to be one big sweeping answer that we lock in and then ride out. But that's just not

how life works. You can for sure create a larger solution for something, but you must, must, must maintain and nurture the mindset that you can pivot if the solution fails you for whatever reason. Keep the perspective and you'll more easily find the balance. We'll be very much. We'll be right back. 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?

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your podcasts. Okay, the next episode that is super helpful is to 79, how to fix dinner when you're never home. This is such a thing for so many of you. If you work outside of the home or if you have kids who are in activities and have to get picked up right at dinner time or any number of things that interfere with your timeline for getting dinner ready, I think this episode will help. Because dinner in all meals really are the one task that sticks around no matter what, you know, you can put off doing laundry or cleaning the bathrooms or paying the bills or returning that swimsuit to Target because you, you know, you got a little shopping card happy last weekend, but you can't put off food, you know, not for long. Food and

eating, they do not leave. They are always right there, just a few hours away at most. That's why I wrote an entire book on how to exist in your kitchen and deal with the constancy of food. If you haven't read it. It's called The Lazy Jeannie's Kitchen, and I still get messages from people saying they thought it was one thing or they thought it didn't apply to them because they are mostly fine in their kitchens, but that it made a huge difference. Plus, she's just really pretty. She's such a pretty book. So basically, I care deeply about your lives in the kitchen and all the questions around all the food. I wrote a book about it. That's how much. So because dinner is a constant thing and a particular challenge when it feels like you're never home, this episode looks at the particular.

and put your decision-making in the right order for a busy life. You don't start with recipes, and frankly, you don't even start with what matters, which is kind of a weird anomaly around here. It is a super helpful episode to get you thinking more efficiently about making dinner when you're never home. Next up is episode 209. How to Keep Your Surfaces Clear. We want clean, tidy houses, at least to a point, right? Now, we all have different definitions of what clean means, and we all have different motivation or interest or resources in making that happen. But I don't think there are too many people who prefer a messy house as the main choice. Now maybe, and there's also nothing wrong without at all. But assuming you enjoy as a baseline, like a tidy-ish house, the surfaces in your

house are the key. Keeping them clear makes your home feel tidier and cleaner than the reality might say. So this episode has 10 rules or principles for keeping your surfaces clear. Things like mark your borders. And if you can't clear, stack. And some things have to stay out. So then what? It's so helpful because it's so practical and real to life while still keep giving you like loose tidiness that you you, that you likely enjoy in the house. Next is episode 246, five essential mindsets for time management. Time management is my favorite thing to talk about, truly.

Like helping you figure out how to plan your time, spend your time, and then manage your expectations around that time is just the sparkliest topic ever. I love it so much because I think that lazy genius time management, it is not something I come across in most time management productivity spaces. there are almost always perspectives around time management that I don't agree with or that feel

incomplete or too rigid or too loose or to something. That's why I believe so much in these essential mindsets. They help you think about your time in a way that allows you to use the hacks and the tips from other time management experts in the right context for you. Okay. My favorite mindset of the five, I actually already mentioned casually a couple episodes ago, do not judge every day against your best day. Do not judge every day against your best day. And even then, what does a best day look like anyway? I think we should adjust our measurement of best and also release the pressure to have every day meet the arbitrary best of getting a bunch done.

and checking off our boxes and all the things that feel more about the management of our lives than the enjoyment of it. So that's one of five of the essential time management mindsets. And I just think they're game changers. Next up is an essential episode that is so helpful for literally anything. And it is episode 259, five steps, too lazy genius, anything. This is the episode that explains in detail the five steps to Lazy Genius literally anything. I created the steps for my book, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, but these five steps are the order

for just about any problem anywhere. Now, certain problems will require one or two of the five steps way more than the others, because different problems need all kinds of differences in their solutions. But the steps are in the right order, no matter how robust. a step's role is. Now, those five steps are prioritize or name what matters. Then essentialize or get rid of what's in the way. Organize or put everything in its place. Personalize or feel like yourself and systemize or stay in a flow. I apply those five steps to a ton of podcast episodes and in my regular everyday life. I use it all the time. Plus, so many of our lazy geniuses of the

week are examples of using these five steps to make something happen. They're so helpful these steps, no matter the problem. So episode 259 explains them in greater detail and applies them so you can see how they work. The next helpful episode on our list is one we wish we did not need, and that is episode 235 when you disagree on what matters. I get a lot of questions over and over, but one of the top five for sure is what happens when what matters to you is different than what matters to your partner or your kid or your boss or anyone who's involved in your life in a strong way. What happens when you disagree on what matters? This episode answers that question. Now one caveat to that episode is that it is focused on disagreeing with someone who you care about and who cares about you.

There are plenty of times when we disagree with someone on what matters, but we're not going to talk to them about it. Maybe there's not an opportunity to do that, like it's a high-ranking boss or something. Maybe that person is not emotionally safe to talk with, like a family member who has toxic communication patterns and dismisses your needs. Maybe you have a way of doing something that matches your priorities, but the group needs something else. You know, there are just a lot of places where what matters to us, it's just not the same as what matters to someone else, but we cannot really talk about it. That is a different path than the path in episode 235. That one is focused on disagreements between you and someone who is relatively safe to process that disagreement with. And in the vein of, you know, just being a person with your people amidst disagreements and different priorities, the next most helpful episode on our list today,

is episode 2.30, how to feel like a person with Andi Colber. This is in the top 10 downloaded episodes of all time on the Lazy Genius podcast and for sure the most downloaded interview episode I've ever done. Ondi Colber is the author of two books, Try Softer and Strong Like Water, which releases March 21st of this year. Ondi is a licensed therapist, a trauma-informed therapist, and just such a good communicator about how to be a person. especially amidst the difficulties of trauma and the emotional labor it requires and all the things that can keep us from living our lives in a grounded way. She also has such a lovely, calming voice as she gives practical advice on how to essentially be a person. She's actually

going to come on the podcast again in just a few weeks, so watch out for that. I'm so excited. Andy is one of my favorite resources for how to just exist kindly and confidently as you are. We'll be right back. Okay, two more. The next most helpful episode is episode 280. How to Find Your Personal Style. I absolutely loved making this episode and the time on Instagram around the release of that episode two, getting dressed like eating is something we do every day, right?

And we can all make our own individual choices about how much effort we want to put into it. And that effort can also change from one day to the next. but just like with dinner, it's important to name what matters about getting dressed and what you do want to care about so that you can enjoy something more than maybe you currently have permission for. The most important piece of advice in that episode is to name how you want to feel when you get dressed. It can be the same way every single day or you can ask the question fresh and have different answers every day. But really, we focus on the wrong thing first. We focus on the fit or the style when we really just want to focus on how we feel. Yeah, I shared this in the episode. Like, I want to feel

cool when I get dressed. You might want to feel put together or feminine or comfortable or fun or open or whatever the word is. The clothes that make you feel that way, they're going to vary from person to person, right? Our definitions for cool, for example, are going to be different. So that's why you should decide how you want to feel and then name what clothes help you specifically and individually feel that way. I don't think there are too many episodes that prompted so much communication after than the How to Get Dressed episode. Like so many of you were finally given the tools and permission to get dressed in clothes that work for you in ways you did not realize before. I just love that episode and it is so very helpful. And finally, the 10th episode that's most helpful from the last two years is episode 258, the seven kinds of rest and how to know which one you need.

This is a community that values rest, but also doesn't always know how to make it happen. The problem is that there are so many different kinds of rest. And if you don't name the specific kind you need, you won't create the unique space required to do it. So the seven different kinds of rest highlighted in that episode are one, relax, two, reset, three, recharge, four, you need a break, five, rest before something busy, six, rest during something busy, or seven, after something busy. They are all nuanced and necessarily so. So pay attention to the specific kind of rest that you need so that you can actually benefit from the rest when you take it. And those are the 10 most helpful episodes

from the last two years. If you're new here, I hope that helps you get, you know, a good bang for your buck in listening. and if you've been around for a long time, these episodes are a good reminder of what to listen to again. It is truly such a humbling thing to hear from so many of you that you re-listen to certain episodes at the same time every year or that you do what I shared on Instagram, which is to Google lazy genius and then whatever word you're having a hard time with and getting an episode that helps. It's just the most humbling, honoring thing that you would trust me when you're needing a solution for something. So thank you so much for listening. We didn't do any sort of big celebration for 300 episodes, and this is episode 302.

But it's episode 302. That is so many episodes. And y'all just keep listening more and more than you did. The show just keeps growing. And it wouldn't do that unless you all listened and shared it and listened again and gave me ideas on episodes that you'd like to hear. And I'm just really, really grateful. Remember that these episodes will be put in a playlist, and that playlist, along with several other helpful resources, will be available in the next edition of the latest lazy listens.

That email goes out every other Friday, and it collects all the best from the last two weeks of episodes for you to dive into or remember. It's really such a fun resource, and I'm so happy people are loving it. So if you want to give it a try, you can sign up at the lazy genius collective. com slash listens. Okay, before we go, let's celebrate the lazy genius of the week. This week, it's only a username, sadly, but it's A.K. Bami. She wrote this. Hi, I wanted to share a super simple lazy genius tip that has transformed our mornings. It's Sunday evening here in London, and I just asked my four kids ages eight to 14, what can you do now to make something easier tomorrow. And how can I help with this? This prompts the kids to get things ready, like a P.E. kit or

swim stuff and bags, instruments by the front door, clothes picked out, homework and backpacks. So in the morning, we can stick to getting up, getting dressed, brushing teeth and hair, and eating. Easy peasy. By asking the magic question, they take ownership of what needs to be done instead of me barking, get this and get that. Listen, A.K. Bommie, I wish I knew your name because I want to say it and I want to thank you. Y'all, I am the daggum lazy genius and I have never thought to do this with my kids. Maybe it's because we have a fairly smooth morning routine, but also I'm the main reason for that, not my kids. They don't necessarily see the tools used to create that smoothness. Also, I don't know what's happening inside their own heads and bodies. Like, even though I think

most of our mornings are pretty smooth, you know, they're busy and active, but they're smooth. Maybe the kids don't think that. So by asking them the magic question the night before, they are learning the skill of just asking the question, but they can also contribute to a more peaceful morning for themselves in ways I might not have seen before. I seriously cannot wait to do this with my kids. So this is so great. Thank you for sharing it. AK-Bomi and congratulations on being the lazy genius of the week. Okay, y'all, that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, Be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra.

I'll see you next week. 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.