The Lazy Genius Podcast - #339 - How to Make the Rest of 2023 Easier

Episode Date: November 6, 2023

I am legitimately so excited about this episode, and I know you are too. This type of episode from last year is still our most downloaded episode, and I think this one is going to be even more helpful than last year’s.   Helpful Companion Links Preorder your Lazy Genius Sticker Pack before Nov. 15! Get on the list to get the Gift Giving Guide on Friday, Nov. 17 Get on the list for the Latest Lazy Letter (out on Nov. 8!) Sign up for the Latest Lazy Listens email. Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links) 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 are 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's episode 339, how to make the rest of 2023 easier. I am legitimately so excited about this episode, and I know that you are too. This type of episode from last year, like almost with the same title, just different year, is still, I think our most downloaded episode ever. We really like to make the end of a year easier. But I think this one's going to be even more helpful than last year's, like, for real. Before we get into that, though, I've got to tell you something really fun. We have the most sparkly fun thing coming ever to tell you. For a limited time, we're selling a Lacey Genius sticker pack. You guys, it has like several dozen stickers, like a mess of stickers sold in one pack, like Lisa Frank style. They are ridiculously fun, ridiculously fun.

We are taking pre-orders for these sticker packs until November. November 15th. And then once that date passes, there will be no more stickers. They will be delivered well in time for Christmas gifts. So if you are a lazy genius and you want to give yourself a fun stocking stuffer because sometimes we have to get our own stocking stuffers because no one does it for us, please get these stickers. If you are friends with a lazy genius and you want to gift them these, you should get these stickers. All the stickers, by the way, are individually cut. So they're like not on sheets, you know, so you can put them like in cards, like in snail mail cards. or use them as bookmarks, or of course, place them on your water bottles and your laptops and

your planner pages. We are keeping a few of the stickers designs a surprise because they're kind of magical and I want you to open them and see them and then tag me in it if you want to because they're so much fun. But there are stickers for all the principles. You can count on that. There are phrases that we use a lot around here that have been made into stickers. there is a caffeinated squirrel, like an actual squirrel sticker. So these are so, like they're so fun. We have had so much fun designing these stickers and putting this whole thing together. So for a very short little sparkly time, you can pre-order these stickers, have them delivered

before Christmas, well before Christmas. And that pre-order window closes on November 15th. The link will be in the show notes or you can go to the lazy genius collective.com slash stickers to get yours. Okay, so fun. Now to the episode. All right. How do we make the rest of 23 easier? Now, I will say this year, this episode actually, is different than last year's episode. And part of that is because life changes. We changes people. But I have learned a lot about time and priorities and how to better lazy genius situations since then. And you get the benefit of that in the form of what I think is like a really,

really helpful practical episode. Because it is practical, you are going to need eventually something to like take notes with. So either go grab a paper and pen or your laptop or you can just listen and then come back later. But go grab those so we can get started. Now, as we talk about how to make the rest of the year easier, I don't think I need to set this stage for why. I mean, I will briefly, but like life is kind of busy right now.

I don't know if you've noticed that or not. Chances are you have a lot going on. If you are listening to this on the day that this episode comes out, today is November 6th, okay, Christmas is in 49 days. Cool. No problem. All right. For me, personally, in the next 40 days.

So between now and the week before Christmas, here are some of my personal things going on. Here's what's going on for me. To give us all a sense of how busy in general, many people might be. I have six very significant family birthdays plus the birthdays of two dear friends in the next 40 days. I have three school performances that my kids are in and one grown-up performance that I am in. I have three very significant work projects that come with many decisions and deadlines. I have a four-day trip out of town. I have seven evening meetings, a wedding to attend, and Thanksgiving, which I am hosting for 13 people, probably in someone else's house,

but I'm cooking all the food, super fine. And that's just like the extra stuff on top of making dinner and carpool and work and haircuts and homework and trying to, you know, go for walks and make lunches for people and make my own lunch and get sleep. And I did not mention anything Christmas related, like decorating or gift giving or travel or holiday plans. I mean, I didn't really need to set the stage, but chances are, no matter the length of your list, you feel a little overwhelmed by all that is coming your way right now. I had lunch with a friend a couple weeks ago, and I told her that she asked me how things were going. And I kind of did what I just did to you. And I was like, well, these are all the things coming because that's how I process how I'm doing.

it's all the things that I am doing, right? And I told her that when I list out my life like that, like I just did, it's kind of impossible to get my head around it. In fact, I can't. I cannot get my head around it. It is too much to remember, too much to process and keep track of and plan for. And definitely not all at once with my limited energy inside my own head. And yet it's still all happening. Right. I mean, life still happens. Much of it right now is fun and awesome and even like really significant in our lives. But it's still a lot. So I want to share with you a process to help make sense of what's coming your way and how to make it easier so you can focus on what really matters. Okay, get your paper. Here we go. Actually, before you get your paper, I want to say something. I can be intense about lists and processes. I love them so much. And they help me.

They help me. But I'm going to give you this permission at the end, but I'm also going to do it right now. You don't have to do everything I'm about to say. If you're like, nope, that's not for me. Skip it. This is not an exhaustive, comprehensive process that is the only option to make your year easier. Listen to these with a discerning ear based on what you need, not on what I say.

Okay. It's really important that you don't see this process as the only way there is to look at your schedule and what's coming up for you and your life. I'm going to explain these things as though you are going through the full process and you are, you know, writing them down or typing them out. But if you choose to not, or if you're like, no, I think I'm okay with that. I'm okay with skipping that part. Please do. In fact, I invite that with my whole heart. Okay. Let's keep going. First thing we're going to do is do a brain dump. Of course we're going to do that. But this is not just any brain dump. Okay? Not just any brain dump. This one is a little bit more specific. I don't want you to just write down everything that's in your head. Okay? Because at this time of year,

that is a lot. And then if you start pulling in your calendar and, you know, the things on your, the calendar on your calendar on your wall with stuff and then your planner and like all of it, you're going to write down. You're going to spend an hour writing stuff down. I don't want you to do that. I don't want you to write down everything. I want you instead. to write down all the things that are an answer to the following question. Okay? Here's the question. What is happening in the next two months that feels overwhelming or does not have a plan? What is happening in the next two months that feels overwhelming or does not yet have a plan? Okay. Now before you start writing, let me offer some guidelines here. Again, I do not want you to write down

everything that is happening. Just because something is on your calendar or happening in your life, it does not mean it belongs on this list. This list is the beginning of a simplification process. And the more you put on the list, the more complicated it will be. So unless something is either overwhelming or does not yet have a plan, do not put it on this list. For example, I mentioned being in a holiday performance. Okay. Some of you know, I participate every year in my church's lessons and carols service. It is one of my favorite things ever. Like truly, it's like top five. I love the Lessons and Carols weekend so much. Now, is it happening in the next two months? Totally. Many dates, actually. There's the performance date, but there are also rehearsals and my

own personal practice, you know, to make sure that I know my parts. But even though this event, this thing that is happening takes up a lot of space on my calendar. It does not mean it needs to go on this list. Why? Because it is neither overwhelming nor does it require a plan. In fact, it's not overwhelming at all. It actually feels energizing. Okay. So that box is not checked. It's not overwhelming. And it does have a plan. The rehearsals and the times, they're on my calendar already. I already have that entire performance weekend blocked off so I can help out with, you know, setting stuff up or doing whatever inevitably needs doing at the last minute. And then I naturally find myself listening to the music that I need to practice all the time. I'm very prepared. I'm listening while I'm washing

dishes and making dinner. Like I love practicing for this thing. So I don't need to plan for that. This thing that is happening is neither overwhelming nor without a plan. And that means even though what's happening, it does not go on my list. Make sense? Now, the second guideline to think about is that this requirement that I'm making you do of something that is either overwhelming or without a plan, it can be either or both, okay? But be sure you're not looking for both things in order to check this off. Okay? For example, giving Christmas gifts, it does not feel overwhelming to me. I love giving gifts. I love it. It's one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, even birthdays and stuff. I just love it.

I love finding and giving and even wrapping gifts. But Christmas gifts will 100% go on my list. Why? Because I don't yet have a plan for it. Okay. So just be sure that you're not skipping things that don't have a plan just because you're excited about them or because they don't feel overwhelming. Both of these are not a requirement. Overwhelming and not having a plan. Both are not a requirement. Just one. Okay. And then the third guidelines, you make your list, is to also consider regular everyday things, not just holiday happenings or stuff from your calendar. Are you overwhelmed right now by dinner?

Do you not have a plan for how you're going to finish that work project before the holiday break? Are you overwhelmed and without a plan for how to manage getting your kids to all their places because your oldest who can drive broke a bone and can't drive right now? or because you're down a car because of a, you know, a blown transmission or something. Don't just consider the unusual holiday, the end of the year things. What is overwhelming or without a plan in your regular life, too, that's got you in a bit of a tizzy? Okay.

So write down or type out all the things that are either overwhelming or without a plan. Don't go searching for them a lot, you know, like just see what comes to mind. Also, don't break things down yet or get too detailed or analytical about them. Just do the brain dump. Just do an easy. This is what comes to mind. This is what is kind of obvious. And write it down.

Okay? If it comes to mind, even if it's not a tangible thing, even if it's not a tangible thing, just write it down. Okay? Cool. 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. Okay, you've done your brain up. Next question. What do you want to make happen that you haven't yet? What do you really hope that you get to do or experience? over the next couple of months that you don't yet have some kind of plan for.

I call this a hope to experience. What do you hope to do that you want to try and make space for? Add that to the same list. Okay. Now, this is a fun part. At least it's fun for me. It's fun for me. Each item you just wrote down needs to get one of these labels.

Okay? And we've talked about these labels before. Make it matter. make it easy or let it go. Okay? You can make three new lists, like write down, actually three new lists that you write down from your brain dump. Or you can use three different highlighter colors for the main part, you know, of like of your

brain dump list. Or you can put like a little symbol next to them. Y'all is smart. You know what you want. Do whatever you want. But somehow visually differentiate your main list, your big brain dump list that you just made into those three categories. Make it matter. Make it easy. Let it go. Okay. Now let me explain briefly what all those might mean. Make it matter is something that really does matter to you. For me, gift giving over the

holidays really does matter. I don't want to approach that thing with like the primary posture of shortcuts or laziness or ease. Like all of those things are great, but not for gift giving. Not for me. It matters to me. And I don't mind spending time and energy and money making it happen because I love. it. It matters, right? Make sense? So what really matters to you right now? What do you want to make matter? Next, make it easy. What still has to happen, but you want that thing to be as easy as possible. People tend to make meals easy during this time of year. You know, you're busy doing a lot of other stuff. So spending a lot of time on the daily meals is really not in the cards. So maybe you're going to make meals easier by repeating things, by making simple meals that don't,

you know, need a lot of chopping or cooking. Maybe you get a meal delivery service for a couple of weeks during the really busy parts of the next couple months. Maybe you have cereal for dinner a lot, you know, whatever the case, you're going to make it easy. It's not that eating doesn't matter, but it can't matter as much as the other things right now. So you're going to make it easy. So mark your list with things that you would like to make easy. And then the third category is let it go. What overwhelming thing or what thing without a plan is probably best if you just leave it alone right now. What can you let go? You might be overwhelmed by an unresolved situation at work or with a friend. And even though there's nothing you can really do about it or your friend tells you that

everything's okay, you just keep thinking about it. You're overwhelmed by your own insecurity or worry about this unresolved thing. And it's using a lot of your energy. Maybe that's a thing. You can let go. You're not letting go of the relationship, but you're letting go of perseverating on it, right? Letting it go also might mean letting it go into the hands of someone else. You could let wrapping gifts go into the hands of like a high school student who you hire to do it for you, you know? You could let go of organizing this year's neighborhood caroling tradition by asking someone else to do it this year. You can let go of cleaning your house in the same way you normally do by hiring a cleaner, delegating the work more amongst your family, or just having a house that's

like a little dirtier than usual while you get to focus on things that matter more, right? So what can you let go? Not forever. You're not letting it go forever. You're just letting it go during the season. All right. So everything that is overwhelming and or without a plan, right? Or things that you really, really hope to make happen. All of those are on this one big list that's now categorized one of three ways, right? Make it matter, make it easy, let it go. Now, your job is to make a new list, one that makes those things smaller. Okay? Making things smaller is how you make it happen. So, get Christmas gifts, for example. That is definitely something that you want to make happen, but we can all agree that that's too big, right? You have to make it smaller. And chances are a good number of the things on your

list that you just made, they need to be made smaller. They're too big. Okay. Hear me clearly. You make things happen by making them smaller. Now, I have found a bit of a secret when it comes to doing this. And even though it's really simple and even a little obvious, it's also surprisingly clarifying. In order to make things happen, you make them smaller. And in order to make them smaller, you are looking for two things. Decisions. and tasks. Okay. Singular decisions and singular tasks. If you think about it, when you break down something that is big into something that is manageable, you're breaking apart all of the decisions and all of the tasks. Okay. Let's look at this. So on my list of things that like matter to me,

that I mark just make it matter, is bake Christmas treats and share them with people. Okay, cool, cool. Now that's helpful to know, right? I have this thing that matters. I want to make it happen. I also know that I don't have parameters around this thing to help make it happen. Like, it's just there. It's just this big thing staring at me. So now what? How do I make it smaller? By writing down all the decisions and tasks that go with it. All right, what do I have to decide? Well, I have to decide what to make, when to make it. I have to decide how to wrap it up. to give it to? Those are just the first ones that pop on my head. Now, what's interesting here is that tasks, they often fall on either side of a decision. Like, what do I mean by that? I have to look through

cookbooks or on blogs or whatever to get ideas, right? That is a task I need to do in order to decide what I'm making. Okay? I need to look through my cookbooks and make a list of the options. Then I decide when I'm to make. And now that I've made that decision, tasks come after that too, right? Now, I have to make an ingredient list of what I need, shop for those ingredients or have them delivered, and then decide when I'm going to make stuff. And now we're at another decision. I have to decide when I'm going to do it. And how do I decide that? Probably after the task of looking at my calendar and choosing an opening to do it. Okay, let's stop right there because that's like a lot of tiny pieces, right? And I'm not saying that you need to write down literally every single decision and task involved with whatever this thing.

This explanation that I just gave you, this example of decisions and tasks, it's not to overwhelm you even more. What I'm hoping to show you is why you likely feel overwhelmed by things or struggle to make a plan. Something seemingly simple like bake Christmas treats and share them with people has at minimum like two dozen decisions and tasks. And some of those. Some of those, decisions and tasks, they depend on each other. They have to go in a certain order. Even if you can make some of those decisions quickly or the tasks, you know, aren't that hard, the mental load of projects like bake Christmas treats and share them with people, it's, it might be more than you realize. And you're probably not being kind to yourself about it.

You're just frustrated. You can't seem to get your stuff done. Okay. So as you make what matters and what you want to make easier as you make those things smaller. Hear me again. I'm not saying that you need to write down literally every single decision or task exhaustively, you know? I mean, unless you really want to. Like, it might help. It might help.

But some of you are likely used to intuitively or habitually putting those decisions and tasks in the right order to get them done without needing to keep track of all of it. And so you can see, however, the mental load. that that requires of you. Okay? I want you to be kind about that, even if you don't write it all down. Now, you might also, you might be neurodivergent. And if you are struggling through some kind of life challenge that is taking your energy away from things that once felt easier, or if you're just in a hard time a year and you're just juggling a lot of projects at once, you're trying to make sense of stuff, intuitively putting these decisions and tasks, these small pieces

of these bigger projects, putting them in their order, it might not be working for you well. And you need a list. You need to recognize the decisions that you need to make. You need to see the tasks that might come before or after those decisions in an order. But regardless of whether you write it down or whether you're doing it in your own head, you have to make something smaller. And you do that by breaking it down into the necessary decisions and tasks, okay, that you need to check off the big box on your list of bake Christmas treats and

give them to people. Now, I cannot see your list, right? I don't want you to be overwhelmed by your list either. This is why we differentiate things that you want to make matter and make easy and why you also need to let some things go. Okay. So as you look at your list, which I cannot see, I don't know what you need to make smaller. Some things are already as small as are going to be, okay? But what I want to encourage you to do as you look at your list and you do make these things smaller is to trust yourself in this. You can look at what is overwhelming, at what does not yet have a plan, at what really matters to you, at what you want to make easier.

And you can just say, okay, I get it now. I get why hosting Thanksgiving is so overwhelming to me. I definitely don't have a plan, but I don't even think I have the brain power or the energy to figure out all the pieces that I need to make this thing work. And even though hosting Thanksgiving usually matters to you, you know, maybe you might say to yourself, I think this year I need to make it easier. So there are going to be fewer decisions and tasks that I need to handle. I'm going to move this from make it matter to make it easy.

So instead, I'm going to make a turkey and I'm going to ask everyone else to bring the sides. I might even ask my sister to coordinate that part of seeing what everybody's going to bring so that I don't have to worry about it. I'll just make the turkey. You know, this process and these categories, they help you see where you can be kind to yourself, where you can schedule rest in your schedule and also amongst your tasks, where you can let people in, you can delegate decisions and tasks. It helps you see where you read.

really and truly want to spend your energy because something is too important to let go. But I also hope that as you look at your list, you can recognize and notice how much there is for you to do or how much it feels like there is for you to do. Your life is so many decisions. It is so many tasks. And if you keep those in your head, many of the things. many of those small pieces connected to one singular item on your to-do list. That's why you're going to stay overwhelmed and you're not going to enjoy the season as much as you

would like. So just see what happens if you make something smaller. Pay attention to the process and to your own body as you do that. If you start to get overwhelmed, maybe take a break. If you start to get energized because you are finally seeing the things. that matter to you even more clearly, that's also really exciting. There's not one way to feel going through this process. So whatever happens for you, be kind to yourself as you do. Okay, let's summarize where we are real quick. And then I'm going to give you one final step as we make the rest of 2023 easier.

All right. So you do your brain dump. You write down all the things that are coming over the next couple months that are either overwhelming or without a plan. Nothing else, right? And then add that add to that list, things that you still want to make happen that you just haven't been able to yet. They're not on the calendar, but they do matter to you. Things like traditions, let's say. Okay. Now from there, you're going to separate that list into three categories. Make it matter. Make it easy and let it go. Now, in order to take action on any of those things, it's important to either physically, tangibly distill that list into decisions and tasks in order to make those things happen or to do it intuitively and recognize that there's a lot of mental load in that.

Okay. Now, even things like let it go still require decisions and tasks. You can't just decide to let go of coordinating the family tradition of running a 5K over Thanksgiving weekend or something without asking someone else to take over, right? So even letting go can require something to make it happen. but that's the whole point here, right? We're trying to make the next two months happen, but also that what is happening feels lighter. It feels easier. It feels more enjoyable because we do have like a better sense of where we are amidst all these things that are happening.

And the best way I have found to do that is to make those things smaller. by breaking them down into decisions and tasks. You get to check things off more often that way too, which is pretty rad. Now, if you're still going and you're still feeling good, here's where you go from here. In order to make these decisions and these tasks happen, you need to put them in their right place. Okay? Put them in their place.

You have to give them some kind of treatment, right, in order to make them happen. I don't think one approach works for everything. so I'm going to give you five. These are five things that you can apply to your decisions and tasks to make them work. And you can apply them in whatever way or a combination you want, right? This is less about a system and more about like how you see what it is you have to do. When you can simplify the way you see your list, I think the more likely you are to do it. So we'll run through these really, really quickly. So the five things that you can apply to your decisions and tasks are order, deadlines, urgency, significance, and ease. And you can do those by utilizing any relevant lazy

genius principles to help you do that. So let's go through these. Let's start with order. If you have a lot of decisions and tasks that are dependent upon each other, but right now they're written in kind of a crazy making fashion, use the lazy genius principle to go on the right order and put them in order, right? This, then this, then this. You could use the lazy genius principle to build the, of building the right routines to create order that way, like a daily rhythmic order. You can take things from your list that are similar to each other and you can batch them together using the lazy genius principle batch it and do them all at the same time. See what I'm seeing what I mean? Like what needs order? Sometimes I need to write down individual things on individual pieces of paper,

like little sticky notes or scrap paper and move them around on the table or the floor. like just writing them down and trying to put them in order, that way doesn't work. I have to like physically put them in order. So that might be a good tip if you're like really overwhelmed by the disorder of your list. Next, you could give something a deadline, okay? Maybe certain decisions or tasks, they can wait a little bit longer than right now when you're doing this, but not past a particular date. Okay.

So look at your list of decisions and tasks and notice if anything could use a deadline. it doesn't matter when you do each individual thing so long as, you know, this particular one is done by a certain deadline in order to make sure the other ones happen. Okay, so you could apply a deadline. The third kind of treatment, you can give your decisions and tasks, urgency. If you have a particularly long list of things that are overwhelming you, now might be a really great time to utilize my, one of my favorite list making strategy. Now, soon, later, and never mind. You're basically giving very general forms of urgency, very relative to your own life, right, to the items on your list so that you're only paying

attention to the most urgent things now. Other things will happen soon and others even later. You might not even end up using, never mind, in this particular scenario, because you've already kind of let a lot of stuff that needed to be let go. You've already let it go. But try applying urgency to certain decisions and tasks with now, soon, later, and never mind. That'll help you see them more clearly. The fourth thing you can apply is significance. You've made what's happening smaller, which is enormously hopeful, but you don't want to lose sight of what matters most amongst all of these things on your list now. So maybe you need to look at your whole list of things that have been made smaller and apply significance to a handful of decisions or tasks so that you can actively

see what needs the highest priority no matter when it happens. So you can add like a little star next to it of like this is the thing that's really significant here. Just anything at all that helps remind you of what really matters is really hopeful. Okay. And then finally apply some ease. Use the lazy genius principle decide once, you know, that in order to make non-family gift-giving easier, you're going to choose one thing for everybody and you're going to be done with it, you know? You can apply ease by using the principal schedule rest to make sure that you have time built into the next two months where you are taking time to like just be a person and enjoy the season. Look at your list and notice if you need to apply ease, whether intangible and 24,

towards yourself or practically towards your stuff. In fact, I think that's a great place to move into a conclusion here. I know I just took you through a very like practical like make a list, write stuff down, go, go, go. And some of you love list making energy. That's your favorite. And others of you are like, oh no, or maybe you're imagining how big your list might be. And you don't even want to start because of how overwhelming it might be. usually lists are smaller than we think, to be fair. But here's what I want to remind you of. This list that you either just made or you're imagining making,

it is not the objective of your holiday season. The point of this episode is to not turn you into a robot that checks things off. The entire reason for the season for a lot of people is just to enjoy it, to connect and celebrate and rest and watch fun movies. It feel cozy and hang out with friends. You are a person hoping to enjoy a beautiful season. You are not a robot with a list. And again, I know we just spent this entire episode talking about many versions of lists.

But the point of the list themselves is so that you can feel more human, so that you can feel more like yourself and enjoy the season. that you can make what matters actually happen. Now, even though this is like technically a process with a certain order and several steps, I want you to feel free to take whatever you need and lead the rest behind. This is the most complete way of approaching an easier remainder of the year or an easy long stretch of a season. But that doesn't mean that every step of it is required, right?

You might have less on your list than you think. You might just need to think through the steps. for like one element of the rest of your year, you might just take now, soon later, never mind and run with it and be done. I'm giving you full and complete permission to do only the parts of this process that actually help you.

Don't make your holidays easier by first making them more complicated. You might not need all of the things I just said. In fact, like you just needed someone to show you that you're overwhelmed because everything is a series of decisions and tasks. And now that you know that, you feel better already, you know? So from this episode, please do what makes sense for you that supports what matters to you. We're also different. We're also different. And under no circumstances do I expect every person listening to follow the

steps in this episode to a T. Like, please don't do that actually. Take the pieces that make sense for you. And I truly believe that it'll make the rest of 2023 easier and more lovely. All right. So before we go. Let's celebrate the lazy genius of the week. This week it is Mia Villarge. Mia, I think I must have your last name. I'm so sorry. Mia has a tip for holiday baking, especially if you're going to do it a lot. And I've actually done this tip myself many years and I can vouch for its excellence. So here is Mia's message. With the holidays coming up, batch all of your dry ingredients for your baked goods. If you are baking cookies, muffins, pumpkin bread, et cetera, batch all the flowers, cinnamon, baking soda and all other dry ingredients in their own bags and label them.

Then when it is time for all the baking, you have made your life so much easier with the batching. Not losing my mind and saving time matters to me. So I have found this to be so helpful. Y'all, seriously, I have done this so many times. I have put like the dry ingredients for a recipe in a bag, written the name of the recipe and like how many batches of it with a Sharpie on the bag. And it's ready for when I do the rest of it. It's so great.

So if you plan on like some marathon baking or you would like to just be that much closer to having a family favorite come out of the oven without thinking too much, this could be a really great approach for you. I'm always so grateful to myself when I grab that label bag and then I get to make something that I love that matters quicker. It's pretty great. So thank you for sharing this idea, Mia, and congratulations on being the lazy genius of the week. Okay, y'all, that is it for today. Don't forget about the stick. pop up. These stickers are the most fun. And remember, once the pre-order window closes on November 15th, you can't get them anymore. So please order before then. The link to get the sticker pack will be in the show notes. And I hope you love them. I hope you love them. So you can go to the lazy genius collective.com slash stickers or again, click the link in the show notes. Okay,

that's all 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.