The Lazy Genius Podcast - #399 - It’s a New Year… Let’s Name What’s Working

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

The beginning of the year or the beginning of anything often has us rethinking our routines and rhythms and systems and choices to see if there’s anything we want to change. Before you start to put on your problem-solving glasses, utilizing that new year energy to make everything fresh and ready to begin, let’s name what’s working. I have three rules, three questions, and three categories to help you think this through. Helpful Companion Links Order my new book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy. Episode #349: 10 Small Changes I’m Glad I Made Episode #366: Twenty Helpful Decisions I Keep Repeating 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. 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

Hey 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 399. It's a new year. Let's name what's working. Today is the first Monday of January, which might feel any number of ways for you, but just in case you have scattered, oh no, it's the first Monday of January energy.

Or if you need a reminder that you don't have to chase greatness at the gate, This episode is for you. The beginning of the year or the beginning of anything often has us rethinking our routines and rhythms and systems and choices to see if there's anything we want to change. That path is well and good and likely necessary on occasion. I love identifying small problems, applying small solutions, adjusting over time, and then slowly building rhythms and systems that work from those small decisions. It's a slower go compared to big black trash bag energy where you just start everything over, but it lasts longer

because you don't keep starting everything over. So before you start to put on your problem-solving glasses, utilizing that new year, January energy to make everything fresh and ready to begin, let's name what's working. Okay? I have three rules, three questions,

and three categories to help you think this through. You can take whatever helps and just leave the rest. You can be as detailed as you want, and write stuff down, or you can just think about it in your head, decide that this particular thing is working really well. High five yourself and move on. You use the content in this episode in whatever combination and intensity you want. So three rules, three questions, three categories. Let's start with the three rules. Rule number one, when you're naming what's working, the smaller, the better. Naming small things that are working in your life are weirdly powerful. You might try and say,

breakfast is working pretty well. But the specificity and smallness of having muffins in the freezer and protein yogurt drinks in the fridge are working are working super well for everybody. The smaller the thing, the greater the opportunity for you to truly understand what is working. You can see the particular moving parts of the thing rather than just like a large, ambiguous category. So rule number one, the smaller, the better. Rule number two, when you're naming what's working, working doesn't mean me. perfect. We're naming what's working. We're not naming what's perfect. Very little is and very little

will be. Perfect is relative and arbitrary anyway. So as you assess and decide what's working in your life, be kind about that word. Working doesn't mean perfect. It's working. It might be a little janky and how it's working, but it's working. Don't be so hard on yourself. Rule number three, when you're naming what's working, now isn't forever. What's working now might not. and likely won't work forever. That can swing both ways. You can have something you love that's working now. And also it's good to remember that we have to hold these things with an open hand.

It might not work forever. But we'll enjoy it now while it does. Or if you do have something that's working, but it's connected to something in your season of life that's frustrating to you and you wish it were different, that's okay. Now isn't forever. It probably won't always be this way. So try not to resent where you are.

Either way, now isn't forever. So those are your three rules as you move into naming what's working. The smaller, the better. Working doesn't mean perfect. And now isn't forever. With that perspective in mind, let's move to the three questions you can ask to help you narrow your focus on what specifically is working in the categories that we'll name in a minute.

The three questions are, what problem does this solve? What do I like about this? And how does this make me feel like myself? First, what problem does this solve? When you're looking at an area of your life and you're identifying what's working there, naming the solved problem could be super beneficial. You know, maybe it's solving a problem that you've had for a long time and naming that the problem is solved is worth celebrating. Maybe it's solving a problem that you're spotting in other places. So seeing the success of your solution in one place, it might help you get ideas for another place. Essentially, like, what problem does this thing that's working solve for you? We have a drink spinner on our

counter. It's just a wooden, lazy Susan on the edge of our kitchen island. And I put it there years ago to try and solve the small problem of glasses and water bottles being all over the house. kids would leave bottles and cups on random surfaces. They'd be in different places in the kitchen, which made the kitchen feel visually cluttered. It was a small problem, but an annoying one. So I thought that a great way to maybe solve this small problem would be with a small solution of one place

where the cups and water bottles go. They have a holding pin. And unless they're being used, that's where they live altogether. It's like one big beverage family. The drink spinner works. beautifully now. It took a while for kids to remember, but it has become second nature to everyone in our house. Your cups and water bottles, they live on the drink spinner. End of story. If I walked into my kitchen and I noticed that drink spinner as I'm looking at my life and being like,

you know what, what's working? Let's celebrate what's working. I would say this is working because it's all the problem of keeping track of cups, but also of my silent rage about seeing cups everywhere. Let's say I have silent rage about something else that seems to live all over the house. Noticing how the drink spinner is working helps me recognize a small solution for a separate small problem. So as you're identifying what's working, that's the first specific question to help you see why it does. What problem does this solve? Welcome aboard via rail. Please sit and enjoy.

Please sit and sit. Play. Post. Taste. view and enjoy via rail love the way awe 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 dacre kelpner host of the science of happiness podcast join me for cities of awe 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. Before we get into the second question, let me remind you again that you don't have to be precious or orderly or organized with these questions.

You don't even have to try to answer any of them. There are more for those of you who need a little clarity and trying to identify what's working. And we do this anyway because we care about today. We care about who we are right now in this life we live in. We care about remembering that we do actually have things in life that are working. We can find our way out of earth. early January discouragement of all we want to change. Instead, we're going to name what's working. So use these questions if they help. All right, the second question you might ask is, what do I like about

this? Let's keep joy and pleasure and ease in mind here. What do you like about this thing that's working? Taking a lunch break every day works so well for me because it solves the problem of not always slowing down on purpose. What do I like about it? Well, I like food. So there's that. It's nice that it's lunchtime. But I also like that there are no expectations for me for that lunch hour that I take. I can eat and watch a show or eat and read a book or eat and sit on my porch and silence for a few minutes before going inside to watch a show or read a book. I like that I can do what I need to do in the moment. But whatever I choose is genuinely enjoyable to me. Name what you will like about a thing that's working. Put some meat on its bones as to why. It gives it more staying

power and personal enjoyment that way. Remember, perspective really matters here. And a third question you might ask to help you understand what's working is, how does this make me feel like myself? Not everything might, and that's fine. But in order to slowly nurture an integrated life that is rooted in your own humanity and what matters most to you in your season, it's not a ridiculous thing to consider how your decisions and rhythms and systems make you feel like yourself. You might say this thing makes me feel calm, which keeps me from going outside of myself in a rage. This thing makes me feel creative, even though I'm doing something mundane because I'm doing it in a unique way that's working for me. You see what I mean? Also, a lot of you often ask me how to figure out

what makes you feel like yourself. Sometimes, I think we put too much pressure on that question or on the feeling. When something makes you feel like yourself, it might not be the most happy, fulfilled unicorns and rainbows version of yourself. You might feel like yourself because of the house rule, no piles on the kitchen island. Visual clutter might take you out of yourself. So visual tidiness, especially in commonly used spaces like the kitchen, makes you feel more connected to yourself. It doesn't have to be technical to count. So three questions that could help give a little insight into why something is working are what problem is this solving? What do I like about this? And how does this make me feel like myself? Now, you might be ready to start naming this in your life, but you might feel a little scattershot about it. You know, you're a pinball within the machine of your life, just like freely associating what's working as one idea pings into another. And that's honestly a great way to do it. This is a not have to be a detailed homework assignment. It's ultimately, it's just a posture. Just name what's

working. Look for what's working. Don't focus so hard on what's not. So ping away. If you want to ping, ping. Now, if you'd like to be a bit more methodical, or you would enjoy a new way of looking at the areas in your life so you don't miss anything, even though you totally will, here are three categories that you could consider. Time of day, regular events, and rooms in your house. Now, these are broad on purpose. There's simply doors you can walk through to kind of help you notice

and narrow your focus on what you would like to notice. So category one, the time of day, all right? Mornings, mid-morning, if you're home with tiny humans, after school, transitioning from work to home, dinner, bedtime, evenings, etc., etc. Start your thinking at one time of day and just look around. You can even live in it like tomorrow morning. Pay attention to what's working. What do you see that's solving a problem? What do you see that you like? What do you see that makes you feel like

yourself or make someone else in your home feel like themselves? Being present at a certain time of day or using your imagination and memory for that particular time of day, it can help you notice what's working. Category two, regular events. What tasks or events or activities happen on a basis. Meals. Meals are very regular. Carpool or commuting, regular meetings. Decide once gatherings like messaging friends while you're waiting for your groceries to be loaded into your car or like actually going grocery shopping with a friend every Tuesday or whatever it is. Look on your calendar if you use one or just pay attention to the regular things in life and notice what's working in there. And then category three is rooms in your house or rooms in

your life. Different rooms have different functions. So literally walking into a room in your home, it can help you notice what's working there. There could be decorating decisions or cozy decisions that make you really happy. Maybe you think of tasks that are often done in that particular room. You know, what about cleaning that specific room? Walk into a room in your house, pause and ask yourself, what's working in here? What happens in here that's working? What do I like about this room? What do I like about what happens in this room? These can be physical rooms in your own home, but they can also be like your car or your desk at work or any physical space you spend time in. What's working here?

So those are the three rules, three questions and three categories. The three rules are the smaller the better. Working doesn't mean perfect. And now isn't forever. When you're naming what's working, keep those three things in mind. The three questions that might help you identify why something is working are what problem is this solving? What do I like about this?

And how does this make me feel like myself? And then the three categories that could help you narrow your focus are times of day, regular events, and rooms in your home and life. So what do you do now? The point of these ideas is not to fix things. In fact, it's the opposite. We are noticing what's working. so that we stop the spin out of thinking that everything isn't. This time of year has us in our heads

about fresh starts and big changes. And again, while those are totally fine, begin where you are. Begin with what's working. Celebrate it. Notice it. So often when we see how many things might be working, we calm down a little about what isn't. So even though you could, in theory, go through your entire life with the three rules in mind and ask all three of those questions. I don't think that's necessary. That's not starting small anyway. Pay attention to the area of your life that has the biggest pull for you to make it better. Stay in that place and instead name what's working. Be where you are. Be kind about the things already in place. Refresh your perspective on the things in your life that do in fact solve your problems, things that you like that make you feel like yourself. Be who you are and where

you are today. You're doing great. If you'd like a peek into what's working for me on a really practical level, episode 349 is called 10 small changes I'm glad I made. And then episode 366 is 20 helpful decisions I keep repeating. Those are practical, practical lists. what's working in my life, and many of them been working for years. The tiny solutions, the small changes, the decisions you make once that still work, those are the parts of a steady system that you don't have to keep starting over on. So be where you are. Notice what's happening today. Celebrate the changes you've made. The smaller, the better. Working doesn't mean perfect and now isn't forever. That's how we start a new year. Let's name what's working.

One thing I know a lot of you do at the end of December and the beginning of January is to reread the lazy genius way. I mentioned that last week. I love that y'all do that. It's something that works for you and it's humbling and fun for me. So thank you. Having a refresher on the 13 lazy genius principles as you're going into a new year, it really is helpful. If you have never read my first book, The lazy genius way, it dedicates a chapter to each of the 13 lazy genius principles to decide. once, start small, ask the magic question, live in the season, build the right routines, set house rules, put everything in its place, let people in, batch it, essentialize, go in the right order, and be kind to yourself. It's the little engine that could book,

just plugging along, still selling copies over four years later. If you've never read it, but you have thought about it now is a really good time to do it. I read the audiobook, so if that's more your speed to listen as you're like taking down holiday decorations or going for wintry walks or trying to keep your children entertained before school goes back, give it a shot. I think you'll enjoy it. This is also an excellent time of year to read the plan. It's all about compassionate time management, helping you rewire your thinking from optimization and greatness and making the most out of your time to just being a grounded whole person right

where you are. Being okay with some things being great and others just being mid. It's practical, permission giving, and full of pep talks to get you through any January chaos you might experience. I read that audiobook too. But I think for the plan, you'll be so glad you have the physical copy. So thanks for reading my books and supporting my work, y'all. It means a lot. Okay, before we go, let's celebrate the lazy genius of the week. This week, it's Ashley Eidson, with a super interesting approach to holiday gift giving that actually matters a little right now at the beginning of the year. Ashley writes,

Every year, my husband and I save up our credit card rewards across a few different cards, and we don't spend them all year. Then, when it is Christmas time, the amount we have in rewards is our budget. We know how many gifts we need to buy each year. We know how much we have, and that's how we divide it up. Some years, we've had to make some decisions like not getting gifts for every coworker in the office, but it always seems to work out where the people we want to give gifts to comes very close to our total. Last year, we had a little bit higher rewards total and we were able to buy some presents for ourselves at the end of the year on top of everything else we purchased.

Hope this helps someone else enjoy the holiday season without stressing about breaking the bank with the regular monthly bills and expenses. What a fantastic idea this is. Can you see why I wanted to share this one like right now at the start of the year? This could be a fantastic approach for a lot of us when it comes to holiday budgets. The rewards just do it for you. Love how practical and helpful this is. So thank you for sharing Ashley and congratulations on being the lazy genius of

week. This episode is hosted by me, Kendra Adachi, and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fisher, and Angela Kinsey. The Lazy Genius podcast is enthusiastically part of the Office Ladies Network. Special thanks to Leah Jarvis for weekly production. Thanks y'all 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, and I'll see you next week. 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.