The Lazy Genius Podcast - 5 Essential Mindsets for Time Management (Rerun)

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

Today is the second birthday of my book The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius. So in celebration of that book which is all about compassionate time management, we’re going to share one of the most popular episodes I’ve ever done.This episode is the backbone of what it means to manage your time like a Lazy Genius. You’ll get five essential reminders about how to think about your time before you start actually planning it. I hope you love it!Helpful Companion LinksOrder my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy.Episode 177: The Lazy Genius Plans a DayEpisode 198: How to Lazy Genius Your To-Do ListEpisode 238: How to Get Stuff Done When You Don’t Feel Like ItEpisode 127: The Lazy Genius Chooses a PlannerLaundry episodes 21: The Lazy Genius Does Laundry and 113: The Lazy Genius Does Laundry UpdatedEpisodes 235: When You Disagree on What MattersSign up for our every-other-week podcast recap emailSign up for my once-a-month newsletterSign up for my once-a-month book review email, The Book ListDownload a transcript of this episode.Want to share your Lazy Genius of the Week idea with us? Or maybe you want to submit an early Office Hours question? Use this form to let us know.

Hey everybody, you're listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. Today is episode 246, five essential mindsets for time management. I have done a lot of content over the last few years about time management and it continues to be the most requested topic. We all have time and we all have expectations about how we want it emptied or filled. And we have a lot of hard, busy, stressful days that we need to manage so we don't lose our minds. It is a front burner challenge pretty much all the time for most people in some way. When we want to tackle that challenge, we often will look for hacks and systems and practical ideas to help us out. And there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, here are some episodes that you can listen to that are practical and systems and ideas.

Episode 197 is the lazy genius plans a day. that's where I talk about flags, bunting, and chairs. Episode 198 is how to lazy genius your to-do list because so much of our daily planning is organizing the stuff we have to do, right? And then episode 238 is how to get stuff done when you don't feel like it, because that is very, very real. Those are practical and helpful. But practical isn't the only piece of the puzzle. One of my foundational principles in my own personal work is that we need both practicality and permission, system and soul, telling you that you're doing great, that matters. And it makes a difference, encouraging you and giving you permission, that matters, giving you ideas and systems on how to get

stuff done. That also matters. It also makes a difference. But the two together are where we can start to see some real change. We need both, often right next to each other. So since I've already given you some really practical episodes on time management, today I want to go a bit higher level and share some essential mindsets or mantras that will impact your time management no matter what your time looks like. I have said all of these things and fits and starts in different places over the years, but this is your episode to have all of your time management mindsets in one place. So let's jump in. Number one, your beliefs affect your time more than your schedule does.

Your beliefs affect your time more than your schedule does. I'm not saying that you need to manifest your time or that your appointments aren't actually real. None of that. Your schedule is legit. You likely have actual things to do. but what I want to encourage you in is that your beliefs about your time have a greater, deeper impact on how you spend it than you realize. For example, if you tell yourself that you're a

bad cook and can't get anything right in the kitchen and that your mother or mother-in-law or anybody that looked inside your fridge or watched you cook a meal would be so embarrassed for you, if you have that rolling loop in your head while you make a meal, it's going to take you a lot longer to cook dinner. It's also going to feel like it's taking longer because you're weighing the time down with those harmful beliefs. Kids, you have a lot of questions. Is it a crocodile a dinosaur?

Why do people vote? How does your food turn into your poop? But why? A podcast for Curious Kids has answers. and Lindholm. Join me as we dig deep into everything from science to history, nature, emotions, and sometimes even the weird. Why are jellyfish is made of jelly? Or are they made of jelly? Fine, but why, wherever you get your podcasts. Less harmful, but still impactful, is when you look at your overwhelming to-do list and you say, I'm never going to get all this done. I'm never going to get all this done. Now, I have often said that very sentence, but if you stay in that sentence, in that belief,

and let it dictate how you plan your time, that is going to impact your schedule and your soul way more than the actual tasks will. That's part of why this episode is important and why these mindsets make a difference. You are choosing to believe new truths about your time and how you manage it. We need these beliefs to help us create. craft our days in a helpful, authentic, kind way. So on to number two. Do not judge every day against your best day. I will say this until I'm blue in the face. Do not judge every day against your best day. We all have experienced days that feel like best days. We're in the flow. We're like happy and light. We get stuff done. Our kids or our coworkers or whoever we're spending our time with.

they're all like kind and easy to get along with. And there were no ridiculous messes to clean up. Literal or metaphorical, says the woman who just had to clean pee off the bathroom floor 10 minutes ago. We took our vitamins. We drank our water. We got up out of bed without dragging. We felt pretty. We made dinner. All the things. It was such a good day, right? A couple of things. First, my guess is it's been a couple of years since you've had a good day like that. You might actually be chasing that kind of day without realizing you're doing it. But this season of the pandemic has likely taken away a lot of our past capacity to deal with hard things. So we don't really have good days anymore. Which leads me to the second part of this. The second subpoint under do not judge every day against your best day.

What does best mean anyway? What is a good day? What is the measuring stick for a good day? We don't ask ourselves that question often enough. And the problem is our culture's answer is at the ready and it's more or less embedded in how we see and do things in a productive way. If we get a lot done, that's a good day. It's an optimized day. and because it was productive and optimized, we're happier, right? Now listen, I think that optimizing your time is a great thing. I love efficiency and doing things in the right order. I mean, that's a lazy genius principle, go in the right order. That matters. But you can't optimize every minute of every day, nor should you. I said this a couple weeks ago, and I got so many

messages from all of you about it. But you're not an instant pot. I said that on the podcast. You're not a programmable, set it and forget it person. Optimization sometimes turns us into instant pots. And that is never more true than when we are using optimization and productivity as our measuring sticks for a good day. If we get stuff done, it was a good day. But is it? What about people who are home with tiny humans? Productivity looks really different there. What about those of you who have had to dial back your hours at work or have lost your jobs entirely because of the pandemic and you aren't used to having nothing to do? Productivity can't be the measuring stick because it's not fluid enough. It's too rooted in things beyond your control

and sometimes even beyond your season of life. So yes, do not judge every day against your best day in that literal sense. Don't compare all your days to a really good one. But also ask yourself, what does good actually mean? Maybe it's that you felt grounded and like yourself no matter what happened. Maybe it's that you worked through the stress that you experienced without disintegrating into a puddle. Maybe it's that you barely got anything done on your to do list, but you were kind to yourself all the same. You're kind to yourself even when you're a puddle. I think good days could be as simple as days we allow ourselves to be human and invite others to be the same. We'll be right back. Next up, number three, focus on the practice, not on the planner.

Okay, so last week, I shared a photo on my Instagram feed of a tear-off monthly paper calendar. I use it to plot out things and plan, but then I often throw the paper. away when I'm done. It's like verbal processing, but for planning. I said in the caption that I got the pad at Target, I think, but I also said that the pad isn't magic. And still, some of you had comments and DMs that assumed differently. You liked that calendar, which is great. It's nice to have things that we like to look at. But the magic isn't in that particular pad. A lot of you thought it was, I need that pad, I need that pad. There are lots of tear-off monthly pads and, lots of different places. It's just that I did a thing that worked for me using that pad.

Now, I include myself in this. We keep looking for the perfect planner, for the perfect tools, right? Which, by the way, I have an episode about choosing a planner. Like, I want to give specific tools to help you find your tools. That's episode 127. The lazy genius chooses a planner. But what happens is we get caught up in the planner and the pad and the system instead of in the practice. If you don't already make a meal plan, let's use that as an example, having a cute dry erase weekly planner on your fridge is not going to make you do it. The system and the tools are to support an already existing practice.

That's why you get a planner and you quit or you buy a pretty notebook and write on two pages and then you quit. It's not that the planner or the pad or the system isn't working. It's that you don't yet have a practice. So focus on the practice, not on the planner. Number four, tend to the necessary before it becomes urgent. This is a hugely helpful mindset because it's like a decision compass. You see all the things in front of you and often respond to the urgent instead of something more rhythmic that probably makes you feel a little bit more human. Rhythms feel more grounded than putting out fires still, right? A few weeks ago, I also shared on Instagram how I brain dump everything that's stressing me

out and I assign it into four categories. This was before Christmas. Now, soon, later, or never mind. Those are my four categories. I write everything down. I brain dump everything that's on my mind, like literally everything. errands I need to run, insecurities that I have,

like all kinds of things that are in my brain. I write it down in one big brain dump list and then I sift. I decide what needs to be done now or dealt with. Now, soon, what can be done later

and what doesn't actually matter anymore now that I see everything listed out. That's never mind. That practice has helped me identify what's actually necessary and what doesn't doesn't matter, but is actually holding my brain hostage. But one of the best things about doing that

is seeing what needs to be done now so I can take care of it before it becomes an emergency, before it becomes like super urgent. Now, is this a perfect system? No, of course, we're human. And remember, systems aren't magical or perfect anyway. But I do like this now, soon, later, never mind one, because it is simple and it's versatile enough that I don't feel overwhelmed by it. it taps into my humanity in that it doesn't make me figure everything out right now and turn me into a robot. And it's an immediate litmus test for what needs to get done now versus scrambling at the last minute. It's actually kind of like asking the magic question. What can I do now to make something easier later? What can I tend to now before it becomes urgent? Maybe it's having a file folder or like a

paper clip or binder clip in your mail basket so that when your tax documents start coming in over these next few weeks, you immediately put them in that folder or clip them together. And that way when it's April, you're not scrambling to try to find everything and getting super stressed out about it, right? Maybe it's laundry. I think sometimes we let laundry go until it's a V-urgent. We're like, we can make it one more day, but then one more day comes and you didn't do the laundry and you're tired, but no one has clean underwear for tomorrow. Doing laundry a little earlier while it's necessary, but before it becomes urgent, helps you feel more human and not stressed out. P.S, there are also two laundry episodes.

If you are so inclined in learning about laundry, so many other episodes you could listen to today. Episode 21, it's an oldie but a goody is the lazy genius does laundry. It's a fan favorite. and there is also episode 113, the lazy genius does laundry updated because it was over two years later and it was time to talk about laundry again. But all of that to say, tend to the necessary before it becomes urgent. That mindset will impact your time management in practical, beautifully helpful ways, especially because its primary objective is keeping you from task pain. panic. And number five, don't do it all, do what matters. We know that no one can do it all. But we still kind of expect it, like in the back of our minds. And when we get overwhelmed with that

expectation, I call that the genius way. We swing to the lazy side of things. And we're like, well, I'm not going to do anything. It's either all lazy or all genius. Instead, don't do it all. do what matters. That's why everything we do here in lazy genius land focuses on naming what matters. When you name what matters to you, you will focus more on that thing than on the other things. And therefore, you're doing what matters most. Experiences will feel more complete because you did what mattered most. For example, and this is a great place. We're going to insert our lazy genius of the week right in the middle of the episode

because it's such a great example. I got a message recently from Christine Lindstrom, who is planning a family trip to Disney World. She wrote, I realized I was getting neurotic about trying to maximize every moment of this very expensive experience. Don't waste a moment. Don't miss anything.

Then my 10-year-old son said something about trying to make. sure Disney was perfect and I realized I wasn't the only one setting myself up for disappointment. We sat down as a family and talked about what matters for our trip. What is most important? We'll do more than the things we listed, but if we don't see and do it all, we can know that we did what mattered to us. You guys, Christine's example is so applicable to all kinds of things, not just trips to Disney World. When we name what matters about an experience. experience, a day, a project, a meeting, an interaction, a list. We focus on that thing or that small collection of things. And therefore, we capture that feeling of doing it all because we did what

mattered. So when you're managing your time in any way, this essential mindset will carry you so far. Don't do it all. Do what matters. I was about to point you in the direction of an episode on how to name what matters, but we don't have one, which is wild. I talk about it throughout lots of episodes and Instagram posts. I have episodes at the start of the last two years at the beginning of 2021 and 2022 on ways to name what matters for the year specifically, so those could help. There's also episode 235 when you disagree on what matters, which is really helpful if you are, you know, living with someone or working closely with someone. And yeah, you disagree on what matters and you can't quite come to a solution or compromise. But there isn't a general episode on this topic,

which I didn't realize and I think I need to change in 2022. So hopefully that will be coming down the pipe pretty soon. Okay. So to recap, our essential mindsets, our five essential mindsets for time management are your beliefs affect your time more than your schedule does. Don't judge every day against your best day. Focus on the practice, not the planner. Tend to the necessary before it becomes urgent and don't do it all. Do what matters. I hope that this helps you feel better about managing your time a little bit more encouraging. whatever your time looks like. And that's it for today. Thanks so much for listening for sharing the episodes with your friends and your family and for just being very lovely people. 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.