The Lazy Genius Podcast - #70: The Lazy Genius Welcomes Fall

Episode Date: August 13, 2018

School is about to start, but it's still technically summer. How do we transition between seasons and schedules and stay present and all the things we hope for? Enjoy this episode about welcoming fall without aggressively leaving summer behind. Episodes related to this one: The Lazy Genius Morning Routine (if you need a little routine refresher) The Lazy Genius Conquers Holiday Overwhelm (about opening and closing ceremonies) The Lazy Genius Finds a Fall Rhythm 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 friends. You're listening to The Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra 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 number 70. The Lazy Genius welcomes fall. I was going to title it The Lazy Genius Start School, but I didn't want any of you non-moms or non-students to think that this was not for you because it is the start of school. It affects us all in kind of weird ways. We personally start in two weeks and I have some. so many feelings about it because here's the thing. Even if you don't have kids, there is something about the start of school. It marks a beginning. It means something. The air shifts. And we start to kind of like buckle down, right? Life becomes more regular and probably busier. And something happens in our brain that didn't happen during summer break. Transitioning from summer to starting school has some beautiful perks and some interesting challenges. So today we're going to talk about how to see them with lazy, genius eyes. Here's our framework for this episode. August feels out of place because it's still summer, but it's also fall. It's mentally fall. We talked about that a little

bit last week about the challenges of having our brain in one season and our bodies in another. You can go back an episode and listen if you haven't yet. Here's what I've realized. And this framework is so helpful because it finally has a place. It fits. It makes August fit. The start of school is like its own January 1st, right? It's new beginnings and clean slates and all that jazz. That means that August and the few weeks leading up to the start of school, again, whether or not you or your kids are in school, is like the holiday season. It's like Christmas.

And what do we struggle with during December? It's so stupid busy. There are gifts to buy and experiences to have and memories to make. We try and balance all of these things we need to do and prepare for. and then still somehow enjoy the restful Christmas season, spending time together and slowing down. Do you see the parallel? August, it has school supplies and clothes shopping

and open houses and summer reading. One of your kids forgot to finish. There are lots of tasks and things to do. You want to finish up the projects that you didn't get to do in the summer that you put off the whole time. But we're still in the summer. And we don't want to end that season in a desperate rush, just like we don't want to end Christmas in a desperate rush.

Last year, I did a really long series on the holidays, and one of the things that came up over and over again in that series was not wanting to be glad Christmas was over. We look forward to that season so much throughout the year, generally speaking. We have such a tender affection for it in our hearts, especially like in July. But when we're in it, we don't see it as much. And then we're so relieved when January rolls around to kind of clear the air and take away the busy. But then after that air settles, we feel like we kind of miss Christmas, that we weren't present for it in the way that we had hoped. The same thing happens in August.

It's crazy. We get crazy. We forget what matters. We get desperate for the start of school so that things can go back to normal. And then it's not but like a few weeks later when we're overwhelmed yet again with how crazy fall feels and oh my gosh, how long before Christmas break. Or oh my gosh, how long before we can go back to summer. We really need a new way, you guys.

But even seeing the parallels of those two seasons can be so helpful. I think that's why August feels weird. Because it is weird. It puts us in a holding pattern if we let it. So let's not let it. The first step in that not happening is what we're doing right now. Acknowledge it. Acknowledge that the way you're feeling is understandable, but there is another way. Just like we created a slower, more intentional Christmas, we can create a slower, more intentional August. It's like prelude before school starts. It carries tunes of what's to come, but it isn't exactly what's to come. Simply seeing it for what it is will really help. So let's think about it practically. Think about how lovely it is in December when you have an epic Christmas shopping day and you get

pretty much everything you need all at once. It frees up the days after in such a lovely way, doesn't it? Try and do the same for back-to-school stuff, if that's part of your life. Maybe, maybe like don't space out the errands to get clothes and pens and notebooks and book bags and all the things because then our brains are like always in active mode or always an errand mode. There's all like they're already in school, you know? What if you take a day or two this month, whenever it makes the most sense and you tackle everything at once like you often do with your Christmas shopping. Commit and get it all done so you can enjoy the rest of the season. That is one way to be intentional is to kind of batch it.

Batch all your errands. Another thing to consider, like more big picture, but also more helpful, is the actual transition. Going straight from summer to school can be rough. We often don't give it a clear delineation. One day it's summer with the pool and the popsicles and then we're suddenly running errands for what feels like a month and then it's the first day of school. During the holidays, I am all about opening and closing. ceremonies. I will link to in the show notes to the episode where I talk about that. Mark the beginning

and the ends clearly, even if it is in your mind. But if we're talking about you as a student or a teacher or your kids as students, summer needs a clear end and school needs a clear beginning. There are definitely a few days of overlap where you're transitioning from one to the other and we'll talk about that in just a second. But right now, think about something so simple that you can do. You might actually already do it, and now you just are going to call it by name. Go out to dinner the night before the first day of school. Go get ice cream or go bowling as a family. Do something on purpose together where you are like almost offering like a cheers, like a salute to the summer.

You're lovingly saying goodbye and acknowledging it. And then you turn around and lovingly say hello to school and the fall and acknowledge that too. It might feel kind of overwrought to like. make such a big deal about going from one season to another. But if we think about farmers, I love how I'm about to use a gardening example, and I don't know how to garden. But if we think about farmers and gardeners and what I assume happens when people who like know how to grow things, when you have to prepare to begin your garden and you have to shut it down to end it, right? You cut back plants. You cover your beds with pine straw to protect them while they rest like in the cold days that are

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You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Not everything has to work everywhere. And if you try and force that to happen, you're just going to get frustrated. That's why in the summer, I did that strategy, that summer strategy series back in May. That's why in the summer, we need to not try to fit summer into a fall-sized hole. like dinner routines and bed times and your own work, they don't operate the same way in different seasons. And that's normal and it's good and it doesn't have to be a source of frustration. I mean, it can be frustrating, but so much of our frustration is because we're expecting something that isn't there or that isn't realistic.

So don't be tempted to cram too much fall and kind of back to schooling into these last days of summer. Let it be, let it breathe. Mark the moment. Now, to finish up, what about that idea of transition? Closing up the summer like we would a lakehouse or a vegetable garden is good. But it can also feel kind of abrupt, right? I get that. I also get how after a summer of kids at home and free time and a very loose routine,

you are itching to put so much structure back into your life, right? August is a chance to transition into that structure slowly. for you and for your people. Because if you don't give yourself time and space and slowness to figure out what you're going to need when life becomes more regular, it's like a marathon runner who's getting back into running after a broken leg. You miss it so much. I mean, I'm not a runner, so I don't really know, but I'm assuming you would miss it so much.

And you miss your structure and your routine so hard and you want it all back at once. But if you go from nothing to everything too fast, your structure will fail you and you will be frustrated all over again. Just like that runner who doesn't walk first. You have to walk first. And these next few days in August are such a great chance for you to do that. So what does that look like? Consider adding one regular routine thing back into your life that might not have been there

much during the summer. Maybe you start getting up a little earlier and doing the morning routine that will fill you up in the fall. Get into it slowly. Maybe like one component in a time. You can kind of reverse engineer it. I love, I love reverse engineering things so much. So let's say your ideal morning routine, and I did a whole episode on morning routines that you can listen to. I'll put that in the show notes too. So let's say your ideal morning routine, like in the smack dab middle of September is you are up at 545. You walk around the block three or four times. You drink your coffee, you read a chapter from a book, you make lunches for everybody, and while your crew is eating breakfast, you get ready for the day. Let's say that's your morning routine. Starting all of that all at once, it might not go as easily as you hope it will. So go backwards. Take one thing from that routine and start doing it now. Just one thing. Maybe you start setting your alarm for 545 and like you just get up and sit on the couch with coffee in a book until everybody else is up. And then you guys do whatever your summer day holds.

let your body get used to the hour or wake up and do your walk or whatever it is and then a few days later you add another thing and then another thing ease into what you want to maintain in the fall and consider doing the same for your kids start a non-summer bedroom bedroom bedtime routine bit by bit make the mornings a little bit more structured bit by bit slowly transition into the fall so nobody's hit in the face with all the structure and they hate school before it even starts. If you move into that transition slowly and you pair that with some sort of moment marker, you know, some kind of summer closing ceremony, you're going to find that starting school or starting fall, welcoming your fall, it's going to feel really good.

Everyone will be a little more ready, a little more equipped, and you're not going straight from the pool to school. I did not even intend for that to rhyme. That was kind of fun. We just need to practice presence where we are and recognize the value of looking ahead just a little and behind just a little. We prepare and we remember, but we also stay where we are. Don't jump too far ahead or drag your feet too much. So much of the stress that we feel this time of year is manufactured by our own urgency and by the urgency of the newspaper flyers and the target sales. Lean into the urgency if you want for a day or two like you do at Christmas and get everything bought and packed and

washed and done and then rest. Look around. Still have fun. Slowly transition one thing at a time. And you'll be able to say goodbye to summer and say hello to fall and the start of school with balance and presence. No desperation, or at least a lot less than you would otherwise. No kicking kids out of the house because you can't stand it anymore. No looking back at how you missed out on the pace of summer because you looked into fall too quickly. You know, like, just go slow.

Go slow. One thing at a time. Go slow. I really want you to feel encouraged as you begin the school year, as you say goodbye to your summer, as you transition into your fall. And I hope that you remember how fun the summer actually was. decide on that ceremony, on that closing ceremony, and you can come and tell me about it on Instagram. I'll be there Thursday, as usual. Around 12.15 Eastern Time, I'm at The Lazy Genius on

Instagram. And I would love to hear kind of your thoughts about what this transition might look like. Everybody's situation is so different. But the point is to think about it in tiny pieces, one thing at a time, and to mark the moment. Those are really, the main things that are going to help you welcome fall and take about a summer with a lot of grace and a smile on your face rather than like a desperate grimace, which nobody wants that. So come join me on Instagram at the lazy genius 1215 this Thursday. I'm there every Thursday to talk about the episode. So I hope to see you there. Okay, that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, be a genius about things that matter and lazy about the things that

don't. 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.