The Lazy Genius Podcast - Back to School Checklist

Episode Date: July 27, 2026

The start of school might still be several weeks away for some of you, but there are ways that we can make that transition easier by doing just a little bit of thinking and planning now.Helpful Companion LinksOrder my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy.Episode #274: The Back-to-School Starter PackSign up for our every-other-week podcast recap email called Latest Lazy Listens.Sign up for my once-a-month newsletter, The Latest Lazy Letter.Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links)Download a transcript of this episode.Want to share your Lazy Genius of the Week idea with us? Use this form to tell us about it or record your idea and share your voice on the show.

Hey there, you're listening to the Lazy Genius podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi. This show is not about hacking the system to find more time or hacking your energy to get more done. Hustling to be the best or to make the most out of every opportunity is exhausting and unsustainable. So here we do things differently. On the show, we value contentment, compassion, and living in our season. We favor small steps over big systems. Here we are lazy geniuses being a genius. about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. And I'm so glad you're here. Today's episode 479, three ways to make back to school easier. The start of school might still be several weeks away for some of you, but there are ways that we can all make that transition easier by doing just a little bit of thinking and planning now. Now, it's all right to fly by the sea of your pants and have a frantic few days before the start of school. That's no big deal. But If you would like to avoid that energy even a little bit, this episode will help you feel a bit more settled with what's coming. After that, we'll have a little extra something where I talk about

the book yesteryear. I read it, you guys. I know I said I wouldn't, but I did. So I will share my thoughts. As always, we will celebrate the lazy genius of the week with a great idea to make the start of school easier. And we'll close with a mini pop talk for when you're stuck in the almost time. I mentioned this briefly in last week's podcast recap email, that I heard this term called the almost time that I've been thinking about a lot. And the end of July, beginning of August, very much feels like the almost time, where things are almost starting or almost over or almost done or almost ready. And that liminal space can be unsettling. So we'll have a mini pep talk about that. One way you might feel more settled in that almost time is to get a compassionate

boost, a little help to transition into a new fall season, which often feels like a gauntlet ready to destroy your very soul. Obviously, we do that a lot here on the podcast and in emails, even in this episode specifically, to help make life transitions and seasonal transitions feel less daunting. But it's still a normal part of seasonal transitions to feel angsty in the lead up. That's why it might be a terrific. time of year to pick out my first book, The Lazy Genius Way. It is the book that teaches the original 13 lazy genius principles, and it is such a good reminder of what matters during a time of transition. I have written two other books, but this one is still my bestselling book. It was a New York

Times bestseller. It's been translated into 18 languages, 18 cuckoo pants. And it's something that a of you read every year. So the AI summary of all the Amazon reviews says, customers find this book encouraging and practical, providing helpful principles for simplifying life. They appreciate its humor, noting it makes them cry and laugh while also being easy to follow and quick to read. Customers describe it as life-changing, with one mentioning how it transformed their household, and they find it relatable and down to earth. Customers praise the author's approach of with one noting she leads readers with kindness. Now, I don't typically depend on AI generated anything,

but that one sure does capture the feedback that I have gotten about this book over the six years since it's been out in the world. So if you have not read it or if you have read it, but it's been a while, it might be a really great encouragement before the craziness of a new season hits. So you can find the lazy genius way at any online retailer for sure, but also check your local library or you can request it from your local bookstore. Sometimes you'll send me pictures on Instagram of way sightings out in the wild and that is really,

really fun, especially when it's at your local bookstore. So check out the Lazy Genius Way at the end of this July and I hope you enjoy it. Since this episode will have some note taking probably involved, don't forget about our podcast recap email. I mentioned it already where I wrote a few words about the almost time. But this email hits your inbox every other Friday, and it has detailed info for the previous two episodes. So you'll get helpful summaries, extras you might have forgotten about, like the lazy genius of the week. And then I will also share personal words and even sometimes photos about how those particular episodes are happening in my own life. So if you would like to get that email, which we call latest lazy lessons, you can join the mailing list at the lazy genius collective.com.

slash listens. All right. So before we get into three ways to make going back to school easier, let's take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who make this show free for you to listen to. Remember, we are lucky enough to have our entire podcast available for anyone to listen to without you having to pay a dime. So many shows understandably have premium levels with bonus content or are behind a paywall entirely. Some of that is due to a tough advertising industry, not all but some. And we are really fortunate to still be able to produce the show through sponsorships rather than membership. So we're really grateful to our sponsors who make the show free for you, the listener. So let's hear from our sponsors and then we'll get into three ways to make going back

to school easier. This episode is sponsored by LO. When your day moves fast between getting everyone out the door, meal prepping, and trying to find a small moment for yourself, the products you use should make things easier, not harder. That's where ELO comes in. ELO makes thoughtfully designed water bottles, tumblers, and glass food storage containers that fit right into your routine. Their water bottles are easy to refill, easy to carry, and leakproof, so you can toss them in your bag without second guessing it. They're designed to keep up with your busy day and make staying hydrated feel a little more doable. And when it comes to leftovers or meal prepping their glass food storage containers, make it simple to save dinner for tomorrow, or take

meals on the go, with secure lids that help keep everything where it should be, and not in the bottom of your bag. Visit L-O-Products.com and use code try L-O-20 for 20% off your first purchase. That's E-L-L-O-P-R-O-D-U-C-T-S dot com, code try L-O-20. All right, let's get into three ways to make back to school easier. I have done plenty of episodes about the start of school. And honestly, I almost didn't make one this year. But then I thought, man, I'd like to think through this again. We all still need reminders about how to kindly approach new seasons, even ones that we

have been through many times. We learn things each year about what works and what doesn't. And also, it's easy to forget that scurry is not the only option. You don't have to scurry your way through a busy season. So reminders for that are good. So some of what I will say I have said before, but I hope it hits at the right time either way, whether this is the first time you're hearing me talk about back to school or the seventh. In an episode from last year, a listener called August, the month of August, one long Sunday night, that is a very relatable description. There are so many things to prepare for in August, especially if you or your kids are going back to school.

If you are a teacher and you have kids of your own, it's double time. As I said at the start of the episode, you can certainly wait until things are immediately needed and then get them or do them. That's fine. Eliminating urgency is not the most important thing in life. But if you would like to come at the school year with like a little more calm and preparation, then let's do it. This episode is for you.

All right, I have three categories that you might want to consider as the school year approaches. Okay. stuff, schedules, and sanity. Stuff, schedules, and sanity. If you think about those three categories and essentialize them to the most important thing or two, now before all the chaos begins, you will absolutely make going back to school easier. In fact, if you're able, I would actually really love for you to grab a piece of paper or like open your notes app and make lists as you listen. you're going to have three lists, stuff, schedules, and sanity. Okay, so let's start with stuff. What stuff do you need to have before the school year starts? This is potentially a sizable list,

but also might not be as long as it feels like it is. We'll see, right? But items on this list could include school supplies, clothes and shoes, different kinds of tech, sports equipment, gear for musical instruments. If you homeschool, you might, need to upgrade to a bigger desk for a kid or replace the whiteboard that broke last year. The big question here is, what do you need to have? Make a list of everything you can think of that relates to the school year that you need to have that you do not have yet. Now, if you don't know the details of something like your school supplies list, because you don't get that list until open house like we do, just write the category school supplies. But make your list of stuff.

Now, you're not going to do anything with that list yet, but make the list. all the same. So upon first glance, after you make this list of what do I need that I don't have already, a couple of things might happen. You might realize there's less to get than you thought. Unless your kids go to a school with uniforms, new clothes might not matter so much. They'll just keep wearing what they're wearing now. Shoes might need an upgrade, but your list could be just school supplies. Seeing the reality of what you need might offer a little calm right out of the gate because it's just not as long as you thought it was. Now, if it doesn't, that's okay, too, but it might. Okay, so don't do anything with the list yet. Like I said, just keep it there.

We're going to move on. So that's your stuff. Next up is schedules. What do you need to do or plan to do? What do you need to plan? Maybe it's like you need open houses. You need dates for open houses. Or fall sports practices are going to start or it's tryouts for a particular sport at school. You haven't put those things on the schedule yet. Maybe you need to schedule doctor's appointments because you forgot that your kid needs that athletic form signed by a doctor and you don't have it yet. You might need to schedule vaccinations or an educational assessment at a new school. Maybe you need to plan a meeting with the leaders of your school co-op since you're leading it this year. And you like kind of forgot about that for a hot minute.

What do you need to schedule? Make a list of those things. Again, don't do anything with it yet. Just make the list and set it aside. And then the final category is sanity. what do you need to keep things as smooth as possible in your logistical life and also maybe in your soul? Now, this list could be a bit more nuanced and it's also probably the longest one because everything in life might feel like it could be calmer. Like you could quite literally write down a dozen components for your life without me having to offer a single idea of how to feel like the sanity is still intact.

Now, I am going to give you some ideas. But the point here is just to list things out. You know, name what's in your head that's making you a little swirly. You're just naming decisions or routines or anything at all that you anticipate could make sanity a bit harder if left unattended. Okay. Now, again, just like the other two lists, don't do anything with the list yet. Just write it down. So here are some ideas.

Bedtime routines. If your kids are like mine, they're going to bed and getting up way later. then they will on a school night or school morning. And you're already a little stressed about that. Fair. Same. So readjusting bedtimes and routines, that will help your sanity as well as theirs. Another category.

Tech. Maybe you have a son who's about to get a phone because he's the age you decided he could have one. And you're at the start of creating healthy boundaries for him as the school year begins, but you don't know what those are yet. That could be stressful. Or your daughter is going to ride the bus. year and you're like, man, I really actually want her to have some kind of watch so I can keep in touch with her if transportation goes awry, but you haven't decided what to do. Okay, so that's tech.

Another category that can help with sanity or completely take it away is meals. Summer meals are often way more relaxed than in any other season. And once sports practices and lessons and actual school starts up again, especially if your own work might pick up again once the school year does, you know that transitioning back into table dinners could be like a whole thing. So if that feels stressful right now, write it down. What about adjusting to a new life rhythm in general? Like going from no events to practices and clubs and carpools and tryouts is like a whole thing. It feels like going from empty to completely full overnight, and that anticipation can be

very stressful. Or if you're a homeschool family and you are still home, but now you have to add structure back into your days that you haven't had for a couple of months, that is also something that might feel overwhelming. Or maybe it's more logistics for you as a homeschool family. It's like your school room and your supply closet have not been touched since the beginning of June, and you know you need to like prep that room for the start of school, but it hasn't happened yet, and that's adding stress to your life? There are lots of options here, clearly. But what would help your sanity? What stressful thing, if made less stressful, would make going back to school easier? So I want you to make that list however long it is. Now before we move on to the next thing, I want you to remember one,

a very important thing. You will never eliminate stress from a new season. You will never. You will never eliminate it. It will not happen. And if you forget that, you're going to try really hard to control everything that you just listed out to eliminate stress and it will not work. You are not trying to control a new season. That's not what we're doing here, right? You're not trying to wrangle the whole thing into submission. That's not real, for one thing. And it just makes you, like, tired and cranky. Our goal is to be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. You're not going to be a genius about everything. You're just going to try to be a genius about the most important things so that you can actively choose what to be lazy about. When you make that

choice, everything feels easier. Not easy and void of stress entirely, but definitely easier. So please, please, please remember that. Don't get snagged by perfection and control. We're not like a stress completionist over here. We'll make it a little easier, but it's still probably going to be a little stressful. That's normal and okay. All right. Now, here's what happens with the lists. You're going to choose the three things that when taken care of now will make the biggest difference in the ease of going back to school later. It's not that the other things don't matter at all. Of course they do. But since you can't do everything right away, you might as well choose what will give you the best bang for your energetic buck now. Plus, there is something truly transformative about doing

whatever removes the most stress because it automatically makes everything else on the list feel easier. It just does. This is why I'm such a big fan of making different kinds of to-do lists. Like if you make one giant to-do list, it includes all the things, the entire thing, the entire list, it will rise to the level of the most difficult task on it. So even if 90% of your list is like fairly easy, that one really hard thing will make all of it feel more impossible and more overwhelming than it actually is. So by breaking your list into manageable categories like we are here with stuff, schedules, and sanity, or in other ways that I've shared before, like now, soon, later, and never mind, you make it easier in your brain. You're making it smaller. Start smaller. Make

smaller. Another benefit of making smaller lists out of a big one is that you can more easily spot which items are too big to be on the list. For example, even in just what we've said today, in the little examples I've shared, like getting new clothes for your kids starting school, that's more than one thing, right? That's like a tiny little project. You've got to go through their old stuff to see what doesn't fit anymore. You have to make a list of what they need. You have to decide what stores to try or where to order from. And then you have to force a kid to try things on to make sure they fit, which is like the worst. I'm not sure how many of us still do classic back-to-school clothes shopping anymore unless you do go somewhere that has uniforms. But that is a great example of something on your list. Get new clothes for school that feels big because it is big. It's too many things in one task item. right? So we will talk about making those things smaller in a minute, but when you make a smaller list, it's also easier to spot tasks that are too big to just stay as they are. All right. So you have

made three different lists because categories help narrow your thinking. And I want you to leave those three lists with three tasks. Okay. Like we said, the three most helpful tasks that are going to make the rest of it easier. But remember this, your three tasks, it doesn't have to be one thing from each list. It doesn't have to be one stuff thing, one scheduled thing, and one sanity thing. It could all be sanity. It doesn't matter, actually. You're just finding the three things across the board that will help. Now, I do think it's easier to look at each list separately because it automatically makes decisions kind of smaller and easier. But don't force yourself to do something from the stuff list when like two things from the sanity list will make a bigger impact. See what I'm saying?

So it's not one from each. It's three total, but the three different lists will help you think more clearly. All right. So here's what you're going to do. You have your three lists for each list for stuff, schedules, and sanity. I want you to just rank what matters the most in terms of making life easier. What's going to make the start of back to school easier? It's not so much what's the most important, right? Chances are it's all kind of equally important, but what will make life easier? What's going to make you feel better? What will naturally allow other tasks to happen more easily? You might already know what those three things are that if you want to go through this entire process, okay, I want you to rank each individual list, stuff schedules and sanity, each one, I want you to go

through your stuff list and like rank them one through whatever on that list. Okay. Now, once you do that for all three lists, look at all three of your number ones. Are each of those number ones more helpful than whatever all the number twos are? You know, but basically you're just going to pick the three most helpful things that you can do now to make going back to school easier later. Rank if you want or just pick, but it might help to rank if you're having trouble naming what it is. All right. And then you're going to make a plan. You're going to schedule those things. You're going to put them on your calendar. I'm going to talk you through it in a minute, but you're going to put them on your calendar, your to do list for today or tomorrow, or you're going to

start thinking about whatever decision that you want to make that's going to make the rest of your list easier. You're going to give yourself a time window to finish it. Something reasonable for whatever you're choosing. You know, like whatever it is, you're going to create a plan. Now, I'm going to walk you through that specifically for my own life in going back to school, but that's the general process, okay? Stuff, schedules, sanity. Make your lists, rank them up, pick your top three things, and commit to being like, I'm going to focus on these three things right now over the next three days, 10 days, or whenever it feels a person. to have them ready. Okay. Now, let's walk through my own life and my own kids going back to school.

This is what my list. This is what my list. I already made my list. All right. So my stuff list, school supplies and a car. Like truly, that's kind of it. Most of the supplies we've actually already gotten because Annie got the urge to go shopping last week. And we did. We looked up like the countywide fifth grade list. I don't know that's going to be right. She's. She's probably got more folders than she needs, but like, whatever. So we have most of the school supplies, but we will probably get some more. The boys barely need anything now that they're in high school. Like teachers are like, whatever.

I don't care. Just do your work. Like truly. So we do have a few things that we need to get, but barely. It's like a grocery order away. It's no big deal. I will know more after they're open houses the week before school starts. But that's the first thing on the stuff list is we definitely do need some school supplies still.

And the other thing we need is a family car, a third car. Marching band activities start three weeks before school does. And Kaz and I both have a lot of work things going on at the same time in August. Like we really need that third car so that Sam, who now has his driver's license, he can take himself and his brother, who is now doing all the same high school marching band activities to those activities while Kaz and I are working and in our own cars, like using our own cars. So that is a huge, that's a huge thing that we need.

We had a car slip through our fingers like just today. It was very sad. But we still got time and we will continue to look. We don't need clothes yet because our kids don't wear uniforms to school. They go to public school. And it's not going to get cold here until like November. So clothes are fine. Shoes are fine. Tech is fine. Instruments recently got geared up before music camp, summer music camp. So those are good to go. So our stuff list. is super short. School supplies and a car. That's it. It's very expensive list, but still just two things. Okay. Next list, schedules. So the boys, they don't play sports. So there are no forms. We need a doctor to sign, which means we don't have to go to the doctor before school. I will say we

already have doctor's appointments scheduled before school just because that's how it timed out, and that's been on the calendar for several months now. But we didn't have to rush for that, which is nice. We don't have forms we have to fill out. So honestly, the only big thing to consider schedule-wise is the week of open houses. I always find that week a little stressful on a personal level. I have learned that from looking back on my past playbooks where I'm like, oh, it's open house week. And I remember it in my body.

Like it's three open houses. It's three days of school chaos of QR codes and meeting teachers and getting supply lists and trying not to lose the stack of forms I have to fill out for each kid. And it all happens during the dinner hour. Like all the open houses are from five to seven, which makes sense for working parents to be able to get there after work, right? So in our county, elementary, middle, and high schools, they all happen three days in a row, just so like families with kids in two different kinds of schools don't miss an open house, right? And since Kaas, my husband is a middle school counselor, he has to be at his school's open house on middle school open house day, right? Now, that has

been tough the last few years because I've had a middle schooler and had to do those open houses solo. Well, this year, I actually don't, I don't have a middle schooler anymore. I have two high schoolers and an elementary kid. So the open house week will already be less stressful than usual because we're skipping one. Like there's not one. We're not doing middle school. But still, it's really good for me to note that I typically find it stressful. And since those are stressful days, I'd like ease on those days wherever I can get it. So that's on my list is Open House Week. Schedule-wise, it's like a little stressful. Okay. And that's it really for schedules. And for sanity, because my kids are older and we have a lot of systems already in place that have grown over the years,

this time of year, it doesn't feel quite as cuckoo pants as years past, which means this year is also shorter. Let this all be a hope to those of you with small children where it feels like you're doing everything all at once. It does get easier the bigger they get. It gets more expensive, but it gets easier logistically a little bit, at least when you're going back to school, the older they get. But I do still have a sanity list. Okay. So my bedtimes for sure, like I said earlier, my kids are going to bed so much later during the summer than they do during the school year. They also sleep later, especially Annie. Annie's the big difference. She goes to bed around 10 or 1030 most nights during the summer, and she sleeps until like 8 or 8.30. She is her father's daughter.

She will be a big sleeper. But considering she has to wake up at 6.30 on school mornings, a whole like an hour and a half to two hours earlier than she's waking up now. Like her bedtime is going to have to shift big time in a few weeks when we start school. Now same for the boys, but just not as extreme. There's like 30 minutes. It's not a big deal. But bedtimes are a big part of our sanity once school starts. Another thing, meals, summer meals for us are often last minute. Planning and prep are just less regular than during the year. And we are also about to get into marching band season where the boys don't get home from practice until like 630. It'll be an immediate shift in mealtime energy, particularly dinner. And I do feel a little stressed out about that. I would rather not go from

summer meal energy to school year energy as quickly as like flipping a coin. I need a bit more of a gradual like transition. So it doesn't feel like something else big to manage in this time of year. Now, I don't know what that will look like yet. We'll do that in a second. But I know that category for sure goes on my sanity list. The final sanity thing is my office. So I have an office in a garage where I work and record, but I haven't used it a ton in the summertime to do anything but record. It is in transition. It's a little dirty. It's got boxes of stuff just piled by the wall that I need to go through. And I'm also considering getting a walking pad and standing desk situation in here. I have been doing PT for some stuff, and my mobility is something I really need to prioritize.

So sitting at a desk chair, like no matter how like ergonomic it is or whatever, is not the best choice for me anymore. So even though I can work in my house and I have been this summer, I do feel this like low frequency, urgent frequency in my brain about my office. Like it would be really great to get that better prepared for the school year and getting back to work. Okay, so here we go. Here's my whole list. My list of stuff is school supplies and a third car. My list for scheduling is just the stress of open house week. And my list for sanity, bedtimes, meals, and my office. So that's six things. Okay. Now, I want to leave this with three. And I can easily spot my top two. Like no, no work required here. The top two are a third car

and bedtimes. If we get a third car so that the boys can get to school on their own to marching band practice before school starts, that is going to be a massive load off. That's like a logistical nightmare for them to not have a car. Now, if we can also start easing back into different bedtime and morning routines that are going to better align with the school year, so I do not have cranky children in the morning, which makes for a cranky mother, because I do not have a lot of resilience with cranky attitudes, that would also be amazing. And it would make a lot of things better, right? So those two to me are like, weo, we, like those are clearly my top two priorities. As for the remaining four things, school supplies, open house week, meals at my office. Like,

they're all helpful, but not as urgent as the other two. Like I said before, like school supplies really just need like one quick grocery order after open house week since Annie already has the bulk of what she needs. So that feels pretty easy actually. That's just like a quick, a quick button press, right? Open house week, it will automatically feel less stressful if dinner those three days is already planned, which kind of speaks to the meals category on my sanity list. So if I start to, to think about dinner more thoughtfully and I start getting into a meal planning rhythm again that more resembles how it's going to be during the school year. Open House Week is going to benefit from that automatically. It's automatically going to make it easier. Now, I do think it would

be nice to have my office ordered and set up again, but it's not so urgent. Like, my work's not going to suffer because I don't have it set up yet. It's no big deal. So I think that settles it. I think it's meals. Meals is my third thing. So third car. bed times, and meals. Now, just narrowing my list down, even a list that was fairly short, honestly, to those three things, that makes my back-to-school woes feel very, very easy. Because the rest is not really my concern right now. This is why we love starting small, you guys. Like, starting small feels doable. It's not as overwhelming. Like, not everything has to happen right now. So name what is the most helpful to happen now and focus on that. Okay? The rest is going to happen.

So once you have your three things, here's what you can do. For each one, I want you to identify where you are and where you want to be by the time school starts. And then name what has to happen to get you there. What has to happen in the middle? For some things, that is a really simple answer. Others might require a little bit of thought. But let's look at my three things. Let's talk through them so you can see what I mean. All right. So first, a third car. Right now, we do not have a third car and eventually we would like to have one. So that's where we are and where we'd like to be. We don't have a car. We'd like to have a car. Now, I would personally love to have one by August 1st because that is when a lot of the like scheduling chaos begins and all the overlaps of everybody needing to be in different places. So what needs to happen

between now and then. Well, we've already done some of those things. We've decided on a budget, a model, what features are important. And so now we, but really, Cause, because he's the one who is overseeing all of this, because I do not care or understand it. Mostly don't care. We need to keep searching for cars until we find one. You know, fingers crossed. Like, as I'm actually working on this episode, Caz is in a town, next town overlooking at a car. Who knows? We did have another one that we found a few days ago. It was sold by the time we figured out of time to go see it because it was an hour and a half away and the logistics are tricky. So maybe we will have a third car by the time this episode releases. Who knows? But this process is already moving. It is important and kind of urgent

and causes taking the reins. But it's moving. So that one's sort of mostly taken care of. Okay. Next step. Bed times. Right now the kids are going to bed one to two hours later than they should be during the school year and are waking up the same. So that's where we are right now. Where I would like to be is them going to bed at school year bedtime and waking up at school year morning time. Maybe like a day or two before school actually happens. Now, what's a bummer about that is that the first day of school is a Monday. I hate the first day of school being on a Monday because then they have to do a full five-day week, which is like so exhausting. And also you just have to go from a weekend straight into a month. I really, I love a Wednesday. I love a Wednesday first day of school. I feel like that's a sweet

spot, but that is sadly not what we're working with. Um, so because our first day of school is a Monday, and I don't, I don't really want them to have to get up as early on like Saturday and Sunday as they would on a weekday. I don't know, but it'll probably have to be fairly close to their regular wake up time. So how do I get them from where we are? are now to where we want to be then. Well, an obvious answer is to slowly start to shift both times, bedtime and waking up. Now again, Annie's the biggest adjustment. And honestly, like, y'all, the more I think about it, the boys are fine. Like, whatever, they don't even have to leave for school until 8.45. I'm not that worried about them. Like, they just need to go to bed a little earlier.

but I don't think that they're going to be that affected. Annie, however, is a different story. So if I focus on her, which honestly is a way of making the problem smaller, right, she needs to adjust her bedtime and wake time by like 90 minutes easy. And that's a lot of time. So let's look at the math. Let's say I'm like, we're going to adjust 15 minutes both ways. So we're going to go to bed 15 minutes earlier and wake up 15.

minutes earlier, every couple of days, we're going to bump it by another 15 minutes. Okay. So that would be 90 minutes divided by 15 is six. So that would be six, 15 minute adjustments over 12 days if I'm making one every two days. So really the math is about two weeks before school starts, right? Two weeks before school starts, we need to start moving her bedtime 15 minutes earlier and waking her up 15 minutes earlier and every couple days do that again. So guess what I'm going to go do right now? I am going to make a note in my calendar for the Sunday night two weeks before school starts to begin Annie's bedtime adjustment. I know what that adjustment is because we just set it out loud. I've got a reminder set

and then we're going to do it. Like that's done. That's decided. Yay. Okay. And then the third thing that would make all the other things going back to school easier is meals. Now, this one is pretty broad. So as I look at where I am and where I would like to be and how to bridge the gap, I'm going to try and make the problem smaller as we go. Here's where I am. I don't plan dinner. Really, it's dinner.

It's not even meals. It's dinner. And I don't plan dinner more than like three days at a time right now in the summer. We do go to more restaurants than usual because we like eating at restaurants when there's time during the summer. Plus daily rhythms are more inconsistent. And so it's sometimes to be like, hey, let's go try that ramen place. We haven't been to yet or whatever. And then I'm also like a little, I'm a little uninspired right now since the dinners that I have been cooking this summer are the same brainless crowd pleasers we've been eating for a decade, which is great. And I'm glad we have

them. And we have a good little store of them. But I also think I'm a little bored. I think I'm a little board. So that's where I am. Where do we want to be? Well, I definitely want to have dinners planned for the week of school starting and like a scheduled prep and shopping time, not just like by the seat of my pants. I'd like to know when that's going to happen. Ideally, I'd like the same to be true the week before school starts, that open house week, right? Which we already know is something that's a little stressful to me. And what's really fun is in preparation of this episode, I just looked at that week to be like, hey, I wonder what else is going on that week. Y'all, I have an evening meeting, two doctor's appointments for myself.

The kids, all three have doctors appointments because, like I said, I scheduled those a long time ago. The boys have multiple evening marching band rehearsals. I have my annual haircut. I get my haircut like once a year and it's in the next town. It's also a week that our house cleaner comes, which means we need to prep the house for that and then get out of the house for several hours. And it's the first week of high school football games. So, like, yeah, we need like a tight meal play in that week.

Goodness gracious. So that's the week before school starts. Now, the week before that is marching band camp. So the boys, they will be home for dinner every night because camp ends at like five, but they will be ravenous from marching outside in southern heat all day. So upon further review, everyone, where I want to be is that by the start of the week of August 10th, so two weeks before school starts, we have a weekly meal plan and I start getting back into the rhythm of shopping and prepping on a specific day to make dinner easier.

Then by the time school actually does start, I'll have my sea legs back, you know? And I'm going to go put that on my calendar right now too. Start weekly meal planning again. Now, one other thing that will make that dinner process easier and even more fun because I'm bored is to start exploring a handful of new recipes or maybe new ones that we just haven't had in a while. We tried them like once but haven't made them again. Like it's time to do some cookbook flipping. You know, I want to pull out a couple of cookbooks, pick out half a dozen dinners. I'm excited to make over the next few weeks. Get the juices flowing a little bit to break up those brainless crowd pleasers. I might even start doing that. today. I am going to pull out two cookbooks that I've been like Jonesing to look through. I've been thinking about them for a while. And I'm going to start doing that now while the pressure is off. Right? I'm going to look for new recipes before I actually need them. That feels like a wise a decision. Okay. So to recap my situation, causes currently maybe buying a third car. Who knows?

I have made a note in my calendar to start Annie's bedtime transition two weeks before school and we'll adjust that by 15 minutes every couple of days. And I've also made a note in my calendar to start more regular meal planning, not summer meal planning, around that same time. And between now and then, I'm going to start flipping through cookbooks and finding some fun ideas to add to the books. All the other things on my list, school supplies, open house week, and my office are automatically made either easier or less stressful because the most helpful tasks have a plan.

And I'm motivated to follow through because the plan is very simple. I have reminders. And I'm excited to make my life easier once we all start school again. Making your problems smaller and then choosing the ones that are the most helpful to solve, it makes your entire life easier. This is such a good skill to develop. So practice this, whether you're going back to school or not. Okay, so to recap the entire episode, be spontaneous if you want.

I mean, truly, you don't need to do this. You don't need a plan unless you would just really like one. It is okay to do everything at the last minute. So be kind about that, if that's you, it's okay. But if you would like to make things a little easier, make three lists, stuff, schedules, and sanity. include whatever feels stressful, and then rank those items on each list based on what would be the most helpful if you got it done. Once you have done that for each list, check out your top picks.

Are all the number ones more helpful than any of the number two's? Basically, you're just going to choose your top three things that would make your personal back-to-school season easier. then name where you are and where you like to be and what needs to happen to bridge that gap. Keep it small, set reminders, be reasonable about your expectations, and be kind as you plan and hopefully follow through. Literally, anything you do in this process, you don't have to do the whole thing. Anything you do, it's going to make going back to school feel better because you are just a little bit more intentional than you were when you started. So start small and be kind.

and that's three ways to make back to school easier. All right, for today's a little extra something. Let's talk about yesteryear. Okay, so this book is everywhere. It is the story of a trad wife influencer who wakes up one morning in the 1800s and has to actually live the traditional way. This book is all over the place and I decided early on to not read it. And I had several reasons for that.

The main one is that I have a lot of compassion for people who work on the internet because I also work on the internet. I am not a fan of the tradwife movement. I'm definitely not a fan of influencers who exploit their children to make content or lie about their lives or all the normal things that we all don't like. But because I work on the internet and because I do really try to be a compassionate person, I have a lot of compassion for how hard it is. Like people on the internet can be very cruel. Bots eat your soul. Hustle to grow does not go away.

So you have to like choose to ignore it in order to stay sane in this job. There's just a lot that is difficult about it. And the way the book was initially described early on, it felt like it felt like it was just a mockery of influencers in general, which is fine. But I don't love mockery as a concept. And I just was like, I don't think that's for me. I'm just going to steer clear. But then the book stuck around forever and more and more people kept reading it.

And I was like, should I read it? Should I read it? And I didn't. And then my book twin Katie read it. Oh my goodness. and she was like, you would be very, very entertained. So I trust her. I trust her implicitly when it comes to the books I should read.

And so I was like, all right, I'll try it. I chose the audio because Book Twin Katie also pointed this out. The narrator of this book, she is such a good narrator for books with unlikable main characters. Like, that is so correct because I currently today just finished another book narrated by the same woman. and the protagonist is like not all that pro. Like you're like, I don't know. And it's working so well. So she's so good at narrating unlikable characters.

So anyway, so audio was the choice. Since I have Spotify premium, I could listen for free without, you know, waiting to 24 weeks required on the library hold or paying for it. If I had wait 24 weeks, that's like, that's like 2027 almost. If I'm going to give it a try, I'm like, let's give it a try now. So I use my Spotify listening minutes. I started listening. I mean, I think within like three minutes I was hooked. I could not stop listening.

I was absolutely riveted. I had a lot of chores the week that I started listening, and I did not care because that meant I got to keep listening. I loved the dual timelines. So the main character's name is Hannah. You go back and forth between Hannah, the main character, being in the 1800s and being in like her modern day choices that led her to becoming a child wife influencer in the first place. It was just fascinating and juicy and felt like something special that I had never read before.

Katie, Book Twin Katie, said it reminded her of Gone Girl, and I agree. Like not in the plot, like completely different plots. But remember how that book, it just caught fire even with people who typically don't read novels. And it just surprised everybody up and down. It was kind of controversial. It was like really fresh and exciting. And to the point that there were so many books that followed that had like the word girl in the title after Gone Girl. It was like a cultural touchstone.

And I think yesteryear is the same way. Not everybody likes it. But it reads similarly that you you just cannot stop. You have to know what happens. You're not entirely sure what you think of what is happening. It's just really, really fascinating reading. Now, there's a lot of talk about the ending. I personally loved the ending.

I thought it was smart and surprising. I did not see it coming. However, I've learned that I personally have more enjoyment reading books when I just read it without trying to figure out the ending, especially with popular books like this with like controversial endings. I was just like a long for the ride and really enjoyed the reading experience. I really liked the ending for what it's worth. I'm not going to say what the ending is if you haven't read it.

but I really liked it. Obviously, I cannot talk about too many details in here. This is not a book club. It'd be fun if it was, but it's not. But I genuinely enjoyed this book. I gave it five stars. Now, here's the thing. I did not love it on like a heart level. Like, oh my goodness, this was the best book and made me feel all these good things. And I'm going to read it so many times to me. No. But it grabbed me so hard. Like I ran out of Spotify listening minutes in the middle of the book. and I only made it like four hours before I used an audible credit to buy the book so I could keep listening without having to wait. To me, that deserves five stars. And I will absolutely listen to it again, which is kind of unheard of for me. I don't do a ton of rereads,

definitely don't do re-listens. I will definitely listen to this again. I wouldn't even mind reading it on paper. There were moments in the narration where I recognized that just the placement of the words on the page, like how it was written had a strong impact. And I would kind of like to experience that. So again, this can't be a book club discussion because not all of you have read it, that if you have been on the fence about reading yesterday year, I will say it is a wild read, something that will absolutely make you think, you won't be bored. You might get mad, but you won't get bored. To me, this is not like thoughtful literary fiction that's trying to paint a nuanced picture. It's like pretty extreme. But that extremity brings up a lot of things to talk about

and think about. I just, I think it's a great book. And I want to talk about it with everybody that I know who's read it. So I finally read yesterday year. There you go. That's our little extra something today. If you would like to hear my reviews of other books I read in July, be sure to sign up for the book list email. It is a monthly email with reviews from all the books I've read that month, which is usually like 10 to 12 books. It's a beloved email around here. It's a beloved email around here. So if you have never gotten it and you would like to, you can sign up at the lazy genius collective.com slash book list. All right. Let's celebrate this week's lazy genius of the week. It's Melody from Cincinnati. Melody writes, hi, my lazy genius decide once rule is that I always take off work the first day of school and the first day of summer break.

I work part time outside the home and found those transition days to be so stressful. After particularly hard back to school day one year. I had the epiphany to go request that day off for the next year. Taking the day off to help get new routines established and give myself space to celebrate in a way that feels like us was a game changer. Now I just know that I will always take a vacation day and it's something I look forward to. That is such a great idea. Oh my gosh, truly. It's scheduling rest. It's scheduling rest. That's one of the original 13 lazy genius principals. It's like on the calendar. It's at a helpful time. And when you do things like that, regularly and on purpose, you do look forward to them. It even makes the lead up to something

stressful easier because you know that scheduled rest is coming. Such a great idea, Melody. So thank you for sharing and congratulations on being the lazy genius of the week. Now let's close with the mini pup talk for when you're stuck in the almost time. Okay, so I mentioned this in last week's latest lazy listens email, but I read this book. I finished this book. This is the one narrated by the lady who also narrated yesterday. It's called Shred Sisters. And this term is in the book, The Almost Time. The main character's mother described the 5 o'clock hour as the almost time.

Dinner is almost ready. Your father is almost home. Homework is almost done. The day is almost over. It's this transitional time, this like liminal space before things happen again. And I feel like this time of year definitely has like almost time energy. The end of July is almost the end of summer, almost the beginning of the school year. But you can experience this in other times too, obviously.

Like this liminal space is real. And sometimes it can feel unsettling or frustrating or even sad. So for anyone who feels stuck in the almost time, whether it's July or just waiting for anything to begin or end, I want to remind you of two things. First, it's understandable to. resist the almost time to resist that liminal space because as a culture we don't do waiting very well. We like things now. We like controlling the narrative. We like knowing what's coming and getting there quickly. Patients with the process or even just patients in general are not like

typical virtues held by our society. So remember that. Remember that your resistance. it may not be a sign that you shouldn't be waiting or that you need to figure out a way to get somewhere faster or that you need to control more of the pieces and parts than you currently do. Like sometimes you just have to wait and that's normal, that it's not something we normally do. And then the second thing I want to remind you of is contentment. Contentment is saying out loud that you wish something was different, but also being rooted in what is here now, kindly and peacefully and without agenda. Like you're okay with this.

Yes, it would be nice if almost ended and became now. But you're okay waiting. That's simply what this season calls for for you. And you can be content and at peace in that. You don't have to rush it or fix it or change it or control it. If you're in a season of almost time, just be in that season kindly and contentedly. that's good practice, not just for the future seasons of life as you build the muscle memory to stick with a hard season, but it's really good for your soul too. It's kind to your soul to be at rest

and to stop the scurry of getting to the next thing as quickly as you can. So resist the hustle and be content as you wait in the almost time. And that's a mini pep talk for when you feel stuck there. If this episode was helpful to you or if you've been looking for a way to support the show, please share this episode with someone you know or you can leave a kind review on Apple podcasts, every single mention, every share, it makes a difference and making more people lazy genesis. So thank you for being so supportive. This podcast is part of the Odyssey family and the Office Ladies Network. This episode is hosted by me, Kendra Adachi, an executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fisher, and Angela Kinsey. Special thanks to Leah Jarvis for weekly

production. If you'd like a podcast recap every other week, be sure to sign up for the latest lazy listens email that goes out every other Friday. Head to the lazy genius collective.com slash listens to get it. 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. I'll see you next week.