The Lazy Genius Podcast - Bonus: How to Approach Holiday Downtime

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

We are releasing an extra episode for you as you enjoy your winter holidays. This is an episode from a while back that I think will be a great addition to your podcast listening queue in this quieter week. It's episode 345: How to Approach Holiday Downtime. This is the time when we move from the scurry of holiday preparations and schedules to just like suddenly being home with little to no agenda, and that can be kind of hard. So this bonus episode might be just for you. Helpful Companion Links Order my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy. Episode #320: How to Feel Good About Free Time Episode #258: The Seven Kinds of Rest and How to Know Which One You’ll Need Episode #212: A Guide to Summer House Rules Sign 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. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi there, you're listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi. This podcast 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 this 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, we are releasing an extra episode for you as you enjoy your winter holidays. This is an episode from a while back that I think will be a great addition to your podcast listening cue in this quieter week, probably. It's episode 345, How to Approach Holiday Down Time. This is the time when we move from the scurry of holiday preparations and scheduling, to just like suddenly being home with little to no agenda.

And that can honestly be kind of hard. So this bonus episode might be just for you. I hope you enjoy listening while you slow down at home. And we will see you back here on Monday for a brand new episode. Happy holidays and thanks for listening. 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 345. How to Approach Holiday Down Time. This episode is releasing on Monday, December 18th. And for some of you listening, you're close to entering a longer break from your regular life. You know, the winter holidays are upon us. Christmas is one week away. New Year's is two weeks away. And there's just like a lot of activity, but also a lot of downtime, sometimes more than we realize.

So today we're going to talk about how to approach it. Now, before we jump in, I do want to acknowledge those of you who have jobs or responsibilities that do not offer the same kind of holiday downtime that I'm talking about. You might get one or two days off over the next couple of weeks, and that's it. All of these people, including me right now, talking about their long holiday breaks and that week between Christmas and New Year's when nothing is happening, it might make you feel a little down. You might feel frustrated at the assumption that everyone has that time off.

Or maybe you have work off, but not life off, you know? you might have some kind of responsibility or obligation that does not leave you much space for this holiday downtime problem. And I just want to say that I see you in that. I want to acknowledge how challenging this time of year is for you for reasons that people don't often speak about. So maybe this episode is not for you and you can skip to the next thing. But I do want to say that I see those of you who are still working for the rest of the month.

Now, for those of you who are not working as much and you have some time off or you have kids home for the next couple of weeks, you know, I want to talk to you today. While I don't know what your holiday calendar looks like, chances are this next week before Christmas is nuts. You know, this is the week that you're seeing family, you're traveling, you're going to Christmas performances or finishing up shopping and wrapping gifts. There's like a lot of buzz this week, you know, there's a lot going on. Then once we get to next week to that week between Christmas and New Year's, it's a different vibe. Some of you might follow the liturgical calendar where there are actually like really 12 days of Christmas and the first day starts on Christmas, you know, so your celebrations might land

on different dates, but perhaps the rhythms are similar. Either way, no matter what it looks like, a lot of you listening are about to enter some sort of short season where time is unusual. Some of it is packed. Some of it is wildly empty. And depending on the day or the person, sometimes one or both is not ideal, right? Too busy, too empty. So let's talk about how you can approach holiday downtime. Now, as a group, I'm pretty confident. All of y'all listening tend to have some tricky feelings around free time. You might remember episode 320, how to feel good about free time. We often don't feel good about free time, especially time that is free to just us, right? When we are alone as individuals and we have the opportunity to essentially do whatever we want, we can feel all kinds of

feelings about it. Now, if that's you, check out that episode. But for many of you, holiday downtime is different. It's different. It's not really free time per se, and it's definitely not just for you. Free time feels like time that is a break in the action, you know? It's like a relief amidst the regularity of responsibility. But during the end of December, we actually have downtime. We have longer stretches where there's, you know, there's nothing to do. There's nowhere to go. And sometimes that's amazing. Other times it's challenging. So this episode is focusing more on holiday downtime on those longer stretches where we have breaks and we have other people around probably. Now, the first thing I want to acknowledge is the purpose.

Okay, what is the purpose of your time the next week or two? Again, the week before Christmas, it might have a different purpose than the week after. But what is the purpose? Is it to rest? To play? To be with friends and family as much as possible? To get a handle on a project that doesn't get your attention during regular life. Going back to the idea of rest, now might be a good time to revisit episode 258, the seven kinds of rest.

Sometimes we use the word rest as a blanket description for anything that isn't responsible, basically. But there are different kinds of rest. Do you need to relax? Do you need to reset, recharge? Do you need a break? Do you need to rest before, during, or after something that's busy? For this time of year, you know, the after probably rings true. So as you think about the purpose of your holiday.

downtime. Consider what matters most. What's the purpose of this time? You might want to answer that question for yourself individually and then maybe as a family too if you live with other people. The second thing I want you to consider is your perspective. How do you view holiday downtime? What do you imagine? If I was just me and I had no other obligations or people to tend to or anyone's feelings to consider, I would spend the week between Christmas and New Year's in the coziest clothes, reading, eating, and napping, and maybe watching movies in whatever order suited me. And then I would hang out with people at night. Like, it would be so cozy in my house.

I would have, you know, gentle music playing. The fireplace show would be on TV. The sweatpants would be plentiful. But I don't live a life where I don't have obligations or people to tend to or feelings to consider. I have a husband and three kids. This Christmas, I have a mom who's moving houses. There are meals to plan still.

I got to make food. I have extroverted children in my house who hate movies and stillness and reading. Everyone in my house still gets up early even. It's very sad. But if I don't consider my perspective, if I only sit with this imagined idea of my holiday downtime, when I want to get cozy on the couch, and then a kid wants to play,

or wines because there are no friends to hang out with or doesn't respect the fact that I'm trying to read here? You know, I can get frustrated and even resentful. The reality of my situation is messing with my perspective. But really, my perspective was a little, shall we say, idealized in the first place. Or maybe you're on the other side of that scenario. Maybe you are imagining that the downtime is magical for everybody. And you have expectations. within you that everyone is going to feel the same way about the time and even some of the things that you might have planned for that time. But then they don't. They don't feel the same way that you do. And then it all gets wonky, you know? So think about how you are seeing this upcoming

stretch of holiday downtime and see if you can, you know, kindly adjust your perspective a little and therefore your expectations to a place that better embraces everyone. The third thing to consider is a plan. Do you have one for the week after Christmas especially? I bet you have one for this week because things are on the calendar. But now that you've thought about the purpose and your perspective, is there anything that you want to put in its place to help make that holiday downtime valuable for you?

It might be putting some feelers out to your kids, friends, adults, you know, the parents, and grandparents and guardians and such and saying like, hey, just who's in town next week? My kid is almost certainly going to want to hang out with people. So holler if you're in town. And then we'll text if we need to. That's kind of using the magic question, right? What can I do now to make my social kids dealing with them easier or later? You ask their adults now if anyone is around.

That way you don't feel weird doing that whole like day after Christmas text where you feel like you're bothering people because maybe they're traveling or they're with family. Or you already know who is out of town so your kid doesn't get her hopes up when you do, in fact, text a friend that's currently in Minnesota and not down the street in North Carolina. What are some things you can plan now? And by plan, I really just mean like loosely, loosely put in place, right? You don't have to set a specific date for kids to hang out. In this scenario, you're just gathering information.

You're just like, hey, who's in town? Who's in town and maybe wants to play? just putting out some feelers. You could also plan like a couple of movies that everyone likes to watch. Maybe there's a restaurant your whole crew likes to go to. And you can know that at some point during that holiday downtime week, you'll go to that restaurant. You might gather up a puzzle or some games

and put those under the tree like we learned from a lazy genius of the week now that all the Christmas gifts are gone. Just consider some things that you can do now to loosely, loosely create a plan for some ways to fill that holiday downtime if you need them. No need to lock anything in. You're basically just making an activity cue. Welcome aboard via rail. Please sit and enjoy. Please sit and sip. Play. Post. Taste. View and enjoy. Via rail, love the way. Aw, isn't something we need to travel for. It's something waiting for us in everyday life.

whether in a city street or a moment with a work of art. I'm Dr. Keltner, host of the Science of Happiness podcast. Join me for Cities of Aw, a special series on how our public spaces can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Now, as part of your plan, you might also want to think about some holiday house rules. Episode 212 is called a Guide to Summer House Rules, which, might offer some good structure, even though the season is different if you're interested and kind of deep diving in that. During holiday downtime, a house rule might be, you know, we have a

quiet hour every day. Or maybe there's a house rule around movie nights. Like one kid picks the movie, another kid picks the snack, and another picks their seat first or something like that, you know, and then you rotate each time you do a movie. Just consider if there are like little fights or frustrations that seem to creep up during holiday downtime that you could apply a house. rule to to help make that thing a little easier. Okay, so we have established a purpose. We've thought about our perspective. We've made a very loose, very, very loose plan.

And now I just want to give you some permission. Holiday downtime doesn't have to be magical and sparkly. It does not have to be the most amazing time where the entire family is connected and laughing and like a holiday card. It doesn't have to be a time where everyone is gladly playing in games or doing puzzles or charmingly covered in flour making cookies. It could be that everyone is doing their own thing on a screen and you're reading. It could be that you or your kid watches college football literally all day.

You might keep your decorations up for as long or as short as you want, right? Don't feel bad that the day after Christmas is a clean slate or that it's January 10th and you're still happily turning the Christmas lights on every morning. You can rest, you can play, do projects, be productive, be able to. alone, be with people, sleep in, let a toddler play dots on your phone in your bed with you so you can keep your eyes closed a little longer. I want you to embrace the permission to make your holiday downtime something that works for you. It doesn't always look the way we want, the way that others do it, or even the same day to day. So just be kind to yourself and receive your own

permission to enjoy holiday downtime in the way that you or your people need to. I have a feeling that for us in our house, we will have a mixed bag of really lovely holiday moments. There will be a good bit of whining because kids are bored. A little frustration for me is I remind them of the things that they just received that they could play with. And then all of that will not happen even all at once because my kids are different and they will feel these different things at different times, right? We will decorate sugar cookies, but the kids will probably tap out before things are

close to done, at least of past years or any indication. We will watch football and eventually take the tree down. We'll maybe go see a movie that all three kids will feel like we're dragging them to. Who knows? But regardless, that time is important because it's where we are. Where you are during these next two weeks, wherever it is and whatever you're doing, it matters. You don't need to overplan, overanalyze, or over stress.

Just be where you are. But if there are small things now you can think about or put in place, to help make the next tiny little stretch of time this little season of holiday downtime easier? I hope this episode helps. And that's how to approach holiday downtime, short and sweet. All right, before we go, let's celebrate the lazy genius of the week. This week, it is SJP 122.

SJP writes, lazy genius holiday tip. Our family loves confetti on New Year's Eve. Instead of throwing it out, I keep our used Christmas wrapping paper and cut that up for homemade confetti. Bonus tip, make the pieces big so they're easier to clean up at the end of the night. No vacuum required. What a fun idea this is. If you like confetti or your kids like confetti or you just want to throw something in the air, you know, you probably don't want to spend money on actual confetti. And you can use all the paper that is about to go through your whole house. But I also love the idea of the pieces being big enough to clean up easily. Like big confetti

is still confetti and you can still throw it. And easy cleanup is always a win. Thanks for this idea. idea as JP122 and congratulations on being the lazy genius of the week. All right y'all, that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra and 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 hope. 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.