The Lazy Genius Podcast - Bonus: Office Ladies Update

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

A few weeks ago, I invited Jenna and Angela from our beloved Office Ladies Podcast to join me for Office Hours so we could Lazy Genius something real from their lives together. Y’all loved that episode so much. I got countless DMs asking if the baskets were working for Angela and how Jenna was holding up with school email. Well, I thought it would be great for all of us to hear from them directly. Here’s a bonus follow-up episode to last month’s Office Hours with the Office Ladies.   Helpful Companion Links Episode #352: Office Hours with the Office Ladies Find out which Lazy Genius episodes Jenna and Angela love best. Sign up for the Latest Lazy Listens email. Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links) As with all guest episodes, there’s no transcript for this one. Thanks for understanding! 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

Hey there, you're listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I am 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 a special bonus episode that I know you're going to love. So about a month ago, we had Jenna Fisher and Angela McKenzie from the Office Ladies podcast on our show for a special office hours with the Office Ladies episode. I helped Jenna figure out a possible solution for her school email situation. And then, I told Angela that she could use more baskets because that woman loves her baskets to see if it would help her clothes that aren't quite dirty, but end up all over the bedroom situation. Well, today, they are back to give us an update about how it's going. And this is a fresh update, y'all. When I recorded the first episode with them, it was the last week of December 2023. And for this update, we spoke four days ago. So that is a solid two months. And I am so pumped for you to hear, you know, if and how the lazy genius solutions that we worked through in that first episode, if they're working. So enjoy this update from the office ladies. We're back with the office ladies

for an update on our office hours with the office ladies. Hello, Jenna. Hello, Angela. Hi there. We're so happy to have you. Okay, everybody wants to know how were our laundry and school email situations going. Angela, why don't you go first? Okay, I'm really excited to share with you guys because I just am so happy about this. Okay, first thing, you know, I have my Paula clothes, right, that are in the chair in the corner and then I don't get to use my cozy chair nook that I made. So I got a basket. You gave me permission to get a basket. This is a lady who loves baskets. I got a little basket and that's where my clothes go where I'm like, hmm, am I going to wear this again? Maybe I will. I don't know. I'm not ready to put it on a hanger. I'm rushing around.

that goes in that basket. That is not a laundry basket. It's a cute. I'm not sure what I'm doing with these clothes basket. And I put it just to the right of the chair. So, because my instinct is to go to the chair. And now I just go right to that basket.

And then I did this other thing. I put a little, I had an old garden stool that I wasn't using and I cleaned it off and I put it in the corner of my actual closet because I also have a pile of clothes that was like dry cleaning, but I never get to the dry cleaners, and it just was piling up with my other clothes. So I put the dry clean clothes on my little garden stool, and when it gets big enough, then when that pile is big enough and warrants me actually driving, I'm going to take it to the dry

cleaners. I'm not done. I got one more basket for you. So now my room is really looking clean, and I'm so happy about it. It's my sanctuary. It's not. It's not. It's not. I'm a room. It's looking cluttered but one thing that was bugging me is I have a blanket I kind of keep at the foot of the bed that's just on my side of the bed because I get cold at night but my husband's like a mountain man he's always hot so but my bed never looks completely made because I have this wadded up blanket at the foot of the bed even if I fold it nice it's just whatever it's a big chunky blanket that doesn't go with my style but it's warm okay stay with me I fold that little blanket up and I got a little basket I put next to my nightstand.

And every morning when I make the bed, I fold up my chunky blanket and I put it in my little basket and it's there for me at night. Come on! I tell you what. Wow. Listen, should we just give a round of applause to Angela and her baskets? Can I make a comment on the garden stool situation? Yeah.

So this is something that a lot of people can take with them in various categories. If you create a space for a certain category of thing and you have a physical cue of when, oh, I'll tend to this when this is full, but I don't really need to tend to it beforehand. It is a magical thing because it's not something you have to schedule or calendar or put into a rhythm. You just have a visual cue that this is done. I have this for, again, basket. We have a giant. Like you could fit like five babies in it.

They have this huge basket that is where I put all of my kids in process or finished art projects. It doesn't fill up as quickly anymore because my middle school boys, they don't draw as much as they used to. But when the kids were little, I just was like, what do I do with this? How do I keep this? I don't know if I should keep this. And I would put everything in this huge basket. And once it was full, that was my cue to go through it. once we could not fit any more art in it, then I would go through it. But then I could also,

I could know of painting the Mona Lisa in many, many ways. Like we had like 30 Mona Lisa's at any given time. Do you just keep one? I could look at all of them and go, which one do I want to keep? Rather than every two days thinking I had to keep a Mona Lisa. Like a visual cue of when this is full, that is when I take care of it. Or when this is too high, it's going to topple over. That's when I take care of it. Like that is so, that is such a sneaky good trick. Well, I had no idea. I was doing a sneaky good trick. But you're right.

Because once that garden stool reaches a certain level, I can't open the drawer next to it. That will be when I take my dry cleaning. That's so good. And you seem happy. Are you happy in your, like what's your vibe in your room now that you have these three spaces in place? I love it. always loved my bedroom. I've always been that kid growing up. I loved my room. I loved hanging out in my room. And I love my bedroom again. It's not like I opened the door and I'm like,

ugh, you know, all these piles of clutter. Makes me happy. I had to hear this. 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. Okay, Jenna. Yeah. What about you? Remind us of your problem and how it's going. My problem was school emails. I had no grasp on how to organize them, take action on them. They came to both me and my husband. And I think what you got to the root of was that our

biggest problem was a division of labor problem. An email would come in with links or action required and we would freeze because we didn't know who was doing what or taking care of what. And then it was very stressful because things would get missed because we thought the other was doing it so I can only describe your lazy genius of this problem as transformative. Whoa, that's a big word. It's a big word, but it deserves this word. You suggested that since we have two children, that my husband take one kid's school emails and I take the other, we are like giddy.

It's like we're on our honeymoon again. We are, like, a thing that used to stress us out so much, we are delighted by now. It's so clear to me, I got my daughter's grade. She's fourth grade. My husband took sixth grade. And it's amazing. Like, for example, my daughter had a field trip coming up. There were links.

There were instructions about the lunch for that. day there was things you had to a permission slip so that she could pet the animals sort of thing and i knew i'm doing all of these things i'm even though in the mornings my husband packs the lunches i knew i had to instruct him about the special lunch because i'm fourth grade and today's field trip day and it was i mean it's amazing and you know one of my problems with the emails was that in the emails there were these really long, lengthy updates about everything the child is learning in each subject. And it would stress me out. And we gave me permission to not read them. That was very hard for me because I felt guilty because my mom and sister are teachers.

And the teachers wrote the thing. And I believe it's my job to read every single word the teachers right, even though I trust them to teach my children and not inform me of every lesson, because we have this division of labor, I have found myself with the space to read some of these updates about like, here's what we're learning in social studies. And it's been great because I don't have to read every school email anymore, Kendra. Now that is fascinating. That part is really fascinating to me, that something that you thought you were going to let go of completely, really, that's not what you needed to fully let go. It was the stress. Once the stress was removed and the sixth grade emails were removed, it actually left margin for when you might have had the

energy to read the occasional update from the teacher. Yeah. That's fascinating to me. Because, you know, every week there's not these extra to-dos, you know, Like there was, oh, wait, wait, I have to share the greatest thing that came out of this. Wait, I can't believe I buried the lead. Still a greatest thing. Okay. Valentine's Day happened. Oh, all the valentines?

Yes. Oh, that's a whole thing. Each class had different instructions for the valentines. In fourth grade, they were only allowed to hand-make their valentines. No candy, no pencils, no erasers, no chotch keys. it had to just be like a homemade valentine for each kid in the class. Sixth grade had a completely different system. You could hand out candy.

You could buy your valentines from the store. But you couldn't get a valentine if you didn't give a valentine. So two totally separate things, right, required very different mindsets to make this happen. Because my husband is on sixth grade, he had to handle the sixth grade valentines with my son. and they sat down together and talked about what candy he wanted to give out and what Valentine, and he made sure that my son did them all and he got the right number and put them in the bag they were supposed to be in. Meanwhile, I took my daughter to the craft store and we picked out her little stamper and her little stickers, and I made sure she made all her valentines.

I didn't have to do two classes of valentines. Man. And it was just like there was not even a discussion about it. it. I didn't even have to say, hey, babe, will you handle the sixth grade valentines? Yeah. Because my plate is full with fourth grade valentines. They're homemade this year and I can't do double valentines. It was just like he just was on it. He knew. He read, valentines need to be done. He made valentines happen. I was, I mean, that was like. Let me tell you something. That is

amazing. Amazing. And I cannot wait till y'all get to middle school and high school level because Valentine's. There's no Valentine's. It's off the table. That's stressful. you can take it away. I know. I let my husband take sixth grade and I guess I don't know if we'll keep it. Maybe we'll switch kids next year. Yeah, because you're not going to have to worry about that next year. Yeah. He won't. He won't. That's right. I did want to note this too. Because I think that there are going to be people listening with this particular problem who are going to be able to solve it potentially this way, you know, just splitting you take this kid, I take this kid. But, imagining your husband sitting with your son and figuring out the valentines and you taking your daughter to the craft store it's not that each of you isn't spending time with your kids individually but there's also something really special to capture in this season of the split where you are really connecting with your daughter through these school things your husband is connecting with your son through these school things it's not that there's not overlap and other types of connection but

what a special thing which made me even think it might be cool next year two trade kids. Yeah. So that you can kind of be part of the other kids class a little bit more, be more involved in that. Like what a, there are so many extra benefits to this, even relational benefits that are really lovely. Yeah. It was really cool because usually I do Valentine's. That's, I like it. You know, I'll like, I'll take care of Valentine's and my husband was sort of happy to let me do it. So it was really neat to see him figure that out with my son. And, And they did something together that I might not have, you know, encouraged him to do. And you probably had to let go of that a little bit, right?

I did. I know I would be like, hmm, really? You got the big old Hershey kisses? I mean, come on. Yeah. But it was great. And I think, you know, on the weeks when there's less links and less little tasks, those are the weeks that I'm like, oh, there's nothing to do with this email. I'm going to go read the class, the breakdown from the teacher about what they're learning.

And that happens every few weeks. And so I have even, I don't know, more of a connection now because of this division of labor tweak. So I've been helping people lazy genius their problems for a long time, for years. This is such a fantastic success story. Like I'm even like, I can't believe both of these solutions worked as well as they had. I am. It's so exciting. But I will say, I think one of the reasons is because we got to talk about it. So for people who are listening, it's really lovely to talk with a friend, especially one who might be familiar with some of the principles, or even just with the idea of like, hey, you don't have to make everything great all the time.

You know, like you can choose what matters to you. But talking it out and finding your way, I did make some suggestions to the two of you. but I really think you would have found this on your own through the conversation, whether it was with me or just with each other. So I would just encourage people if you're like, I'm really stuck, like talking to someone about it and batting around ideas and then trying something. You might be surprised at how successful the idea will actually be. So this is a great. This is such a good update. I did not expect it to be this great. I'm so happy for both of you.

I'm so happy. When I was reflecting on this, Kendra, I thought of something that you said in one of the other podcast where you said that growing up you were the friend who could help your other friends come up with a great homework strategy. Yeah. And I was like, I see it. I see it so much. We had a work webinar together and Kendra addressed this huge group of people. And she was like, I have been problem solving since I was six years old. I have. I really have. It's just, it's in my bones. So I'm so glad that these particular solutions work for you all. It's so fun. What this makes me want to do.

do is I feel like we need an annual office hours with the office ladies episode. Annual. How about monthly? I want you to self. I need 12 problems solved a year. We've got some other issues. That's amazing. We'll have to do another one because this is too much fun.

Well, thank you for coming on and giving the Lacey Cheetah's listeners an update. We've all, like I have literally gotten DMs. like, have you heard from Angela? Are the baskets working? I will take pictures of the baskets. I will share. It's so fun. It's so fun. Well, it's lovely to hear all of this. Thank you for coming on. And I look forward to the next time that we can we can solve another problem together. Me too. All right. Bye. Y'all, I am not kidding. I did not anticipate that these solutions would be so successful for them. And I'm over the moon that they worked as well as they did. Now, that said,

even if the solutions had partially worked or even not at all. They didn't work at all because sometimes that happens. I just want to encourage you, if that's you, you just try something else. Part of learning to lazy genius your whole life is to start small, try something, and then adjust. Most solutions are not set it and forget it. They don't work always right out of the gate. So be patient as you try and come up with solutions for your own challenges and assume that adjustments will be part of the process. I'm so excited for another office hours with the office ladies episode sometime in the future. This episode is hosted by me, Kendra Adachi, and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. The lazy genius podcast is enthusiastically part of the

Office Ladies Network. Special thanks to Leah Jarvis for weekly production. Thanks y'all so much for listening. Have a great weekend. 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 on Monday. 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.