0:00

Hi there, you are listening

0:02

to the Lazy Genius podcast. I'm

0:04

Kendra Adachi and I'm here to help you be

0:06

a genius about the things that matter and

0:09

lazy about the things that don't. Today's

0:11

episode 339, how to make the rest of 2023 easier. I

0:16

am legitimately so excited about

0:18

this episode and I know that you are too. This

0:20

type of episode from last year, like

0:22

almost with the same title, just different year is still

0:25

I think our most downloaded episode ever. We

0:28

really like to make the end of the year easier,

0:30

but I think this one's going to be even more helpful

0:32

than last year's, like for real.

0:36

Before we get into that though, I got to tell you something really fun.

0:38

We have the most sparkly fun thing coming

0:41

ever to tell you. For a limited time, we're selling

0:43

a Lazy Genius sticker pack. You guys, it

0:46

has like several dozen

0:48

stickers, like a mess of stickers

0:50

sold in one pack, like Lisa

0:53

Frank style. They are ridiculously

0:56

fun, ridiculously fun. We

0:58

are taking pre-orders for these sticker packs until November

1:00

15th. And then once that date passes,

1:03

there will be no more stickers. They will

1:05

be delivered well in time for Christmas gifts. So

1:07

if you are a Lazy Genius

1:08

and you want to give yourself a fun stocking stuffer,

1:11

because sometimes we have to get our own stocking

1:13

stuffers because no one does it for us, please

1:15

get these stickers. If you are friends

1:17

with a Lazy Genius and you want to gift

1:19

them these, you should get these stickers.

1:22

All the stickers, by the way, are individually

1:24

cut. So they're like not on sheets,

1:27

you know, so you can put them like in cards, like

1:29

in snail mail cards or use them

1:31

as bookmarks or of course, place

1:33

them on your water bottles and your laptops

1:35

and your planner pages. We

1:38

are keeping

1:38

a few of the stickers

1:41

designs a surprise

1:43

because they're kind of magical and

1:45

I want you to open them and see them and

1:47

then tag me in it if you want to because

1:50

they're so much fun. But there are

1:52

stickers for all the principles. You can count on that.

1:54

There are phrases that

1:56

we use a lot around here that have been made into

1:58

stickers.

2:00

they are easy caffeinated squirrel like

2:02

an actual squirrel sicker

2:04

so these are so like

2:06

they're so fun we have had so

2:09

much fun designing

2:10

these stickers and putting this whole thing together so

2:12

for a very short little sparkly

2:15

time you can preorder these stickers

2:17

haven't delivered but before christmas well before christmas

2:20

an hour that preorder window closes on november fifteenth

2:23

the link will be in the show notes or you can

2:25

go to the lazy genius collective dot

2:27

com slash

2:28

stickers to get yours

2:30

okay so funds now

2:32

to the episode or it how

2:34

do we make the rest of twenty

2:36

twenty three

2:37

easier

2:38

now i will say this year

2:41

i'm this episode actually is

2:43

different than last year's episode and

2:45

part of that is because life changes

2:47

we changes people that i have learned

2:50

a lot about time

2:52

and priorities and how to better

2:55

lazy genius situations since

2:57

then

2:58

and you get the benefit of that in a form of what

3:00

i think it's like a really

3:01

really hopeful practical

3:02

episode

3:03

because it is practical you are

3:06

going to need

3:07

eventually something to like

3:09

pick notes with so either

3:11

graph paper and pen or your laptop or even

3:14

listen and then come back later but

3:16

go grab those the we can get started

3:18

now as we as we talk about how

3:20

to make the rest of the are easier i don't think i need to

3:22

set the stage for why

3:25

i mean i mean i will briefly the like

3:28

life

3:28

is kind of missouri now i don't know if

3:30

you've noticed that are not chances are

3:32

you have a lot going on if

3:35

you are listening to this on the day

3:37

that this episode comes out today's november six

3:39

around christmas is and forty

3:41

nine days

3:42

cool no problem or it for

3:45

me personally

3:46

in the next forty days so

3:48

between now and the week

3:50

before christmas

3:51

here are some of my personal things going

3:54

on his have gone on for me to give us all a sense

3:56

of how busy in general many people

3:58

might be

3:59

i have said

6:00

coming your way and how to make it easier

6:02

so you can focus on what really matters okay

6:05

it's paper here we go actually

6:07

before your paper i want to say something

6:10

i can be intense about lists and processes

6:13

i love them so much and they helped me

6:15

they helped me but

6:18

i'm gonna i'm gonna give you this permission at the end

6:21

but i'm also going to do it right now you

6:23

don't have to do everything i'm about to say if

6:25

you're like nope that's not for me skip it this

6:29

is not an exhaustive comprehensive process

6:32

that is the only option to make your

6:35

year easier listen

6:37

to these with a discerning ear based

6:40

on what you need not

6:42

a what i say

6:44

okay it's really important

6:47

that you don't see

6:48

this process

6:50

as the only way there is to

6:52

look at your schedule and what's coming up

6:54

for

6:54

you in your life

6:56

i'm going to explain these things as though

6:58

you are going through the whole process and you

7:00

are you know writing them down or

7:02

typing them out but

7:05

if you choose to not or if you're like

7:07

nothing i'm okay with that i'm i'm okay with skipping

7:09

that part please do in fact

7:11

i invite that with my whole

7:13

heart okay

7:15

let's get that first

7:17

thing are going to do with do a brained up of course we're going to

7:19

dinner or but this is not just any brand up

7:21

okay not just any brain dump this one is

7:23

a little bit more specific i don't want

7:25

you to just write down everything that's in your head again

7:27

because at this time of year that as a lot

7:30

and then if you start pulling in your calendar and

7:32

you know the things on your with the counter on your wall

7:34

with stuff and then you're planner and like all

7:36

of that you're gonna write down years than

7:39

an hour rights of down and would you

7:41

do that and i wanted write down everything i

7:43

want you instead to write down all

7:45

the things that are an

7:47

answer to the following question right here's

7:50

a question what is happening

7:52

in the next two months

7:54

that seals overwhelming or

7:57

does not have a plan

8:00

what is happening in the next two months that feels

8:02

overwhelming or does not yet have a plan

8:05

okay now before you start writing let me offer

8:07

some guidelines here

8:10

again i do not want you to write down everything

8:12

that is happening just because something

8:14

is on your calendar or happening in your

8:16

life it does not mean it belongs on this list

8:19

this list

8:21

is the beginning of a simplification

8:23

princess and the more you

8:25

put on the list the more complicated

8:28

it will be

8:30

so unless something is

8:32

either overwhelming or does

8:35

not yet have a plan do

8:37

not put it on this list for example

8:40

i mentioned being in a holiday

8:42

performance okay some of the you know i participate

8:44

every year and my churches lessons and carol

8:47

service is my favorite things ever like

8:49

truly it's like top five i love

8:51

that lessons and curls weekend

8:53

so much new

8:55

ah is it happening in the next few months

8:57

totally many dates actually

9:00

there's the performance state that they're

9:02

also rehearsals and my own personal

9:04

practice you know to make sure that i know my parts

9:07

but even know this event this

9:09

thing that is happening takes

9:11

up less space on my calendar it does not

9:13

mean it needs to go on this list why

9:16

because it is neither overwhelming

9:19

nor does it require a plan in

9:22

fact it's not overwhelming at all it actually

9:24

feels energizing okay so that

9:26

boxes not checked it's not overwhelming and

9:28

it does have a plan the rehearsals

9:31

and the times they're all my counter already

9:34

i already have like that entire performance

9:36

weekend

9:36

blocked off so i

9:38

can help out with in a set stuff up or

9:40

doing whatever and everybody needs doing

9:42

at the last minute

9:44

and then i naturally find myself listening to the

9:46

music that i need to practice

9:49

all the time and very prepared

9:51

and listening i'm washing dishes and making

9:53

dinner like i love practicing for this

9:55

thing so i don't need a plan for that

9:58

this thing that is happening

9:59

is neither overwhelming nor

10:02

without a plan and that means

10:04

even though it's happening it does not go

10:06

on my list.

10:07

Make sense?

10:09

Now the second guideline to think about is that

10:12

this requirement that I'm making

10:15

you do of something that is either

10:17

overwhelming or without a plan it can be

10:19

either or both okay but

10:22

be sure

10:23

you're not looking for both

10:25

things in order to check this off okay.

10:28

For example giving Christmas gifts it does

10:31

not feel overwhelming to me. I love

10:33

giving gifts. I love it. It's one of my favorite

10:35

parts of the holiday season even birthdays

10:37

and stuff. I just love it. I love finding and

10:40

giving and even wrapping gifts

10:42

but

10:43

Christmas gifts will 100% go

10:46

on my list. Why? Because I don't yet have

10:48

a plan for it

10:49

okay. So just be sure that you're not

10:51

skipping things that don't

10:53

have a plan just because you're excited

10:56

about them or because they don't feel overwhelming.

10:58

Both of these are not a requirement. Overwhelming

11:01

and not having a plan. Both are not a requirement

11:03

just one okay. And then

11:06

the third guideline as you make your list is

11:08

to also consider

11:10

regular everyday things not

11:12

just holiday happenings or stuff in your

11:15

calendar. Are you overwhelmed right

11:17

now by dinner? Do you

11:19

not have a plan for how you're gonna finish

11:21

that work project before the holiday

11:22

break?

11:24

Are you overwhelmed without a plan for

11:26

how to manage getting your kids to all their places

11:29

because your oldest who can drive broke a bone and

11:31

can't drive right now or because you're down a

11:33

car because of a you know a blown transmission

11:36

or something. Don't just consider

11:38

the unusual holiday the end

11:40

of the year things. What is overwhelming

11:43

or without a plan in your regular

11:45

life too that's got you in a bit of a tizzy.

11:49

Okay so write down

11:52

or type out

11:53

all the things that are either

11:55

overwhelming

11:57

or without a plan.

11:58

Don't go searching for them alone.

11:59

lot, you know, like just see what comes

12:02

to mind. Also don't break

12:04

things down yet or get too detailed or analytical

12:06

about them. Just do the brain dump.

12:08

Just do an easy, this is what comes to mind.

12:11

This is what is kind of obvious

12:13

and write it down. Okay. If it comes to mind,

12:16

even if it's not a tangible thing,

12:18

even if it's not a tangible thing, just write

12:20

it down. Okay. Cool.

12:25

This episode is sponsored by HelloFresh. Is

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14:31

Okay, you've done your brain up. Next question.

14:34

What do you want to make happen that

14:38

you haven't yet?

14:40

What do you really hope that you get to do

14:42

or experience over the next couple of months that you

14:45

don't yet have some kind of plan for? I

14:48

call this a hope to experience.

14:51

What do you hope to do that you want

14:53

to try and make space for?

14:54

Add that to the same list.

14:57

Now,

14:58

this is a fun part. At

15:00

least it's fun for me. It's fun for me.

15:03

Each item you just wrote down

15:06

needs to get one of these labels.

15:09

Okay?

15:10

And we've talked about these labels before.

15:12

Make it matter, make it easy,

15:14

or

15:15

let it go.

15:17

Okay? You can make

15:18

three new lists, like write down

15:21

actually three new lists that you

15:23

write down from your brain dump, or you can use

15:25

three

15:25

different highlighter colors for

15:27

the main part, you know, of your

15:30

brain dump list, or you can put

15:32

like a little symbol next to them. Y'all are smart. You know what you want

15:34

to do. Do whatever you want.

15:37

But somehow visually differentiate

15:39

your main list, your big brain

15:41

dump list that you just made, into those three categories.

15:44

Make it matter, make it easy, let it go.

15:46

Okay?

15:47

Now, let me explain briefly what all those might mean.

15:50

Make it matter is something that really does matter to you.

15:52

For me, gift giving over the holidays really

15:55

does matter. I don't want to approach that thing

15:57

with like

15:58

the primary posture of shortcoming.

16:00

or laziness or ease. Like

16:04

all of those things are great

16:05

but not for gift-giving. Not for me. It

16:07

matters to me and I don't mind spending

16:09

time and energy and money making it happen because

16:12

I love it. It matters, right? Makes sense?

16:15

So what really matters to you right now? What do you want

16:17

to make matter?

16:19

Next, make it easy.

16:21

What still has to happen but you want that thing

16:23

to be as easy as possible? People

16:26

tend to make meals easy during this time of

16:28

year. You know, you're busy doing a lot of other stuff

16:31

so spending a lot of time on the daily meals is really

16:33

not in the cards.

16:35

So maybe you're gonna make meals easier by repeating

16:38

things, by making simple meals

16:40

that don't, you know, need a lot of chopping or cooking.

16:44

Maybe you get a meal delivery service for a couple

16:46

of weeks during the really busy parts of the next

16:48

couple months. Maybe you have cereal for dinner a lot,

16:50

you know. Whatever the case, you're gonna make

16:52

it easy. It's not that eating

16:54

doesn't

16:55

matter but it can't matter as

16:57

much as the other things right now.

16:59

So you're gonna make it easy.

17:01

So mark your list with things that you would like to make easy.

17:04

And then the third category is let it go. What

17:06

overwhelming thing or what thing without a plan

17:09

is probably best if you just leave it alone right now. What

17:11

can you let go?

17:13

You might be overwhelmed by an unresolved

17:15

situation at work or with a friend and even

17:18

though there's nothing you can really do about it or

17:20

your friend tells you that everything's okay, you just

17:23

keep thinking about it. You're overwhelmed

17:26

by your own insecurity or worry

17:28

about this unresolved thing and it's using a lot of

17:30

your energy. Maybe that's a thing

17:33

you can let go.

17:34

You're not letting go of the relationship but

17:37

you're letting go of perseverating

17:39

on it, right?

17:41

Letting it go also might mean letting

17:44

it go into the hands of someone else. You

17:46

could let wrapping gifts go into the

17:49

into the hands of like a high school

17:51

student who you hire to do it for you,

17:53

you know.

17:55

You could let go of organizing this year's neighborhood

17:57

caroling tradition by asking someone else to

17:59

do it this year.

18:00

You can let go of cleaning your house in the same way you normally

18:03

do by hiring a cleaner, delegating

18:06

the work more amongst your family, or just having

18:08

a house that's like a little dirtier than usual

18:11

while you get to focus on things that

18:13

matter more, right? So

18:15

what can you let go? Not forever. You're

18:18

not letting it go forever. You're just letting it go

18:21

during the season.

18:22

All right, so everything that is overwhelming

18:24

and or without a plan, right,

18:28

or things that you really, really hope to make happen,

18:30

all of those are on this one big

18:32

list that's now categorized one of three ways,

18:35

right?

18:36

Make it matter, make it easy, let it go.

18:39

Now, your job is to make

18:41

a new list, one that

18:43

makes those things

18:44

smaller, okay?

18:46

Making things

18:48

smaller is how you make it happen.

18:50

So, get Christmas gifts, for

18:53

example.

18:53

That is definitely something that you want

18:55

to make happen, but we can all agree

18:57

that that's too big, right? You have to

18:59

make it smaller. And chances are,

19:02

a good number of the things on your list

19:05

that you just made, they need to be

19:07

made smaller, they're too big,

19:09

okay? Hear me clearly. You make

19:11

things happen by making them smaller.

19:14

Now, I have found a bit

19:16

of a secret when it comes to doing this. And

19:19

even though it's really simple and even

19:21

a little obvious, it's also surprisingly

19:23

clarifying. In order to make

19:25

things happen, you make them smaller, and

19:27

in order to make them smaller,

19:29

you are looking for two things, decisions

19:34

and tasks, okay?

19:37

Singular decisions and singular

19:40

tasks. If you think about it, when you

19:42

break down something that is big into something

19:44

that is manageable, you're breaking

19:46

apart all of the decisions and

19:49

all of the tasks, okay? Let's look

19:51

at this. So on my list of

19:55

things that matter to me, that

19:57

I marked as Make It Matter,

19:59

is they

19:59

Christmas treats and share them with people. Okay

20:02

cool cool cool. Now that's helpful to know

20:05

right. I have this thing that matters. I

20:07

want to make it happen. I also

20:09

know that I don't have

20:11

parameters around this thing to help make it happen. Like

20:14

it's just there. It's just this big thing staring

20:16

at me. So now what? How do I make it smaller?

20:20

By writing down all the

20:22

decisions and tasks that go with it. Alright

20:24

what do I have to decide? Well I have to decide

20:26

what to make,

20:28

when to make it.

20:29

I have to decide how

20:31

to wrap it up. Who to give it to.

20:33

Those

20:34

are just the first ones that pop on my head. Now

20:36

what's interesting here is that tasks

20:39

they often fall on either side of a decision.

20:41

Like what do I mean by that? I have

20:44

to look through cookbooks or on blogs

20:46

or whatever to get ideas right.

20:49

That is a task I need to do in order

20:51

to decide what I'm making okay.

20:53

I

20:54

need to look through my cookbooks and make a list

20:56

of the options.

20:57

Then I decide when I'm gonna make. Now that

20:59

I've made that decision tasks come after that too right.

21:02

Now to make an ingredient list of what

21:04

I need. Shop for those ingredients or have

21:06

them delivered. Then decide

21:09

when I'm gonna make stuff. Now

21:11

we're at another decision. I have to decide

21:13

when I'm gonna do it. How do I

21:15

decide that? Probably after the

21:17

task

21:18

of looking at my calendar and choosing an opening

21:21

to do it.

21:22

Okay let's stop right there because that's

21:24

like a lot of tiny pieces right. And I'm

21:26

not saying that you need to write down literally every

21:28

single decision and task involved with whatever this

21:30

thing. This explanation that

21:33

I just gave you this example of decisions and tasks.

21:36

It's not to overwhelm you even more. What

21:38

I'm hoping to show you is why you likely

21:42

feel overwhelmed by things or

21:44

struggle to make a plan. Something

21:47

seemingly simple like bake

21:49

Christmas treats and share them with people have

21:52

at minimum like two dozen

21:54

decisions and tasks

21:56

and some of those decisions and tasks

21:58

they depend on each other. have to go in a certain

22:00

order.

22:02

Even if you can make some of those decisions

22:04

quickly or the tasks you know aren't

22:06

that hard, the mental load

22:09

of projects like bake

22:11

Christmas treats and share them with people it's

22:13

it might be more than you realize and

22:16

you're probably not being kind to yourself about it. You're

22:18

just frustrated you can't seem to get your stuff done

22:21

okay. So as

22:23

you make what matters and

22:26

what you want to make easier as you make those

22:28

things smaller here me again

22:30

I'm not saying that you need to write down literally

22:32

every single

22:33

decision or task exhaustively

22:35

you know. I mean unless you really want to like

22:37

it might help it might help

22:40

but some of you are likely used to intuitively

22:43

or habitually putting those decisions and tasks

22:46

in the right order to get them done without needing to keep

22:48

track of all of it. And

22:50

so you can see however

22:54

the mental load that that

22:55

requires of you okay. I want you

22:57

to be kind about that even if you don't write it all

22:59

down. Now you

23:01

might also you might

23:04

be neurodivergent and if you are

23:06

struggling through some kind of life challenge that is

23:08

taking your energy away from things that once

23:10

felt easier or if

23:12

you're just in a hard time of year

23:14

and you're just juggling a lot of projects at once

23:17

you're trying to make sense of stuff intuitively

23:20

putting these decisions and tasks

23:23

these small pieces of these bigger projects

23:25

putting them in their order it might not

23:27

be working for you well

23:29

and you need a list

23:31

you need to recognize the decisions

23:33

that you need to make you need to see the tasks

23:36

that

23:37

might come before or after those decisions in

23:39

it in an order but

23:42

regardless of whether you write it down

23:45

or whether you're doing it in your own head

23:48

you have to make something smaller

23:50

and you do that by breaking it down into

23:53

the necessary decisions and tasks okay

23:55

that you need to check off the

23:58

big box on your list

23:59

of bake Christmas

24:02

treats and give them to people.

24:04

Now I cannot see your

24:06

list, right?

24:07

I don't want you to be overwhelmed

24:08

by your list either. This

24:10

is why we differentiate

24:12

things that you want to make matter and make

24:15

easy and why you also need to let some things go.

24:17

Okay? So as

24:20

you look at your list, which I cannot see, I don't

24:23

know what you need to make smaller.

24:26

Some things are already as small as they're going

24:28

to be. Okay? But what I want to encourage

24:30

you to do

24:31

as you look at your list and you do make these things smaller

24:34

is to trust yourself in this.

24:36

You can look at what is overwhelming, at

24:39

what does not yet have a plan,

24:40

or what really matters to you, at what

24:43

you want to make easier. And you can just say,

24:45

okay, I get it now. I get

24:47

why hosting Thanksgiving is so overwhelming to

24:49

me. I definitely don't have a plan, but

24:52

I don't even think I have the brain power or

24:54

the energy to figure out all the pieces that

24:56

I need to make this thing work.

24:59

And even though hosting Thanksgiving usually

25:01

matters to you, you know, maybe you might

25:03

say to yourself, I think this year I need to make it

25:05

easier. So

25:07

there are going to be fewer decisions and tasks

25:09

that I need to handle. I'm going to move this from make

25:12

it matter to make it easy. So

25:15

instead, I'm going to make a turkey and I'm going to ask

25:17

everyone else to bring the sides.

25:19

I might even ask my sister to coordinate

25:21

that part of seeing

25:24

what everybody's going to bring so that I don't have to worry

25:26

about it. I'll just make the turkey, you know,

25:29

this process and

25:31

these categories,

25:34

they help you see where you can be kind to yourself,

25:37

where you can schedule rest

25:39

in your schedule and also amongst your tasks,

25:42

or you can let people in, you can delegate decisions

25:45

and tasks. It

25:47

helps you see where you really and truly want to spend

25:49

your energy because something

25:52

is too

25:52

important to let go. But I also

25:55

hope that as you look at your list, you

25:58

can recognize and notice

26:02

how much there is for you to do,

26:05

or how much it feels like there

26:06

is for you to do. Your

26:08

life is so many decisions.

26:11

It is so many tasks.

26:15

And if you keep those in your head,

26:18

many of those small pieces

26:19

connected to one singular

26:21

item on your to-do list, that's

26:24

why you're gonna stay overwhelmed, and

26:27

you're not going to enjoy the season as much as

26:29

you would like. So

26:31

just see what happens if you make

26:33

some things smaller. Pay

26:35

attention to the process and to your own body

26:38

as you do that.

26:40

If you start to get overwhelmed, maybe take a break.

26:43

If you start to get energized because you are

26:45

finally seeing the things that matter to you even

26:48

more clearly, that's also really

26:50

exciting. There's not one way

26:52

to feel

26:53

going through this process.

26:55

So whatever happens for you,

26:58

be kind to yourself as you do.

27:03

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29:10

Okay, let's summarize where we are real quick and

29:13

then

29:13

I'm going to give you one final step as we make the

29:15

rest of 2023 easier. All right, so you do your

29:18

brain dump, you write down all the things that

29:20

are coming over the next couple months that are

29:22

either overwhelming or without a plan. Nothing else,

29:24

right? Then add to

29:27

that list things that you still want to make happen that

29:29

you just haven't been able to yet. They're

29:31

not on the calendar, but they do matter to

29:33

you.

29:33

Things like traditions, let's say. Okay,

29:36

now from there you're going to separate that list

29:39

into three categories. Make it matter, make

29:41

it easy, and let it go.

29:43

Now in order to take action on

29:45

any of those things, it's

29:47

important to either

29:49

physically, tangibly distill

29:52

that list into decisions and tasks in

29:54

order to make those things happen, or to

29:56

do it intuitively and recognize that there's

29:58

a lot of mental load in that.

29:59

Okay.

30:01

Now, even

30:02

things like let it go

30:05

still require decisions and tasks.

30:08

You can't just decide to let go of coordinating

30:10

the family tradition of running a 5K over

30:14

Thanksgiving weekend

30:14

or something without asking someone

30:16

else to take over. Right. So even

30:18

letting go can require something

30:20

to

30:21

make it happen.

30:23

But that's the whole point here, right? We're

30:26

trying to make

30:27

the next two months happen,

30:31

but also that what

30:34

is happening feels lighter,

30:36

it feels easier, it

30:38

feels more enjoyable

30:41

because we do have like a better sense

30:44

of where we are amidst all

30:46

these things that are happening.

30:48

And the best way I have found to do that is to make

30:50

those things smaller by breaking

30:52

them down into decisions and tasks. You

30:55

get to check things off more often that way too, which is pretty

30:57

rad.

30:58

Now, if you're still going and you're still

31:00

feeling good, here's where you go from here.

31:03

In order to make these decisions

31:06

and these tasks happen, you

31:09

need to put them in their right place. Okay,

31:11

put them in their place. You have to give

31:13

them some kind of treatment, right, in

31:16

order to make them happen.

31:18

I don't think one

31:19

approach

31:20

works for everything. So I'm going to give you five.

31:23

These are five things that you can apply to your decisions

31:26

and tasks to make them work and

31:28

you can apply them in whatever way or combination you

31:30

want, right? This is less about a system and more

31:32

about like how you

31:34

see what it is you have to do when

31:36

you can simplify the way you see your list. I

31:39

think the more likely

31:40

you are to do it. So we'll run through these really, really

31:42

quickly. So the five things that you can apply to your

31:44

decisions and tasks

31:45

are order,

31:47

deadlines,

31:48

urgency, significance,

31:51

and ease.

31:52

And you can do those by utilizing

31:55

any relevant lazy genius principles

31:57

to help you do that. So let's go through these. Let's start with order.

32:00

If you have a lot of decisions and tasks that are dependent

32:03

upon each other, but right now

32:05

they're written in kind of a crazy making fashion,

32:08

use the lazy genus principle

32:08

to go in the right order and put them in order,

32:11

right? This then this then this. You

32:14

could use the lazy genus

32:15

principle to build the right

32:17

routines to create

32:18

order that way like a daily rhythmic

32:21

order. You can take things

32:23

from your list that are similar to each other and you can

32:25

batch them together using the lazy genus

32:27

principle batch it

32:29

and do them all at the same time. See

32:31

what I mean? What needs

32:34

order? Sometimes

32:36

I need to write down individual things on

32:38

individual pieces of paper like little sticky

32:40

notes or scrap paper and move them around

32:43

on the table

32:43

or the floor.

32:44

Just writing them down and trying to put them in

32:47

order that way doesn't work. I have to like physically

32:49

put them in order. So that

32:51

might be a good tip if you're like really overwhelmed

32:54

by the disorder of your list.

32:58

Next, you could give something a deadline. Maybe

33:00

certain decisions or tasks they can wait

33:02

a little bit longer than right now

33:05

when you're doing this, but not past a particular date.

33:08

So look at your list of decisions and tasks

33:11

and notice if anything could use a deadline. It

33:14

doesn't matter when you

33:16

do each individual thing so long

33:18

as

33:19

this particular one is done by

33:21

a certain deadline in order to

33:23

make sure the other ones happen.

33:25

Okay, so you could apply a deadline. The

33:27

third kind of treatment you

33:30

can give your decisions and tasks urgency.

33:34

If you have a particularly long list

33:36

of things that are overwhelming you now

33:38

might be a really great time to utilize my one

33:41

of my favorite list making strategies

33:43

now soon later and never mind.

33:46

You're basically giving very general

33:48

forms of urgency, very relative

33:51

to your own life, to the

33:53

items on your list so that you're only

33:55

paying attention to the most urgent things now.

33:58

Other things will happen soon.

33:59

and others even later. You

34:02

might not even end up using nevermind

34:04

in this particular scenario because you've already

34:07

kind of let a lot of stuff that needed

34:09

to be let go, you've already let it go,

34:11

but try applying urgency to

34:15

certain decisions and tasks with now, soon,

34:17

later, and nevermind.

34:19

That'll help you see them more clearly. The

34:23

fourth thing you can apply is significance. You've

34:25

made what's happening smaller, which

34:28

is enormously helpful, but you don't want

34:30

to lose sight of what matters

34:32

most amongst all of these things on

34:34

your list now. So maybe you need

34:36

to look at your whole list of things that have been made

34:38

smaller and apply significance

34:41

to a handful of decisions or tasks so

34:44

that you can actively see

34:46

what needs the highest priority no matter

34:48

when it happens. So you can add like a little star next

34:51

to it of like this is the thing that's really significant here.

34:54

Just anything at all that helps remind you

34:56

of what really matters is really

34:58

helpful. Okay, and then finally

35:00

apply some ease. Use

35:03

the Lazy Genus Principle Decide Once. You

35:05

know that in order to make non-family

35:10

gift-giving easier, you're

35:12

going to choose one thing for everybody and you're

35:14

going to be done with it. You know,

35:16

you can apply ease by using the Principle Schedule

35:18

Rest to make sure that you have time built into

35:20

the next two months or you are taking

35:23

time to like just be a person and enjoy

35:26

the season. Look at

35:28

your list and notice if you need to apply ease

35:31

whether

35:32

intangible and towards yourself

35:34

or practically towards

35:35

your stuff.

35:37

In fact, I think that's a great place to

35:39

move into a conclusion here. I know

35:42

I just took you through a very like practical like

35:45

make a list, write stuff down, go go go.

35:48

And some of you love list making

35:50

energy. It's your favorite and

35:52

others of you are like, oh no, or maybe

35:54

you're imagining how big

35:57

your list might be and

35:58

you don't even want to start.

36:00

because of how overwhelming it might be. Usually

36:03

lists are smaller than we think,

36:04

to be fair.

36:06

But here's what I wanna remind you of. This

36:10

list that you either just made or

36:12

you're imagining making, it

36:14

is not the objective

36:17

of your holiday season.

36:18

The point of this episode is to not

36:20

turn you into a robot that checks things off.

36:23

The entire reasons,

36:26

reasons for the season, for

36:28

a lot of people is just to enjoy it, to

36:31

connect and celebrate

36:33

and rest and watch fun movies. I

36:35

feel cozy and hang out with friends.

36:38

You are a person hoping

36:40

to enjoy a beautiful season. You are

36:42

not a robot with a list.

36:44

And again, I know we just spent this entire episode

36:46

talking about

36:47

many versions of lists. But the

36:49

point of the list themselves

36:52

is so that you can feel more human, so

36:54

that you can feel more like yourself and enjoy the season.

36:58

That you can make what matters actually

37:01

happen. Now,

37:03

even though this is technically a process

37:05

with a certain order and several steps, I want you

37:07

to feel free to take whatever you need and leave the rest

37:09

behind. This is the

37:12

most complete way of approaching

37:14

an easier remainder of the year or

37:17

an easy long stretch of a

37:18

season. That doesn't mean that every step of

37:20

it is required. You might have

37:23

less on your list than you think. You might

37:25

just need to think through the steps

37:27

for like one element

37:29

of the rest of your year. You

37:32

might just take now, soon, later, nevermind and run

37:34

with it and be done.

37:36

I'm giving you full and complete permission to do

37:38

only the parts of this process that actually help

37:41

you. Don't make your

37:43

holidays easier by

37:45

first making them more complicated.

37:48

You might not need all of the things

37:50

I just said.

37:51

In fact, like you just needed someone

37:54

to show you that you're overwhelmed because everything is a

37:56

series of decisions and tasks. And

37:58

now that you know that, you feel better already.

37:59

you know.

38:01

So from this episode please do what makes sense

38:03

for you that supports what matters

38:05

to you. We're all so different, we're

38:07

all so different and under no circumstances

38:10

do I expect every person listening to

38:12

follow the steps in this episode to a tee.

38:15

Like please don't do that actually.

38:17

Take the pieces that make sense for you

38:20

and I truly believe that it'll make the rest of 2023 easier

38:23

and more lovely. All

38:26

right so before

38:26

we go let's celebrate the lazy genius of

38:28

the week. This week it is Mia Vierage.

38:32

Mia I think I messed up your last name I'm so sorry. Mia

38:34

has a tip for holiday baking especially if you're

38:36

going to do it a lot and I've actually done this

38:39

tip myself many years and

38:41

I can vouch for its excellence. So

38:43

here is Mia's message.

38:45

With the holidays coming up batch all

38:47

of your dry ingredients for your baked goods. If

38:49

you are baking cookies, muffins, pumpkin bread,

38:52

etc. batch all the flowers,

38:54

cinnamon, baking soda, and all other dry

38:56

ingredients in their own bags and label

38:58

them. Then when it is time for all the baking

39:01

you have made your life so much easier with the batching.

39:04

Not losing my mind and saving time matters to

39:06

me so I have found this to be so helpful.

39:09

Y'all seriously I have done this so many times. I have

39:11

put like the dry ingredients for a recipe in a

39:13

bag, written the name of

39:15

the recipe and like how many batches of it

39:18

with a sharpie on the bag and it's ready

39:21

for when I do the rest of it. It's

39:22

so great. So if you plan

39:25

on like some marathon baking

39:28

or you would like to just be that much closer

39:30

to having a family favorite

39:32

come out of the oven without

39:33

thinking too much this could be a really great approach

39:35

for you.

39:36

I'm always so grateful to myself

39:38

when I grab that label bag and then I

39:40

get to make something that I love that matters. Thicker.

39:43

It's pretty great. So thank you for sharing this idea

39:45

Mia and congratulations on being

39:47

the lazy genius of the week.

39:48

Okay y'all that is it for today. Don't

39:50

forget about the

39:53

sticker pop up. These stickers

39:55

are the most

39:55

fun and remember once the

39:57

pre-order window closes on November 15th you can can't

40:00

get them anymore. Please

40:02

order before then. The link to

40:04

get the sticker pack will be in the show notes and

40:07

I hope you love them. I hope you love them. So

40:10

you can go to thelazygeniescollective.com slash

40:12

stickers or again click the link in the show notes.

40:15

Okay that's all for tonight. Thank you

40:17

so much for listening and until next time be a

40:19

genius about the things that matter

40:22

and lazy about the things that don't.

40:24

I'm Kendra. I'll see you next week. you