0:01

Hi there. You're listening to the Lazy Genius

0:03

podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi, and I'm here to

0:05

help you be a genius about the things

0:07

that matter and lazy about the

0:10

things that don't. Today is

0:12

episode 349, 10

0:14

Small Changes I'm Glad I Made. It's

0:17

the smack dab middle of January and

0:19

we all know about the January feelings.

0:21

Kate Bowler has been talking about January

0:24

feelings on her Instagram lately and we

0:26

all know what those are, right? It's

0:28

the potential energy. It's

0:30

the goals and the big changes and the

0:32

fresh starts. We're in the middle of a season

0:34

where we're trying to figure out which of those

0:36

things and in what context they

0:39

matter to us, you know, all while just trying to get back

0:41

into the swing of life

0:43

after the winter holidays. PS,

0:45

why is it that when

0:47

the calendar changes years, you

0:50

can suddenly like visualize October and

0:52

you're like, wait, what is happening? Somehow when

0:54

I'm in December, the following October is light

0:56

years away. But once I hit January, it's

0:59

not that October is almost here, but

1:02

it's a lot closer than it was. Like

1:04

it's so bizarre. Anybody else feel that way?

1:06

Anyway. All right. We're

1:08

carrying lots of weird energy in January,

1:10

having a lot of those January feelings.

1:13

And since many of those feelings tend

1:15

to be big and expansive and beyond

1:17

where we are, I want to bring

1:19

us into today. I want us

1:21

to think about small things, small

1:23

changes, small steps that can have

1:25

a big impact. If you're

1:28

new around here, there are 13 lazy

1:30

genius principles that I described in my

1:32

first book called the lazy genius way.

1:34

And one of the most impactful, albeit

1:37

the most annoying is to start small.

1:40

We are slowly learning the value of

1:42

not only starting small in our, our

1:44

systems and our thinking, but

1:46

also in how we make small

1:49

changes. Like small changes

1:51

don't have to have big impact

1:53

account, but we often don't notice how

1:55

big of an impact a small change can have on

1:57

our lives until we're actively looking.

1:59

for it and I've been actively

2:01

looking for it. I've been

2:03

noticing the small changes in my life recently

2:06

and I wanted to take the time to

2:08

share those with you. This episode is

2:10

10 small changes I'm glad

2:12

I made. So you can see

2:15

a variety of examples of the value of

2:17

small changes. And at the end of the episode I'm

2:20

actually going to share a list of some of your

2:22

small changes that you made that you shared with me

2:24

on Instagram. Basically I just want to give

2:26

more air time to small changes. And for

2:28

clarity's sake before we get into the list I'm

2:31

not talking about small progress. I'm

2:33

not talking about taking small steps continuously

2:36

in one direction to get to a

2:38

big change. I'm talking about literally one

2:41

small change that was made and now it's done. And

2:44

the consequences of that small change are ongoing.

2:46

But these are just really singular

2:49

changes that are small

2:52

but they're complete, right? They're complete. Like

2:54

I feel like those ongoing small changes

2:56

that's another topic entirely. So

2:58

we are talking about small complete

3:01

done changes that make a

3:03

big impact. Alright let's get into

3:05

my list of 10. The first small change

3:08

I'm glad I made is one you already

3:10

know about if you follow me on Instagram

3:12

and it is the loose inspiration for this

3:14

episode actually. It is having multiple hair brushes

3:16

in the house and particularly

3:19

changing the color of the hair brush

3:21

that's always in my living room. Let

3:23

me explain. My daughter Annie

3:25

is in second grade and she has very

3:27

long, very tangly hair. Every night

3:29

we sit on the couch. It used to be her

3:31

bed but now she's pivoted to the couch. And

3:34

I braid her hair while she watches

3:37

you know guys yell about slime on YouTube.

3:39

For a while I would go to her

3:41

room to try to find the brush and

3:43

the comb. Both are required as

3:45

well as a hair tie. Often I would forget to

3:47

do this before I sat down which was kind of

3:49

annoying. Also annoying was having to return

3:51

the brush and comb to her room at some point

3:54

before the next morning. Otherwise

3:56

I would just have a hot pink hair brush on

3:58

my couch forever and then she would looking for

4:00

it in the morning. Mom, where's my hairbrush? Okay, so

4:03

I got an empty planter, like

4:05

a plant planter, that did

4:07

not have a plant in it in my house. I

4:10

put it on the table next to the couch. It's

4:12

real pretty. And I inside it

4:14

instead of a plant, I put a

4:16

living room hairbrush, a living

4:18

room comb, and some living room

4:20

hair ties. Amazing. It's all in

4:22

its place exactly where I need it. But

4:25

the little bit of hot pink from that hot pink

4:27

hairbrush, let's stick out of that planter and it got

4:29

on my nerves. My living room

4:31

is like warm woods, light

4:34

blues, rich blacks, you know,

4:37

like hot pink is not part of the color story in there.

4:40

So who cares though, right? What can you do?

4:42

It doesn't matter. Well, a few weeks ago, I

4:45

went to Target to get two more hairbrushes since

4:48

Annie and I both have hair that needs brushing. And we

4:50

both do it in two different rooms, especially

4:53

because we're still in this bathroom remodel. And

4:55

so we were down to just a

4:57

living room hairbrush and then another floater that would go

4:59

between all the bedrooms and bathrooms. No, thank you. That

5:01

was not working for us. So I was like, you

5:03

know what, we just need to get more hairbrushes. Now,

5:06

since the two hairbrushes we do have

5:08

are both hot pink, I

5:11

was prepared to just buy two more that were hot

5:13

pink. Like why would I do anything else? It's just

5:15

what we, I didn't even think

5:18

that hairbrushes would come in other

5:20

colors because we use the wet hairbrush.

5:23

They're hot pink. Well, when I got to the

5:25

store, they didn't have hot pink. They only had

5:27

one white and one block. Well, I

5:30

love a neutral. So I was like, well, all right, we'll go,

5:32

we'll go with it. Even though I was weirdly disappointed

5:34

they did not have hot pink because

5:36

they thought they should all be the same. I don't know.

5:39

Then when I got home, I realized

5:41

that I could put the black hairbrush in

5:43

the planter. The pink one

5:46

could go to a bedroom or a bathroom where

5:48

it was not a decoration, mattered not an ounce,

5:51

but the black one could stay in the living room

5:53

and practically be invisible. Now, when I

5:55

say that this small change has brought me

5:57

the most tremendous joy, I cannot. express

6:01

the expansiveness of that statement. It

6:03

makes me genuinely happy and

6:05

genuinely grateful every time I reach

6:07

for that black hairbrush. It's

6:10

always in the planter since it's the living room brush,

6:13

and it does not get on my visual nerves. That

6:16

brush was the best $9 I've ever

6:19

spent. So you get the

6:21

idea. These are the small changes we're talking

6:23

about. Super actionable in

6:25

whatever way your life needs them. And hopefully the

6:27

rest of this list will spark something that will

6:30

help make a big difference in your life too. Cause

6:32

sometimes we're just like, well, yeah, we just stuck with

6:34

a hot pink hairbrush. Maybe you don't

6:36

have to be metaphorically. This

6:40

episode is sponsored by Olive and June. I

6:43

still laugh that I wrote the following sentence in

6:45

a published book. I am lazy about

6:48

my nails. Well, then I found

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Mani System. The

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second small change that I'm

7:46

glad I made is similar and it is that

7:48

there are scissors everywhere.

7:51

I mean, not like dangerously, but you know what I

7:53

mean. They're all over the place in our house. We

7:56

like many people seem to always be cutting stuff up,

7:58

you know, cutting tags off things, cutting. stubborn

8:00

snack bags open, cutting paper for

8:02

crafts. Scissors are used often and

8:04

in every room. Now for

8:07

years we had one

8:09

pair of good scissors. Can

8:11

you even imagine? That is no way

8:13

to live. I was forever annoyed at

8:16

my family for taking the scissors and leaving them

8:18

in random rooms instead of putting them back in

8:20

the little tub of pens in the kitchen. Well

8:23

now we have three pairs of scissors

8:26

in the same room even. I have

8:29

also have pens everywhere. There are three buckets of

8:31

pens. Like when I say buckets I mean you

8:33

know just like little not

8:35

jars but you know like little little buckets like

8:37

little pen buckets little pen vessels.

8:41

And we have three of them in the same big

8:43

space. There's one in the kitchen by the counter. There

8:45

is one 15 feet away from that where the male

8:47

is and there's a third 15 feet from that by

8:50

the kitchen table in the living room kind of close

8:52

to the craft cabinet. Now I don't

8:54

want to go far for a pen. I don't know. I just

8:58

don't want to have to. I came to

9:00

find too how lovely it was to not have to go

9:02

far for a pair of scissors. So

9:04

now there is a pair of scissors in every pen jar

9:07

as well as a pair of scissors in my bedroom. Now when

9:09

I was making this list of my 10 small changes that I'm

9:11

glad I made and I was like oh scissors three pairs

9:13

of scissors in the room. I realized

9:15

that we still run into a scissors problem sometimes because

9:18

there are not any of the boy any scissors on

9:20

the boy's side of the house. So

9:22

like they'll take one of the three living room

9:24

scissors but they won't return it and then I'm

9:26

like where's my where's my uh

9:29

mail bag my mail area pair of

9:31

scissors you know. So you know what I

9:33

did when I was making this list

9:35

like a couple days ago I ordered some more scissors.

9:38

I ordered another three pack of scissors like

9:40

another eight bucks. All is good

9:42

and true in the world. Like I'm so excited to be

9:44

able to put these I think they're being delivered today. I'm

9:46

going to put these scissors in new

9:48

places and I can't wait. All right the

9:50

third small change I'm glad I made which is

9:53

also similar to the first two in the

9:55

final of this general category is that we have

9:57

umbrellas everywhere like more umbrellas than

9:59

I I don't know how many we have. I

10:01

got tired of needing the one

10:04

umbrella that we had. Again, one

10:06

and it was in the

10:08

car, like where I had

10:10

to run through the rain, which didn't make any

10:12

sense, or it was in a car that

10:14

wasn't even at our house. Plus we

10:16

have a family of five people. And if you've

10:18

ever been a person, and especially if you've been

10:20

a kid, you know how preferred and fun

10:22

it is to have your own umbrella. I

10:25

think we probably, I don't know, probably 10

10:27

in various places. Like some are super cheap,

10:30

some are not, some are tiny, some are huge. All

10:33

are brightly colored, because that's a decide once

10:35

I have. They're all really bright.

10:38

But I never have to wonder where an umbrella

10:40

is. There is always one where

10:42

I need it, even when they move around. Rain

10:45

is no longer stressful. So that's

10:47

the third change. So many

10:49

umbrellas. The fourth small change I'm

10:51

glad I made is that I got good socks.

10:54

For a long while, I only had like a

10:56

few pairs of non-athletic socks. And they were fine.

10:58

Like I'd get the cheapest but cutest pack at

11:01

Target, and I would call it good, right? But

11:03

then they'd be like too thin, or

11:05

they'd flat off my heel, any number of

11:08

annoyances. But socks are socks, so who

11:10

cares, right? Clearly, you know

11:12

that answer cannot stand. Socks are not socks,

11:14

people. So last year I bought two

11:16

packs of Bombas wool socks. This is not an ad.

11:19

I love Bombas I've been wearing them for years. But

11:22

I had never, I'd always gotten their athletic

11:24

socks. I'd never gotten their wool socks. They

11:27

are all I wear now. I have

11:29

plenty. So I never worry about

11:31

running out before the laundry's done. They

11:33

are excellent quality and they stay put.

11:35

They are so warm, but they're not

11:37

bulky. I just love them.

11:39

And I did not realize how much good

11:42

socks would make my days better. But

11:44

they do. I got good socks,

11:46

you guys. Okay, the fifth small change

11:49

I'm glad I made is our cup

11:51

zone, or our drink spinner, is what we

11:53

call it in the kitchen counter. So

11:56

this has been a situation in our

11:58

kitchen for years now. Here's

12:00

the problem. Everyone in your house, even if you're

12:02

the only one who lives there, everyone in your

12:04

house drinks throughout the day, right? You might

12:06

have your water bottle. You also might have a

12:08

mug for your tea, but you get maybe

12:11

more than one mug of tea during

12:13

the day, then you don't want to get a dirty

12:15

mug. So you have a mug. You

12:17

might have like, you know, a

12:20

juice glass, like whatever it is. There are

12:22

just drinking vessels all over the

12:24

living area, probably of where you live. Probably

12:27

one or more for each person in your

12:29

house. Now, for us, when

12:31

I would go to tidy that living area,

12:34

I never knew what to do with all the cups in the

12:36

water bottles. I mean, we still need them the rest of the

12:38

day, so they're not dirty, but I'm

12:41

not just going to leave them lying around like some kind of

12:43

animal. I'm joking. You can totally leave them out. But

12:45

I personally did not want to, right? The visual clutter

12:47

of that got on my nerves. And

12:50

also, you know, water bottles are usually

12:52

brightly colored in our house at least. And

12:54

it was like the pink hairbrush thing. Like I

12:56

just didn't want a bunch of like, colors. I

12:59

was here on my living room. Also,

13:02

no one ever knew where their

13:04

drink was. Ever. I got

13:06

so tired of hearing, Mom, where's my water bottle?

13:09

So I just used the Lazy Genus

13:12

Principle, put everything in its place, and

13:14

I made a cup zone. On

13:17

our kitchen island, there is now a

13:19

Lazy Susan, or as Ricky Ricardo would

13:21

say, Lousy Susan. It is wooden.

13:23

It is quite lovely, but it's the cup zone.

13:26

It is where all the water bottles and the

13:28

cups and the mugs and the things that are

13:30

not done for the day, that's where they live,

13:32

right? Now, while it

13:35

is still visible, it is contained.

13:37

It has a place. Again, we call it the drink

13:39

spinner. When the kids get home from school and they

13:42

unpack their backpacks, it used to be that I would

13:44

have to say, like, put your water bottles on the

13:46

drink spinner. I don't have to say that anymore. Like,

13:49

they automatically do it. Now it's been so long, they just

13:51

put their water bottles on the drink spinner. When

13:53

they clear the table after dinner, dirty

13:55

dishes go in the dirty dishes zone, which

13:57

is just a Particular piece of

13:59

counter-dinner. hop or reproduce dirty dishes

14:01

and then the cups of water

14:03

bottles gonna drink center. They already

14:05

know where they go, and that

14:07

small change has been enormously enormously.

14:09

Helpful. Over the years. The.

14:12

Six small change and that I made

14:14

his the huts. I. Order

14:16

an avocado in every. Grocery order.

14:19

This. Is A we have one. But. It's also

14:21

awesome. So I love avocados. That as

14:23

we all know, their lives are full of drama.

14:25

You know they run on hold. We just don't

14:27

know what we're gonna get and when we're gonna

14:30

get it Now by ordering one avocado whenever. He

14:32

or she order. Which. Happens every three or

14:34

four days. I'm almost always guaranteed

14:36

like a least. A little bit of avocado.

14:38

The three. the. You know I do toast or

14:40

put it on. Rice Bowls. A

14:42

put a spoonful and smith and a smoothie. And

14:44

if we. Have several that are ya happen to

14:47

be right at once. I'll make guacamole. This.

14:49

Is because I'm such a strange little small

14:52

change. The one I very much love. I

14:54

just always order an avocado and are you

14:56

think about it? And that means always

14:58

have. Avocado. But.

15:01

Like. Other kind of the

15:03

three. The. It's. Just great. The

15:05

seventh small change that I'm glad I made. Is

15:08

that I allow my oldest

15:10

kid. To play chess

15:12

and make music on his computer whenever

15:14

he wants. Screen.

15:17

Time Kids are such a bear right? If you

15:19

want an episode about how to handle it like

15:21

a lazy genius, we will link to that episode

15:23

in the shown us we have a kid screen

15:26

time episode that ultimately it's It's the deciding all

15:28

the time whether or not a kid can do

15:30

the screen then. Now. Frankly

15:32

and on my screen time for our family we

15:34

left. Screen time. We have it everyday. But not

15:36

all screen time is created equal. right? Not

15:39

washing the yelling slime guys. Is

15:42

different from watching. The wanna is

15:44

different from playing online. Chest is

15:46

different from making digital arts. They.

15:48

All require the same screen. but

15:51

they also require a different uses

15:53

the brain so a small change

15:55

that we made for our oldest

15:57

is an eighth grade and because

16:00

less and less interested in his family, as all middle

16:02

school boys do, is that he

16:04

wants to play chess or make music. Those are his two

16:06

favorite hobbies, and he wants to do them all the

16:08

time, and he can. Like he doesn't have to

16:10

ask. For a while we made a mask,

16:12

and now we don't even do that. We

16:14

have start and end points for the internet

16:16

on his computer and on all the devices,

16:19

so like, nobody can, you know, start

16:21

earlier than this or end later than this, or

16:23

keep going later than this, but the

16:25

window for that's pretty wide. So if he wants

16:27

to do either of those things, play chess or

16:29

make music on his computer, he can.

16:33

And that small change has been

16:35

incredible for my parenting sanity. Incredible.

16:40

The eight small change I'm glad that

16:42

I made is that I decided once

16:44

when I move my body. Now

16:46

this is a new one, but shockingly hopeful in a

16:48

short time. I've said a good number of

16:51

words about exercise and,

16:53

you know, body shape and how we feel about

16:55

our bodies and all the things over the years.

16:57

Leah will kindly put some links to those episodes

16:59

in the show notes for you, but

17:01

ultimately I feel good when I move. It took

17:04

me a while to believe that and to not

17:06

hold on to diet culture when

17:08

I did, that I was moving to change the shape

17:10

of my body. But now

17:12

really, that's not why I move at all. Like

17:14

at all. I love movement.

17:17

It's good for my brain. It's

17:20

good for my energy. It makes me calmer.

17:22

It gives the caffeinated squirrel somewhere to go, you

17:24

know. And so I love

17:26

movement and I prioritize it whenever possible. That

17:29

is a term that Kate Bowler brought to my attention

17:31

recently, whenever possible. It's

17:34

such a kind way to couch our priorities while

17:36

leaving room for our humanity, right? So

17:39

anyway, I try to move whenever possible.

17:42

But I figured out that

17:46

the reason why this has been a challenge for

17:48

so many years. Like I remember

17:50

talking to my therapist about this like two summers ago.

17:52

That was a long time problem about when to move.

17:56

So I have three kids. I have a job that's flexible, but

17:58

it's still a job. And it has

18:00

just been weirdly tough for me to find a regular

18:03

time to move because my days

18:05

are pretty different from

18:07

one to the next, right? Now

18:10

recently I was trying to plan a particularly

18:12

busy week and I just felt like I

18:14

could not get anything done. Like the entire

18:16

plan felt complicated. There were no flags. There

18:18

was just nothing to anchor to, but there

18:21

was still so much to do. I

18:23

got super frustrated that I could not figure this

18:26

out. And then I realized that

18:28

the single thing that was making the planning tough was

18:31

when I would move. I was

18:33

trying to Tetris my movement into

18:35

different spots on different days and it just

18:37

made everything complicated. It made work complicated. It

18:39

made making dinner complicated. It made when I

18:41

was going to get the kids complicated. Everything

18:44

just felt complicated. So I decided

18:46

to decide once. For a

18:48

short season, I would try getting up at

18:50

5.30 whenever possible and moving

18:52

before anyone got up. I'm

18:55

not usually a proponent for actually, I'm still

18:57

not a proponent of everyone to get up

18:59

early. Like please stay

19:01

asleep for the love. But

19:04

for me, it's like, you know what? I think

19:07

this might work for the season. And he does

19:09

not get out of bed until 6.30 as required

19:11

by a Dachi family law. So I

19:13

know that I'm safe until then. So

19:16

I've been getting up at 5.30 whenever possible. I go

19:18

to the gym down the street. I walk super fast

19:20

on the treadmill for like 20 or 30 minutes and then

19:22

I go home. That's it. That's

19:24

all they do. Other rhythms of my

19:26

life, they already exist pretty much from

19:29

6.30 until I go to bed at

19:31

night. And that was the

19:33

problem. I was trying to insert a new rhythm

19:35

into old ones that already had a flow and

19:37

I just could not make it work without impacting

19:39

those other rhythms and I did not want to

19:42

impact those other rhythms. So

19:44

by making the small change of

19:46

deciding once when I will move, which

19:49

is at 5.30, which in

19:51

many ways is unfortunate, but also then it's done

19:53

and I start my day feeling a lot

19:55

better. It's been good. It's

19:59

really been helpful. Now, will it always

20:01

be that way? No, and frankly, I hope not. But

20:04

it works for this season, and I'll

20:06

keep doing it until it doesn't work that way

20:08

anymore. The

20:15

ninth small change I'm glad I made is that I

20:17

put my dinner queue on my

20:20

meal planning dry erase calendar that's visible

20:22

in the kitchen. Okay,

20:24

just a reminder, a dinner queue is just like a

20:26

list of all the things that

20:28

you could have for dinner in the season. I love to make

20:30

a seasonal dinner queue, but frankly, our dinner queue has been the

20:32

same for years and years and years.

20:34

I have not added much to it at all, just a handful

20:36

of things. But it's visible on

20:39

my meal planning calendar. You have likely seen

20:41

the dry erase calendars in my kitchen where

20:43

I do my monthly meal planning. There's two

20:45

months worth of them, and it's

20:47

just nice to see what we've had for dinner and what

20:49

we will. I've used them for years and years. But

20:52

in recent months, I added a

20:54

permanent dinner queue to those calendars. On the

20:56

side where it's like that place for notes,

20:59

I wrote down all our brainless crowd pleasers. Those

21:01

are the meals that are brainless for the cook to make. And

21:04

then generally pleasing for whatever crowd

21:06

is eating it. We usually go for three

21:08

out of five family members who are fans

21:11

of the thing. Three out of

21:13

five is a great success rate, as

21:15

well as putting some favorites that we

21:18

have on occasion that are not necessarily brainless,

21:20

but they're still favorites and we make them. It

21:22

has made meal planning so easy because the meal ideas

21:24

are just right there in front of me. I

21:27

don't know why it took me so long to

21:29

think about putting them right there when I monthly

21:31

meal plan, but that's what I'm talking about

21:33

here with these small changes. It's

21:35

not a big deal that they weren't there. The man what

21:37

a big deal it is now that they are. And

21:40

then the 10th small change I'm glad I made

21:42

is that I quit books I

21:45

don't like, or I adjust

21:47

how I'm reading a book that I almost

21:49

like. I mentioned this briefly

21:51

in the last newsletter that went out last week,

21:53

but a good example of this is

21:56

when I read Jonathan Strange and

21:58

Mr. Norrell. by Susanna Clark.

22:01

I loved Susanna Clark's weird little

22:03

book, Piranesi, so I figured I

22:05

would like her other novel. Now,

22:08

it's maybe ten times the size

22:10

of Piranesi. It's also a

22:12

completely different tone and writing style, but who cares, right? I

22:14

mean, it's the same author. It's going to be great. I

22:16

was wrong. I started reading it two years ago.

22:18

I just could not get

22:21

into it. I could barely even hold it. The book was

22:23

so big because I bought the actual book. So

22:25

in that time, two years ago, I decided that

22:27

a huge book like that was not for the

22:30

season I was in, and I quit the book for

22:33

that time, right? Well, this past December, I figured

22:35

the holiday month was a good time to try

22:37

again, so I got the book off the shelf.

22:39

Nope, still couldn't do it. So then

22:41

I pivoted to the audio. Maybe I would find

22:43

it easier to fit into my life in a

22:45

different format. And while I did

22:47

listen to pretty much the entire thing, I still did

22:50

not love the book. I listened

22:52

to about 80% of it, and

22:54

it was long, so 80% still had like

22:56

seven hours to go. And

22:58

I decided I had given it my best go, and I

23:00

could find a different path. So I looked up the

23:03

synopsis. I read what happened at the end, and then

23:05

I listened to the final like half hour or whatever. Now,

23:08

while that's technically not

23:11

a story about quitting a book, which

23:13

I do often do whenever I need to, it

23:15

is a good example of like the small change that

23:18

I can do what I need to do when I

23:21

read. You know, I can quit. I can pause. I

23:23

can try another format. I can read spoilers if

23:25

I don't want to finish. I can read however I

23:27

need to. Just

23:29

like with all these things, there

23:31

are low significance in the scheme of

23:33

grand life, right? We're not solving the

23:35

world's problems here. But I

23:38

do think the more we pay attention to small changes

23:40

we can make, and we

23:42

experience the big differences that they cause, we're

23:45

going to have a life with more space and less

23:47

stress to do the things that matter. I

23:50

will always, always, always be a

23:52

proponent for small problem solving without

23:54

apology or disclaimer. All right,

23:56

now to wrap up my list of

23:58

10 small changes. of celebrating the

24:00

lazy genius of the week with one person like

24:03

we normally do, we're going to make it a

24:05

whole slew of you. In the spirit of the

24:07

collective part of the lazy genius collective, I'm going

24:09

to read out a bunch of small changes that

24:11

y'all are glad you made that you shared with

24:14

me on Instagram. And I love that I can

24:16

rapid fire these because the changes are so small.

24:18

It's kind of perfect. All right, here we

24:20

go. Allison Harris moved

24:22

my books to the living room so I can read

24:25

in the daytime when I'm not sleepy. Gina

24:27

Melton, I wrote top

24:29

and side with a Sharpie on

24:31

my king sized fitted sheets. Stephanie

24:34

Hall, scissors in the closet to cut

24:36

off all the annoying tags. Stacy

24:39

C, kid socks kept downstairs

24:41

by their shoes, not in their bedrooms.

24:44

Amanda Neely, all baby

24:46

spoons live on the kitchen table ready

24:48

to replace the spoon thrown on

24:50

the floor. Marie

24:52

Noel, using a small

24:55

heating pad on my home office chair since that

24:57

room is always cold. Martha

24:59

Kent, I put a full sized trash

25:01

can in our bathroom instead of the

25:03

tiny bathroom trash can. Julie

25:05

Prius, every time I go to Costco, I

25:08

pick up a ready made dinner. Laura

25:10

Montanez, I buy neutral tissue box covers so I

25:12

don't have to look at the colorful designs. A

25:14

woman after my own heart. Emily

25:17

Donegan, I bought a second and third water

25:19

bottle, one for work, one for home and

25:21

one for hot water. Rebecca

25:24

M, I take public transit

25:26

and I bought a badge holder for the

25:28

pass. It's easier to grab with gloves on. Morgan

25:31

Schlin, opening a new tube of

25:34

toothpaste before the old tube requires tools to

25:36

eat any of the leftovers out. Ivy,

25:39

no last name. I switched our coffee maker

25:41

with our toaster. Coffee is closer to the

25:43

sink now and cleanup is easier. Laura

25:46

Kohler, I keep my kids

25:48

ADHD meds in the car and

25:50

have an alarm to give them to them on the way to school.

25:53

Rebecca Jones, adjusting where I

25:55

store cereal to a shelf my kids can reach

25:57

themselves. And Kelsey Damron.

26:00

moving our recycling bin to the garage, our

26:02

boxes actually make it to the bin now.

26:05

I mean you guys and those were just

26:07

the ideas shared at the first 30 minutes of me posting like

26:10

hey guys what are your small changes? Small changes

26:12

they make a huge difference and the

26:14

more you accept that and notice when you can

26:16

let them hold the value

26:18

that they do you know you're like this

26:20

actually matters. The

26:23

collection of those small changes

26:25

over time it

26:27

really does create a beautiful life that

26:29

still goes upside down and wonky it

26:31

still has tragedy and hormones and all

26:33

kinds of things that cause chaos but

26:36

your regular daily rhythmic things they

26:38

feel smoother because of all these small

26:40

changes. So you can maybe

26:43

make one today like move an appliance

26:46

buy an extra set of scissors move your

26:48

favorite candle from your living room to your bathroom and

26:50

light it when you take a shower like Leah on

26:52

my teen does that was her small change that she

26:55

shared with me these small changes make

26:57

a huge difference and

26:59

I hope this episode encourages you to see the

27:01

value in yours. A

27:03

quick reminder that there will be no new episode

27:05

next Monday we're taking a week off

27:07

to deal with some logistical behind-the-scenes things

27:10

but we'll have a new very exciting

27:12

episode on January 29th. Maybe

27:14

you can even like go ahead and pick an old

27:16

episode now that you'll download to listen

27:18

to next Monday during your regular listening time because I

27:21

know a lot of you do that you listen to

27:23

the show like during a regular rhythm of your day

27:25

and since a lot

27:27

of what we make is seasonal maybe you can

27:29

check episodes from the last couple of January's and

27:32

see if anything seems like a helpful idea for

27:34

your next week. So thank you

27:36

for listening to today and until next time

27:38

be a genius about the things that matter

27:40

and lazy about the things that don't. I'm

27:43

Kendra and I'll see you in two

27:45

weeks. you