Welcome back to another episode of Op-Ed! This episode was all about what we call “Lazy Genius” our lives, loosely based on the principles in Kendra Adachi’s newest book The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done. In the book, Kendra lays out thirteen different principles giving you various ways in which you can Lazy Genius your own life in order to embrace what matters to you and essentially, be lazy about the things that don’t. We are big fans of Kendra aka The Lazy Genius and so we thought her framework would be the perfect vehicle to discuss our own routines, systems, and other principles laid out in her book like Decide Once.
As always, grab your favorite drink of choice, get cozy, and join us.
02 Ways We Lazy Genius Our Lives
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EPISODE ONE SHOW NOTES
Kelly’s Life Changing Decide Once List
Toiletries: We use the same ones every time and buy them from the same place ahead of time. If our “what matters” or season changes, then we open the door to try something new that may help resolve that issue. I.E. Skincare needs change as we age and hair products change as our hairstyle changes.
Underwear: I buy the same high-quality underwear and keep 12-14 pairs in my drawer within a divider. Every time I get dressed, that’s the pair I pull on! No more sifting through uncomfortable pairs I don’t love or having “laundry day” underwear. Here is a link to the most amazing “Decide Once” underwear ever that covers alllllll the needs from working out to sleeping to dressing up or dressing down and everything in between.
Take Out Tuesday: Dan works late on Tuesdays. Dinner is always a struggle and battle of decision fatigue. We decided he will pick up dinner every Tuesday and bring it home. He has a list of local restaurants and my selection from each restaurant. He gets to choose!
Out of Office Day Thursdays: Didn’t get to this one on the show but wanted to. Every time someone wants to make an appointment with me out of the house, I suggest Thursday first and try to keep all my errands and activities out of the house on the same day. It makes it so much easier than going back and forth with schedules. I am flexible if I need to be but primarily stick to this day.
Nieces and Nephew Birthdays: After the age of 7, they get gift cards! It’s hard to buy for those ages and I come up with good physical Christmas ideas and enjoy it but after that, I am fatigued. Specifically, Amazon if they have wish lists they enjoy buying from. I will do a favorite clothing store for my teenagers.
Cleaning: I do a small pre-determined task every day instead of large cleaning days. I have been doing this for almost a decade and love it. If I miss a day that week (I.E. I don’t get to my dusting) then I just do it the following week! I don’t stress over when I am going to make it up. It’s already decided! (I love Toni at Bowl Full of Lemon’s card system for those who need help with where to start building a routine that works for them.
Jenny’s Find the Right Routine List
My Nightly Routine: My nightly routine has become the most life-giving thing, ever. It helps me go to bed calm and with a tidy house to wake up to in the mornings.
While I don’t have a Morning Routine, I have streamlined my mornings so I can get out the door efficiently — even now with a baby and a toddler. Here are some great ideas to help you streamline your mornings and find the right routine for you.
Establishing Boundaries and Balance: Some musings on how I established some pretty strict boundaries after I had Levi, how I learned how to say yes and no to things, and also how I let go of things in this season of littles.
Laundry, Laundry, Laundry
Kelly and I both utilize the one load a day-ish method, you can find the basic concept discussed here. It. Has. Been. Life. Changing! Neither of us are no longer slaves to laundry and more importantly, you don’t have to be either! Kelly and I also employ a Decide Once with laundry detergent, no more searching for the right one. We like the Norwex detergent. I also use Color Catchers when I am washing in warmer water so I don’t have to sort. The Color Catcher catches any bleed. It is amazing.
Digital Organization
We both utilize and love Evernote for keeping all the lists, notes, and other things. Kelly thinks of it like a digital bookshelf with various notebooks and I love that analogy. If you’ve never used Evernote, definitely check it out.
Jenny’s Packing List for Travel with Kids
More recently, we’ve discovered Trello. It is similar to a digital bulletin board where you can have lists, cards, and attach links or photos. It is actually how we plan and track all of our episodes for this show. We both have adapted it to fit our own needs from tracking purchases, planning gifts, and also keeping a digital list of the books we want to read or have read.
