Hey there, you're listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi, and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. Today's episode 393, What's Saving My Life? I keep thinking I'll get tired of this practice since we do it every quarter. But as time goes on, I love it even more. The regular rhythm of noticing your life and naming what's saving it, what's making it light or grounded or joyful or even just tolerable in certain seasons.
is immensely helpful in being an integrated, content person. So let's name where we are and what's helping us be there right now. As is often the case, the list is varied but all deeply accurate. And I'm going to try really hard to not mention my Hall of Fame items that seem to always make it on the list. If you would like to hear what those are, you can check out episode 383. Okay, before I jump into this season's list, it's important to note that this
season for me has been a unique one. I released my third book, The Plan, and did a lot of promotion for it that required travel and a higher creative present energy than I usually need. It was also the first season where I've had three kids in three schools and where I've had a high schooler. As you look at your own list of what's saving your life, it's really nice and I think important to name what your life looks like first.
It gives you perspective on your life. It gives you kindness toward your life, where you are right now. And it makes the things that are saving your life that much more significant, right? You're naming why they matter right now. So let's jump into my list. Saving my life right now is the Great British Baking Show. Really like comfort TV in general. I'm doing some dips into the first couple of seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl, which I love both of those so much.
But there is something about the great British baking show that just makes my whole body feel like everything is going to be okay. When the newest season started on Netflix a few weeks ago, I didn't start it right away. But I felt its existence in the universe. It was like there was this taste of something special waiting for me. And I kid you not, when I started the first episode and the theme music started playing, I teared up.
Like it made me so genuinely happy. I could not stand it. And now that Noel is joined by Alison Hammond, who I have now made it my life's purpose to become her friend. Like that show is just firing on all cylinders, knowing that it's waiting for me every Friday. And the fact that Friday is already my day to like fill up and feel like myself because it's my day off. It's just icing on the cake.
Sometimes quite literally, actually. That's a good pun. I love the Great British Baking Show with my whole actual heart. The second thing saving my life right now is Sam Kelly's notice and do. So I mentioned this concept of hers before. Sam's expertise. is empowering parents, mothers in particular, to teach their kids not just what to do to help around the house, but to actually notice what those things are.
The cultural cycle for decades and decades has been that the women, the moms, manage not just the home, but also the mental load of it, right? We carry it all. We do it all. And if we want help, we have to tell everyone how to help us. which is like its own effort. So Sam has an audio course called Little Cycle Breakers.
that I paid money for and I loved every second of, that teaches you in such a compassionate, helpful, practical way to empower your kids, if you have them, to be active participants. in caring for and managing a home. Not just like willing laborers or unwilling laborers. You have to tell what to do. I'm pretty sure her course is open right now. So if it is, we'll put a link in the show notes if you want to check it out. But to the specific thing that's saving my life, her phrase, notice and do.
has become a staple in the Adachi house. Now my kids like don't, they don't love the sentence. They don't love it. When I say let's notice and do in the living room, they like definitely whine. But guess what else they do? They pick stuff up and they straighten things out and they throw away trash and they notice what to do themselves. I'm not the one telling them what to pick up. Like it is such a gift.
The biggest place this has shown up is the first place we started, which makes sense, right? And that is our dishwasher. We run our dishwasher at night and we unload it. Well, I used to unload it in the mornings for years. That was my job. It was just like part of my morning routine or whatever.
I'd make the kids lunches and I'd get everyone out of bed and ready for the day. But we have now, because of Sam's Notice and Do, we have started having each kid, I have three kids, unload one level of the dishwasher, which works out great because we have three levels in our dishwasher. So it is part of their like daily morning routine.
and something they are responsible for noticing and doing every single day. Now, while I do sometimes have to remind them to do their dishwasher level, 90% of the time, they all just unload their level without complaint. I have unloaded my dishwasher less than five times in the last three months.
So notice and do from Sam Kelly continues to be a lifesaver. Again, if you want to check her out, we'll put a link to her little cycle breakers course in the show notes. Okay. The third thing saving my life right now. is thrifting. Oh my goodness. All right. So as I have been promoting and launching my new book,
I have been talking more and more about contentment, right? The productivity industry does not want us to be content with our lives. Otherwise there is nothing to improve or level up and therefore nothing we need to buy to help us get there. So contentment and consumerism have been on my mind a little more than usual. I also think that moving into the holidays and having Christmas gifts on my mind.
And also there's a lot of people in fashion who have been talking about the proposed tariffs that might come down that are going to make clothing more expensive. I've just been thinking a lot about like what I buy. what I want to buy and how I feel when I discover something used that I love, which has been a lot more often lately. So I've been a casual thrifter for most of my adult life, but my first
stop when I need something, especially clothes, it's a store that sells things new. And there's nothing wrong with that. Absolutely not. That's what I've always done. that I have a friend who she's the opposite. She is a major thrifter and she rarely buys anything new at the first pass. Like she tries a thrift store first.
She gets most of her clothes from thrift stores and vintage stores. And even the gifts that she exchanges with her siblings and stuff, those are secondhand. She really inspired me in that. She also has a daughter who is friends with my daughter. And one day, a couple of months ago, we all went to Goodwill together. Now, Annie, my daughter, has always been a little wary of thrift stores.
partly because she has a y'all a very sensitive sense of smell. Oh my goodness. It's ridiculous. The things that she smells that no one else does. And we all know that like not all thrift stores smell the absolute best, but she would come in to a thrift store with me. And she's coming for me. Like I need to look at jackets or glassware real quick.
There's nothing ever in it for her. It was just like a tag along errand. Well, Annie is also a major clothes horse. This girl loves fashion and outfits and options. And I cannot sustain this desire for her for another 10 years. So when we all went to Goodwill a couple of months ago,
And Annie was looking through the kids section with her friend. And I was looking through the other stuff with my friend. And Annie found some major finds. I'm talking like six or seven pieces that she loves and are very unique. And she wears them all the time. Like I knew, I knew we did it. We hit the jackpot. This was going to be a thing that we did. All of us girls have intentionally gone to Goodwill again.
So that Annie, she has learned the value of going regularly and also being okay that not every trip is going to lead to a jackpot, right? But I've also loved shopping for myself. Like I'm wearing a t-shirt and jeans this very minute that I got thrifting and they're amazing. I have felt.
such contentment in finding treasures and giving them life again, and also not spending so much time or money on things that don't speak to my style in the same way that these like hunted for thrifted pieces have. And plus, it's just been fun to have something to do with Annie, either just the two of us or again with these friends. And it's something that we like both really love to do and love looking forward to now. It's genuinely been like so special on multiple levels.
Now, before I get to number four, now is an excellent time to remind everyone that these are things that are saving my life. They do not have to save yours. Just because I have enjoyed thrifting and I'm shopping at mainstream stores less, that does not mean that that's a value statement for everyone. Now, some people would say it is, but I do not. I do not think it is. We can all make the decisions that matter to us.
in the season of life that we're in. And I happen to be in a season of life where thrifting is joyful, mentally helpful, and fashionably sustainable for my outfit loving child, right? But everyone gets to choose.
The fourth thing that's saving my life this season is my reading twin, Katie. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned Katie before somewhere. I don't know if it was on the podcast, but She is someone that I have known like tangentially for a long time, but we've never really had many conversations.
We go to church together, but we sit on different sides of the sanctuary. And if you go to church or anywhere consistent where you sit in the same spot, you kind of know that it's very real to not always see people who sit on the other side. Well, over the summer, Katie and I happened to sit next to each other on the side of the pool watching our kids swim. And we started talking about books. It did not take long for us to both realize how similar our reading styles are.
But now, and that was like several, several months ago, but the frequency now at which we talk about books, it has picked up substantially in the last couple of months. Not only do Katie and I like the exact same books, we also seem to have overlapping like reading moods. We update each other every few days on what we're reading, what's next. We even are coordinating our picks for book subscriptions, like Book of the Month and Aardvark, so that we can cover more territory.
Like we don't choose the same books because we're going to share them. Although this last month, we picked the same book like kind of accidentally because we both just went into it quickly without checking with the other one. And so then we read that book at the same time and like text each other while we were reading.
We share physical books. We definitely pass along recommendations like multiple times a week. It's just become a whole thing. And it has brought me so much joy. Sharing books with Katie has made me read more often because I kind of want to tell her about what I'm reading and I want to make room for what she's reading. And it's just been really nice sharing something that I love so much with someone who is loving the exact same things for the exact same reasons at the exact same time.
It's just been really great. I do always like have some form of reading on my what's saving my life list because it is the most consistent thing. And so this month is no different, but this time it's a person instead of a book or a rhythm. All right, the fifth thing, saving my life right now, It is kindness towards my body. Now I care about tending to her and moving her and strengthening her and also resting her and honoring her and letting her be.
My relationship with my body has always been ranging from like very complicated to like deeply, deeply unhealthy, going from disordered eating to micromanaging of movement to... forcibly loving myself even when I didn't feel great or moving because I'm supposed to. Like there have historically just been a lot of wonky layers around my body. And this is the first fall I can remember in a...
long time, maybe ever, where I'm not at least like a little bit wondering how to manage my food and movement going into the holiday season. Like I... I am not thinking about any of that at all. You know, there's all this stuff about like still eating in a balanced way and you should go walking even when you're on Christmas break and like all these things. There's so much messaging. At least there was a lot in my formative adult years that was about controlling my body.
with this heightened attention during this particular time of year, right? So the thing that's saving my life is being so very neutral about it all. Like being kind to whatever my body needs at the time, not being so obsessed with automating everything about it. I suppose that doing strength training on a consistent basis would lead to more consistent results.
But the kindness and softness in my soul that comes from listening and responding to what my body needs in the moment, it has been incredibly healing and far less distracting than how things have usually gone. I am kinder to my body and I am less distracted by her so-called shortcomings. I'm just here. I'm just me. I'm honoring what I need today. And that has been such a gift. Okay, the sixth thing that's saving my life right now is
RMS makeup, like the three letters, RMS. Y'all, I have become a brand loyalist. RMS is a company founded by Rose Marie Swift. who's a super famous makeup artist. She did like Victoria's Secret runways and photo shoots, like their makeup for years. Now she's 65. She is the face of this makeup brand. And it just works for me. Every single product is not only a winner, but it makes me look and feel more like myself.
with just like a, it's just like a little extra polish on what I already am. I am still using makeup from other brands, but when I run out of those certain products, I'm buying the RMS version to see if it is a keeper, like even of my favorite. And so far, every time I've done that, it has been. So my current favorite product from RMS is a bronzer, which I... It's kind of hilarious because I have mentioned two other bronzers in the past in What's Saving My Life episodes.
I still think the Gucci bronzer that I splurged on during a Sephora sale like a year ago is still really great. But I like RMSs better. I also still really like the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush with one particular color that I would sometimes use as a bronzer, especially in the summer. I told you guys about that, you know, a while ago, but I like RMSs. bronzer, and even their blush better.
I don't know if it's the formula or the fact that RMS in many ways is created for all kinds of skin, but especially aging skin. And my skin is definitely doing that. My skin just loves this makeup. It loves it. I have lipstick. I have the eyeshadow cream. I have the bronzer and the blush and the highlighter. And like I said, I will get concealer and foundation and other things once my current products run out. But I am an RMS person for life.
which makes makeup decisions so much easier. And it's also nice because it just helps me look and feel like myself. I just really, y'all, I'm really into RMS makeup. Okay. Number seven, the seventh thing saving my life right now is, you guys, I found a big coffee mug. I found one, a bigger. coffee mug in general is something that once saved my life because I like a big milky coffee every morning. The problem was that the only mug I own that was big enough for my ratios of coffee to milk
It was a Christmas mug. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but I really wanted a mug that wasn't seasonal. Y'all, every single time I go into a store that has mugs, Goodwill, HomeGoods, Target, I look at the mugs. Nothing. None of them are big enough. And if they are big enough, I don't like the design any more than I like, you know, the Christmas one that I already have at home.
So this has just been months of drinking out of a Christmas mug. Well, last weekend, I went to this small local conference where everyone was encouraged to bring a mug for a mug exchange. I had this really beautiful pottery mug I got probably 15 years ago that really looks beautiful, but functionally it just wasn't cutting it for me because of its size and its shape. Well, I put it down on the mug table.
Just as my friend Haven was putting her mug down on the mug table. Well, her mug was big. It was squat, but it was big. And it didn't have Christmas trees on it. And I thought, oh my goodness, did I just stumble upon my big mug? What was funny is she loved the mug that I put down. So we just like put each other's mugs in our purses right away before the mug exchange was even formalized in any way. Because I'm like, this is...
I think it's my mug. I came home. I filled up my Christmas mug with water and I poured that water into the new mug to see if they had the same capacity. And they did. I'm still kidding, you guys. I found my big mug. I found my big mug. Okay, the eighth thing that's saving my life right now is asking myself the question, is this small enough that I can do it right now? I have found that my home has gotten a little overwhelming more often than I would like.
Part of it is just the chaos of five people living in one home, you know, in one reasonably sized home. It's the regular accumulation of stuff and it's the normalization of leaving tiny tasks for later. which then cumulatively makes them all feel bigger. So for example, like I will walk from my room to the kitchen and I'll notice a hair tie on the floor. And a lot of times I'll just walk past it. Like I'm partially annoyed to be the only one noticing.
The hair tie on the floor, which is actually another plug for Sam Kelly's little cycle breakers course and the concept of notice and do. But I also think. Even though I'm literally going into a room where I could toss the hair tie into the junk drawer with the other rogue hair ties and I'll all be fine. It's those kinds of tiny tasks that I'm noticing and asking myself if it's small enough to do right now. And most of the time it is. And I have the energy to do it because it's so small.
And I can't tell you how much better my environment feels for me by having these tiny things tended to more regularly. I used to always think I'll just get to it later. And then all of those laters became now and it just felt like too much. So now I think, is this small enough to do right now? Yep. All right, cool. Let's do it. And it takes two seconds. So since my surroundings impact my energy pretty significantly, this tiny shift has been a huge lifesaver for me.
The ninth thing saving my life right now is two ways that I'm getting more protein. Y'all, eating protein is now a part-time job. We are eating so much daggum protein. And also it helps. Like I can tell, I mean, for me, at least it matters and I'll keep doing it. But the constant decision-making and accounting, it was making me tired. So I have two products that I'm using every day and I love so much. The first is the Vital Proteins Collagen Powder.
It's in like the blue jar. You've seen it. It has 18 grams of protein and 20 grams of collagen per serving. And I put it in my coffee every morning. Doesn't change the taste for me at all. They also sell them in these individual packs, which I took them with me when I was on the book tour. Talk about saving your life. The number of times I was grateful to dump one of those into an airport coffee. Good golly.
So it's the vital proteins, collagen powder. And then the second protein... I was gonna say product, but it is protein also is this Chobani high protein yogurt drink. So they come in this like really pretty dark blue bottle in two flavors. I've only seen two flavors. There's a strawberry cream and a mixed berry. They are delicious, like legit, and they're low in sugar, and they have 20 grams of protein each. So it's like an instant breakfast or a snack.
when protein is needed. Also my oldest kid, he drinks them. He has ADHD and having like a high protein diet is something that his doctor emphasized at his diagnosis. He gets decision fatigue like me, Sam does. And so we both just like, we just both drink a yogurt drink every morning. He likes the strawberry and I like the mixed berry. So it was great. We get boxes at Costco and we're both so happy about it.
And then the 10th thing, the final thing saving my life right now is remembering that everything at once is the problem, not the solution. I talk about this in the plan, but we think that seeing our entire lives and years and months and weeks and days and goals and dreams and to-do lists and water intake and literally everything at once is the ticket. Seeing it all at once is what will make us feel calmer about all there is to do. And I could not disagree more.
I have learned the tremendous value in being where you are rather than like hustling to see your life all at once. And that belief has never felt more rooted in my body than in the last several weeks. I currently have so much going on. So much going on.
And I need to make the rest of the year easier by going through the process in last week's episode. There are many tasks floating, several projects that have not been broken down, and a lot on the calendar that does feel overwhelming. But I also know. that figuring it all out right now is not going to save me. It's not going to suddenly make the season smooth sailing. Having everything figured out right now is not going to make this task in front of me go better.
I am okay tending to today. I am okay not having done my brain dump for December yet. I am okay having tasks sneak up on me more than I'm used to and still getting them done. And also most things tend to get done when I am calm and kind about my season of life anyway. Basically, I'm keeping my caffeinated squirrel like she's taking a nap because I'm reminding her that spinning out on seeing everything at once is not how we feel better.
It's not. It might help us feel better for like the quickest of minutes, but it is a false sense of security. It's a false sense of better. Knowing everything at once and seeing it all from like this 10,000 foot view, it is not the answer to better time management. Compassionate time management is honoring where you are and not being so obsessed with making the most of every opportunity in every moment and seeing it all and doing it all at once.
Like I can be here with some undone things and it's going to be okay. That belief has truly been saving my life. And I'm still getting my stuff done, y'all. Like maybe even more thoughtfully than I would have if I was hustling to get it all lined up at once. really saving my life with this is the new, our playbooks, the new playbooks. I shared these last week. But we made these amazing little notebooks that do what I just said. They help you see where you are.
see the season that you're in and organize what matters to you so that when it's time to plan your days and your weeks that are right in front of you, you have what you need at your fingertips. We keep searching for a perfect planner, but we need something that works. with the planner. A planner, it just helps you organize your stuff. And you think that you need the kind of planner that shows you everything at once. I don't think you do.
What we need is something that can help us name and then hold what the stuff that we need to do is based on the season we're in. The winter version is December through February. I just started using mine last week, y'all. I cannot tell you.
I mean, we're not even in December yet. I cannot tell you how hopeful this thing is. I'm carrying it around like a little baby. It's tucked in with my actual planner. It has been amazing and doing exactly what I need it to do. I am obsessed with these playbooks.
The first round of orders, they just went out last week and you can totally still order yours. You can order them anytime you like. It just might not get delivered like right before December begins, but it won't be far behind depending on where it's being shipped to.
We are working with a fantastic company out of Asheville, North Carolina. And by the way, they are hiring folks in Western North Carolina, especially folks in food service to fulfill their orders and work in the warehouse. And they're paying them a living wage. Because of how hard that community was hit by Helene. This company we're working with, Otter Pine, they are incredible. I love that we are doing business with them.
So good. All that to say, they are fulfilling orders for us out of Asheville, and they're getting to you pretty quickly. Because of their expertise, we're also able to offer international shipping for the first time to all US territories, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. So you can find more information about all of that stuff at thelazygeniuscollective.com slash playbook.
Okay, before we go, let's celebrate the Lazy Genius of the Week. This week, it's Megan Green. Megan writes, Every year, I struggle to find places to hide Christmas gifts from a nosy four and nine-year-old. I keep a list of everything I've purchased, but there's always a few stressful hours while I wrap gifts where I can't find where I've hidden a few of the things on the list.
Last year, I started hiding the presents in the giant Christmas tree storage bag. The kids are used to seeing a full of tree parts all year round. And so they look right past it. It's huge, easily accommodates awkwardly sized and shaped gifts. And it's available at just the right time of year. Negan, I remember hearing someone else say this years ago, but I had forgotten about it. What a brilliant idea. I bet a lot of you do this too. And it's so smart. We're always looking for ways to like...
Keep gifts a surprise from prying eyes. So if that's you and you have an artificial Christmas tree that requires a bag, That bag gets a job all year round. So good. So thanks for sharing Megan and congratulations on being the lazy genius of the week. This episode is hosted by me, Kendra Adachi, an 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. If you'd like a recap of these episodes every other week, you can subscribe to the latest lazy listens email at the lazy genius collective.com slash listens. And on the website, you'll find information about my three books, this podcast, the monthly newsletter, and the new playbook.
Even though next week is the Monday after Thanksgiving here in the States, we will still be here with another episode about some kind ways to kindly and joyfully manage your December energy. I hope you join us then. Thanks y'all for listening. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra and I'll see you next week.