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Kendra Adachi
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Shop a huge selection of outdoor furniture online this summer. Get outside with wayfair. Head to wayfair.com right now. That's W A Y F A I R.com wayfair every style every home 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 is episode 417, my favorite planning tool ever. I am not joking. I really mean ever before. I share what that is, though, let's just jump right in to imagining how planning often goes. Okay, so you get a new planner, right? Because you. You want to have a better handle on your days. I just got a DM on Instagram of a woman being like, my life is in chaos. You have a planner recommendation? I did not recommend her a planner. I recommended my favorite planning tool ever that I'm about to talk about. But anyway, so you want to. You want to get a better handle on things, right? Life is life, and you need to plan it. Some planners, they start from 10,000ft at the beginning, you know, and you've got all those, like, pages to help you process at the beginning, thinking about your priorities. And honestly, that's great. Lazy geniuses love naming what matters. We love priorities. But the problem with a lot of planners that we encounter is that they either start too big or they start with greatness being the goal. So starting too big is maybe asking me at the start, like, what I want out of my year or even beyond that singular year. Girl, I do not know. I do not know. Please don't make me commit that to a page. I don't have a clue. I haven't even thought about next week yet. Or maybe a planner's intention is to help you facilitate your own greatness. You're trying to meet a goal. You're trying to mark off a lot of things. You're given space to measure your current life so that it can be in service to the future, one that you wrote about in the first few pages of the planner. Now, hear me. There's nothing wrong with that, but that's not the only way to approach planning, nor is it the way that everyone longs for. So I recently came across a planner where each day you wrote something that you did that was not aligned with your goals so that you could see how you went off track, like a goal checkpoint. Now, I'm sure that works for some people who are, like, really focused on something, but for me, I would feel utter shame and frustration filling in that space every day. If every day must serve this invisible future that I have manufactured in my own head, a future that doesn't even fully matter to me, then every day is fraught with opportunities to fail and waste the day and even waste my time, because I don't want my life to be about that goal in the first place. It's just a lot of energy for one planner, you know? So some of you are tired of planning that way that starts off so big by thinking about the whole year or, you know, hold the phone 10 years. And some of you don't want a planner that makes you feel like you're chasing an invisible finish line. You just want to live right. We just want to be who we are, where we are today, and be content with that. We don't want a planner that helps us control our circumstances or reverse engineer an ideal future. We're not actually focused on that is the most important thing anymore. Instead, we want to prioritize our humanity and connection with other people and kindness and awareness of. Of what we need today in this particular season, and then get our stuff done. We want to plan based on who we are and where we are, not on what we think we should become. Now, that's not to say that personal growth doesn't matter. Of course it does. But I believe that becoming comes from being here day to day. It comes from paying attention to what matters to you right now, from honoring your needs in this season. It comes from practicing letting certain things go, from not letting your circumstances change who you are at your core. That is how you become the deepest, truest version of yourself. It's not from this manufactured future. In fact, I know it's kind of a wild thing to say, but I think traditional planning can get in the way of your becoming. It's just focused on a different set of markers. Which brings me to my favorite planning tool ever. I grew so weary of planners that started too big or started with my own greatness. And I thought my only solution was just to have, like, an empty notebook and essentially bullet journal. I did that for a long time. It was a number of years. And it worked well enough. It did. It was great. In fact, I think it was like maybe eight or nine years ago, I wrote a post, a blog post about bullet journaling that, like, legit went viral. Macaulay Culkin tweeted about it like, that was a. That was a weird day. I just. I actually, just a minute ago, Googled. I wanted to see, like, how is this post still doing? Is it still doing things? I don't know. So I just googled Bullet Journal, just Bullet Journal, just to see if my post still shows up. And y' all, my post is third. It is the third link after a sponsored link from bulletjournal.com and then just the regular link to bullet journal.com and then there's me. This post has been helping a lot of people for a long time, and I love that. That the only reason I started bullet journaling at all is because traditional planning was letting me down and I assumed I had to start my planning from scratch, which is kind of what bullet journaling is. I did that as well as I could for a while, but I was still missing something. I was still missing something. I didn't want to answer questions and planners like, what's your biggest goal this year? But I did want some direction and thinking about what mattered the most now, which the bullet journal doesn't give you unless you put it in there yourself. I also recognize that my life looks and feels super different month to month, season to season. You know, July does not look like September, September does not look like December. All of those things. Our seasons change our planning, and we need to leave room for that too. So with all those struggles in mind, I went through a stretch where I. I thought I would make a lazy genius planner like an actual planner. I even mapped out the pages. I almost pitched it to a publisher. It was a whole thing. But even still, it wasn't right. It wasn't right. I didn't actually need a new planner, and I don't think you do either. I needed something to help my planner work better. I needed a tool that intentionally helped me think about my next season, just my next season. To keep track of some like bigger ideas and priorities that matter right now and even organize some of the specific tasks. Some of those hope to's and have to's into loose chronological order so that I would easily know what to do next without being overwhelmed by everything. So after months and months, months and months of work, we nailed it. Team lg along with an incredible team from Otterpine, which is a woman owned printing and publishing company out of Asheville, North Carolina. We nailed it. We created the Playbooks and they are without question my favorite planning tool ever. When I say I use mine every day, I genuinely mean it every day. At minimum, I glance at it every day. And most weekdays, I'm using it as my task and priority triage spot. It's the space that holds what matters most to me right now in regards to my schedule, my experiences, my own connection with myself, my connection with other people. It's like a short little field guide to my life right now. And it makes every other planning tool that I have. My random notebook I use is like a note taker and a task organizer. My Google calendar, my essential calendar that hangs on the wall. It makes all of those things work better because it holds what's most important to me right now in this season, with this life I currently have, I'm not caught up in checking off daily assessments of my own performance, I'm not concerned with becoming the greatest version of myself. Especially according to a self help industry that's fueled by greatness and optimization and success and usually the male experience. Now some people want resources like that. Some people want a planning tool that's fueled by greatness and optimization and success. And a dude is the best person to do it for them. But that's not me. I think for a lot of you listening, that's not you either. So instead we have the Playbooks. Oh my gosh, they're so. They make me want to like, sigh. They make my shoulders go down. So in some ways as we get into this, you might see this episode as a commercial. And I suppose that's fair. I'm about to tell you all the things about the Playbooks and honestly, from a practical standpoint, this is a small business and businesses need to generate revenue in order to stay in business. I am no different. I'm no different. But I also think you guys know me well enough by now to know that we do not sell anything we do not wildly and enthusiastically believe in. We're like low key, allergic to sending too many salesy emails. We value your budgets and your needs and we don't want to sell you something you don't need. We just don't. I also trust your ability to name and even create what you need. The Playbooks might not be for you, but because of how much they have enhanced my life and they have made planning more human and alive in ways I never really thought possible and how aligned they are with this lazy genius way that we're trying to live, it would be almost mean of me to not share them with you in detail and answer your questions. So I want to explain what they are and how they work and how I use them a little so you can decide for yourself if you would like to give one a try. So with all that in mind, I'm going to answer a few questions about the Playbook so you can know if spending 12 bucks on one is the right call for you.
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Kendra Adachi
Easy.
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Kendra Adachi
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Kendra Adachi
This episode is sponsored by Headspace. How many times has someone asked you, how are you? And the automatic response is I'm good. But what if feeling good wasn't just a reflex? What if it was real? That's what Headspace is all about. Headspace is the app that supports mental well being through guided meditations, breathing exercises, and mindfulness practices. I used to hide in the closet with Reese's Cups when I needed to regulate the overstimulation of motherhood, and now I can just use the Headspace app instead of and eat Reese's Cups out in the open like a normal person. With over 100 million users, it's designed to help reduce stress, improve focus, and create better sleep habits. Backed by science, Headspace offers expert LED meditation for every experience level. Feel good and mean it when you say it For a limited time get headspace free for 60 days go to headspace.com lazygenius that's h e A-S-P-A c-e.com lazygenius to unlock all of headspace free for 60 days headspace.com lazygenius okay, here's the first question. What does a playbook do? Like, legit? What's the whole point here? Now, I already explained this like a little bit, but the Playbooks help you name what matters most in your current season so that you have a better idea of what to do and what to let go of. It's your lazy genie's field guide to your own life right now. Which leads me to the second question. What are the pages like inside? Okay, first we're going to talk content, and then we'll talk about what what it looks like. Okay, The Playbooks are sold individually as seasons. Okay? Spring, summer, fall, and winter. And other than the names of the months and the color of the COVID the insides are identical from season to season. So each playbook starts with a page titled how to Use this Playbook where it explains some nuts and bolts of of how to use it. And then it's followed by a page with some playbook house rules so you can use in a way that honors you and honors your life right now. There's not a lot of like, gripping optimization energy in this thing. And those house rules are a bit of a reminder of how to approach it. So then you'll come to a set of pages that help you notice where you are at the start of this new season that you're in. There are some questions you can answer if you think the answers would help you. You can skip em if you want. But questions like, you know, what have you just finished? What's making you feel like yourself then as you prepare for this upcoming season. So, for example, right now it might be the summer playbook, right? We're going into summer now. So you'll be given an opportunity to answer questions about what you remember from last summer. Like what worked, what's changed since last year. You know, there might be changes that are important to note so that you can make decisions that work for your life right now. It might not be the same as last year. Then you'll answer some questions about this upcoming season or, you know, this upcoming summer, if you're doing it right now so that you can actually write down what matters to you in the season. There's even space to include your seasonal opening and closing ceremonies you want to do if you want to have those, as well as a place to put a decide once list for the season. So things that you're deciding now and you're just gonna ride until the season's over. So for the summer, it might be like we eat dinner at the pool three nights a week, like whatever. You know, it's like a $50 hot dog. Let's go. So you can just decide once and write it down so you know that that's a decision that you are going to make. Okay? So that's how you open your seasonal playbook. You answer some questions about where you as a person are right now. You think about what your season was like last year, and then you think about what you might want your season to be like this year, much more accessible than like, what do you want for your life in five years? Again, girl, I do not know. All right, so then each playbook is three months, right? Depending on the season you're using. This months are different. Summer is June, July and August. So you will set up, you will get like a set of pages for each of those months, right? And so they're the same. So the set of pages for June is the same as July, same as August. They're just Labeled June, July, and August. So let's say for June, you get to June. That's our first month. You get a brain dump page so that you can just get all the things out that you wanna remember to do this month or that are kind of hanging over your head, then there is space for you to actually organize those things into have to's and hope to's, which is a to do list approach that I share in my book the plan. And because lazy geniuses, we don't just prepare, we also adjust. We also notice that's a big part of planning. There are pages that help you do those things too. Recognizing what you might need adjustment for. Then. My favorite part of each playbook that I use the most is the week pages within each month. So each month has a full page for the four weeks of the month, right? So labeled week one, week two, week three, and week four, I use these the most. They're like a holding pin for your tasks. So if you do a brain dump and then you're like, oh, I don't even have to worry about this one thing. I just wrote down until the end of the month. You can put that task on week three or week four so that you don't even have to process it or think about it until then. The week pages are the ones that I reference the most often because that's where I pull my daily and weekly to do lists from. I have done the work already of what needs to happen this week in my playbook from my brain dump from the beginning of the month. You know, I look through my calendar, I look through what didn't get done last month, I look through what's going on, and then I sort of have done the work ahead of time of this is what's gonna happen on this week. And it just feels so much more calming, even if it's just partly what I'm gonna be doing. And then finally, before you move on to the next month in your playbook, there's a quick spot to name how you're doing, how you're feeling like yourself, and maybe where you're being a little too hard on yourself this past month. That's important to name as you move into a new month, right? Then once you get through the three months in your playbook, there's one page at the end that leaves space for you to write down how that season went. Like it says, how did your summer go? Like, how did it go? How'd your season go? You can write something down, like a quick little journal entry. If you like, you can also leave it blank. That's fine. There are also a handful of blank dot grid pages. They're not fully blank, but they're dot grid at the end, where you can keep info that you need for the season, or you can actually, like, show how the summer went and you can tape in photos. Some of you have those little sticker printers, those little photo sticker printers you can put in ticket stubs. You know, you can put in the things that you want to remember from this season. Then you grab the next season's playbook and you do it all again. So that's what's practically inside the Playbooks. It has what matters most about the season and even the practical things you're going to do at what times, just ready for you. And they can go with whatever planning tool you use. Okay, so the next thing clearly is like, well, what do these things actually look like, y' all? I cannot explain how cute and cool these little notebooks are. They're 6 by 8 soft cover notebooks. They have less than 50 pages each, so they are compact, but they are still big enough to, like, use. You don't feel like you're writing in, like, a tiny little notebook, you know? And they also have enough umph to them and focus in the questions and how it's laid out that, like, you could use these things. These are a workhorse. These are going to be so good to you. I already mentioned that the Playbooks are sold as seasons. Spring, summer, fall, and winter. And each season has a different cover color. So fall is like a deep navy blue. Winter is this light icy blue. Spring is a vibrant, like butter yellow. And summer, the season we're about to start, is this glorious red. It's like, it's the shade of like a weathered beach umbrella. It's just such a good red. Anyway, so inside of the playbook, they're rounded corners, so they don't. Yeah, so they don't like bend and curl in the same way. Like, they're really, really high quality. And the pages are a great thickness. It's white paper dot grid pages. Very minimalist, but bold typography designs. There aren't really any illustrations or even color. There's no color on the inside. They are super simple. If you like. If you like the essential calendar calendars with their black and white minimalist approach, you're going to absolutely love the Playbooks. I intentionally wanted these to be simple in their aesthetics because one, that's what I personally love. And I want to be the most Eager user of these notebooks. And I am. And two, I wanted there to be space for anyone's style to find a home. So you can make it look cuter with stickers or different colored pens or whatever you'd like to do. But ultimately, it is a design that's simple enough to make everyone feel welcome. Okay, so what does the playbook look like? It's casual and cool. That's the answer to that. Now, another question that we get a lot is how they are broken down into their seasons. Okay, so spring is March, April, May, Summer is June, July, August, Fall is September, October, November, and winter is December, January, February. Now, a couple notes about this. This choice. If y' all knew. Listen, if y' all knew how painstakingly our team went through all. All the possible month breakdowns. Holy moly. We spent a ton of time choosing what we thought was the best set of groupings. So while nothing is ideal for every single person, we do think this is the best approach for the majority. Just know that this. So much thought went into this. And if you're like, oh, but you didn't think about this. Yes, we did. I promise you we did. And we just had to make the call that we thought would be the best for everybody. So we intentionally wanted to keep November and December separate and separate playbooks to help create some breathing room from, like, American Thanksgiving and then all the winter holidays. That is on purpose. We also felt like May should be the end of spring. Even though some of you aren't tied to school calendars or those that are aren't necessarily ending school in June, we still felt like May needed to not be part of summer. All that to say we spend a lot of time trying to find the best groupings, and I hope they don't throw you off too much. One thing that will definitely throw a person off is if you live in the Southern hemisphere. For you, a playbook with summer on the COVID does not have the months June, July, and August like it's the opposite. We recognize the incongruency there. We are keeping it on our metaphorical whiteboard to print Southern Hemisphere versions. It's just that the demand for those are not high enough yet to be able to sustain the necessary inventory without us losing money. So until that shifts, the seasons match the Northern hemisphere seasons. Okay, three more questions. How is this different from a planner? Great question. There are no calendar pages in the playbooks. You could print some out. Some people do that on, like, adhesive paper and stick it on some of those blank pages because they actually want to have a calendar part in there, and I love that. But there are no calendar pages in the playbooks. The playbooks are not dated, right? So the summer playbook that you use this summer, it will look exactly like the summer playbook that you get for next summer. We intentionally didn't want to date them. We also kind of love that you're going to have this, like, little collection of seasonal playbooks that you can look back on almost as, like, what went on last summer. Like you. When you're answering your questions about last summer, there will come a time where you can pull out your summer playbook from last summer. I love that so much. Okay, now, so we intentionally did not date them. But there are also a ton of planners that already work well for your life. You know, like, depending on what you need to keep track of, a planner with a daily layout is helpful. Or maybe you just need a monthly calendar with some to do lists and that's all. Maybe you do enjoy filling in the water droplets to mark how much you're drinking. Or you do need to keep track of your goals. All of those things are great. But the playbook is different in that it helps you look at just your season and not necessarily your day or your week. It's more macro, just for the season, less micro, which is a lot of what we need. Full disclosure, at this point, I don't even have a planner with a calendar at all. Like, I've, I've gotten rid of it at this point. I have my playbook, which I live and I reference every day. Like I said, I have a blank notebook where I just write like podcast episode notes and sometimes to do lists on a busier week when I need to like, really triage. Like, this is what I'm doing Monday, this is what I'm gonna do Tuesday. I don't always have to do that, but on busier weeks, I'll just use my blank notebook for that or even like stickies, like post it notes that I might stick in my playbook. And then I have my, my, my Google Calendar. That's where the stuff is. That's it. So the playbook hasn't really replaced my planner, I suppose, but what it's done is it's made a more detailed planner unnecessary. So you can explore how it works in your life. You know, you can, you can use one for one season and you can decide how you want it to work alongside whatever kind of micro planning tool that you need. Another question I often get asked is, how is a playbook different from Emily P. Freeman's Next Right Thing Guided Journal. This is also an excellent question. So the Next Right Thing Guided Journal is about decisions you need to make and how reflection into the past can help you do that. So it's more about decision making and reflection. The playbooks are more about task management and the future. So the Next Right Thing Guided Journal, it helps you look back and notice the things that are weighing on your mind. And the playbooks help you look ahead and notice the things that are weighing on your schedule. That's a tiny bit simplistic, but it's also, like, pretty accurate. You can absolutely use both. And in fact, like much of what Emily and I do, they go really well together. They go really well together. And then the final question that I get asked a lot is, how is the Summer Playbook different from the summer docket? Or even how is the Winter Playbook different from the holiday docket? Okay, we've been selling dockets forever, so some of you already own either one of those, either the summer or holiday docket. They are downloadable PDFs that you have lifetime access to. You just print them off anytime, any season. They are sold in our digital shop and they are great in conjunction with the playbooks. Now, if you are already using the summer docket to plan your activities, you might ask, why would I also need the Summer Playbook? This is a great question and it shows me that as a community you are super thoughtful, not just about how you spend your financial resources, but also your time. You don't want to like double up and waste your time planning something twice. Right? The dockets. Here's the difference. The dockets are activity planners for the two seasons of the year that have seasonal specific things that might be passed over otherwise. And the playbooks are for regular life that happens no matter what. So for example, in the summer docket, you will print out the list of typical summer activities and you'll like highlight the ones that matter to you. You'll cross out the ones that don't. This season, you know, there are things like July 4th fireworks and playing in the SP sprinkler and going berry picking and all kinds of stuff. So those are the things that typically only happen in the summer. And you want to elevate those seasonal specific activities so that you remember to actually do them so you don't get caught up in just the regular season of life. The playbooks might include some of those things. You know, for example, on the page where you write what matters this summer, you might write, have A lot of fun doing summer activities. And then you list out the ones that matter the most, the ones that you discovered by going through the summer docket, that the Playbooks also help you pay attention to your own energy and to your calendar and to the tasks that aren't necessarily summer specific. So that's the difference in the dockets and the Playbook. Okay, and one final thought. This is not really a question I get asked a lot, but it's a sense that I get. So I think that there can be nerves around new planning tools. We want to do things right. We want to make the most of things. We got to let that go, you guys. We got to let that go. There's no making the most of. There's no right or wrong in this. It's just. It's just a notebook. Right. But there's also wanting to use something in a way that makes it worth buying it. And I get that. So sometimes there are nerves around, like, how often do I look at it? What am I actually looking for when I open it up? Like, how do I use this? I know you say it's versatile, but that means there's, like, multiple ways to use it. What if there are things that I'm missing? Right. Okay, so two thoughts here. One is that how you use it. It really is totally up to you. I already mentioned Emily P. Freeman. She does not even use. She uses the Playbooks, and of course, she uses the Next Right Thing Guided Journal because she wrote it. But she does not even use the weekly pages in the Playbooks. And those are my favorite and most essential pages. Like, you don't have to use every page. You don't have to use every playbook in the same way. As you move from season to season, different seasons are going to require different things. You really do get to enjoy it based on what you need. You don't have to fill out every single part in order for it to still count. Okay, so it genuinely is totally up to you. And the second thing to remember is that when you get your Playbook, there is a QR code on the inside that takes you to a resource page, complete with videos from me and ideas that you can utilize. Plus, you get to join a private Facebook group called the Playbook People, where folks are literally sharing all their ideas and how they're using their Playbook in different ways. And it's honestly brilliant. Brilliant. There's never a shortage of ideas of how you might use your Playbook, but that pressure that you feel to get the most out of your Playbook and to do it exactly right. That is from the old self help paradigm. We don't follow that anymore. You don't have to optimize this thing at every turn. You can miss an idea. You can forget pages and be okay. You can check it every day for three weeks and then not again for a whole month. That's not even necessarily because you forgot or because you're not disciplined or whatever you tell yourself. Maybe it's because the month that you missed didn't require any task, triage or remembrance of what matters. Maybe you were just living in what matters already. No matter what, you can just give it a try. You know, remember that different seasons require different things, which is a gift. That's a gift to know. And you can be kind as you practice this new way of planning. And that is my favorite planning tool ever. So if you would like to get your own summer playbook, since that's the season we are about to go into, you can go to thelazygeniuscollective.com playbooks. You can buy an individual season playbook for $12. So all the, you know, spring, summer, fall and winter are all $12 each. Or you can buy the bundle, it includes all four seasons. They're wrapped so cute with this like cute band. Oh my gosh, I love them. So you can Four Seasons for $40 total. So that's a $2 savings on each book. Eight bucks overall, 10 bucks a book. I never thought that I would talk about tariffs on my podcast, but here we are. So in case you're wondering, these prices that we have, they are going to stay steady for the foreseeable future. Since we printed on purpose a huge batch, we like rushed to get a huge batch of these printed before a lot of the tariffs impacting paper companies took hold. So our prices will remain until this huge batch of inventory sells out. And the folks at Otter Pine that we work with are already working hard to find printing solutions that will keep us stable, keep these prices stable in the future. We're doing our best. And because Otter Pine is so rock solid in their fulfillment processes too, because they do all our shipping for us, we can ship playbooks to all 50 states, to all US territories, to Canada, to Germany, to Ireland, to the UK and to Australia and New Zealand. Now, the only bummer about those last two is that they are Southern hemisphere countries. So the name of the season on the COVID will not technically match the months inside. That being said, a lot of you have gotten creative with, with how you like deal with that how you you might recover the COVID or you just deal with it, you know. But those are the places we ship. Again, you can find all the details@thelazygeniuscollective.com playbooks because the summer Playbook starts in June and it is May, it's early May, we're wanting to tell you about this so that you can go ahead and order it so it can arrive to you before June begins. You have time to just like look at it and answer some of those pre season questions before you get into the summer. Okay, before we go, let's celebrate the Lazy Genius of the Week. This week it's Kelly Dugan. Kelly writes, I love buying and planting flowers, but I have a hard time picking out the flowers for my various pots. In the past, I've overbought and crammed my pots too full. I've bought the wrong amount of sun versus shade plants. But each year I get a little bit more organized and happy with my selections. This year may be the best hack yet. I took pictures of my pots as soon as I planted them and then I used the photo editor editor to add the names of the plants next to each one. I quickly added them to an album to easily find them next year. Since I know that I have found what I like. And after I got home to realize, duh, we needed several bags of potting soil and I had to run back out, I added that as a reminder for next year too. This is a great idea, Kelly. When we do things around the same time of year, it's such a great hack to literally like add a calendar item to your digital calendar with a photo or just like a written list of things to do because it really is so easy to forget those things you think you're not going to, and then it's a year later and you're like, dang it, what plants did I buy? So this is a great reminder as we move into a season where a lot of you start planting flowers and stuff. So I'm so glad, Kelly, thank you that you shared your idea today. And congratulations on being the Lacy Genius of the Week. Okay, this podcast is part of the Odyssey family and the Office Ladies Network. This episode is hosted by me, Kendra Adachi, an executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Special thanks to Leah Jarvis for weekly production. 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. Sometimes historic events suck, but what shouldn't suck is learning about history. I do that through storytelling. History that Doesn't Suck is a chart topping history telling podcast chronicling the epic story of America decade by decade. Right now I'm digging into the history of incredible infrastructure projects of the 1930s, including the Hoover Dam, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge and more. The promise is in the title History that Doesn't Suck. Available on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored by Smile Generation what does a confident smile say to you? With Smile Generation? It says you're taking care of more than just your teeth because confidence doesn't start and stop at a bright smile. It's about your oral health and wellness. Oral health issues have been linked to heart disease, diabetes and even cognitive conditions, so Smile Generation empowers you to understand the connection between your mouth and your overall health so you can stop issues before they start. Smile Generation Trusted providers prioritize personal patient focused care that truly listens to you all with education and preventative care at the core. Here's your chance to take the first step. Smile Generation is offering a $59 new patient special. It's a comprehensive exam, cleaning and x rays a $290 value. 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The Lazy Genius Podcast Episode #417: "My Favorite Planning Tool Ever"
Release Date: May 12, 2025
Host: Kendra Adachi, The Lazy Genius
In Episode #417 of The Lazy Genius Podcast, Kendra Adachi delves into her favorite planning tool, which she passionately refers to as her "favorite planning tool ever." Departing from traditional planning methods, Kendra introduces a unique approach that aligns with her philosophy of being "a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't."
Kendra begins by exploring the common challenges associated with conventional planners:
Overwhelming Scope: Many planners require users to set lofty goals, often stretching over a year or more, which Kendra finds daunting. She shares her frustration with planners that demand long-term commitments without sufficient focus on the present.
"Some planners start too big or with greatness being the goal... Please don't make me commit that to a page." [02:15]
Performance Pressure: Planners that track daily deviations from goals can induce feelings of shame and frustration, making daily planning feel like a high-stakes endeavor rather than a supportive tool.
"If every day must serve this invisible future... then every day is fraught with opportunities to fail and waste the day." [04:30]
Lack of Flexibility: Traditional planners often don't accommodate the dynamic nature of life, where each season brings different priorities and needs.
Unsatisfied with existing planners, Kendra experimented with various methods:
Bullet Journaling: For years, Kendra utilized an empty notebook as a bullet journal, appreciating its flexibility but still feeling something was missing.
"I did bullet journaling as well as I could for a while, but I was still missing something." [06:45]
Custom Planner Attempts: She considered creating her own planner, even pitching it to publishers, but realized that a new planner was not the solution she needed.
"Even still, it wasn't right. It wasn't right. I didn't actually need a new planner." [08:10]
This exploration led her to develop a tool tailored to her needs—the Playbooks.
Kendra proudly presents the Playbooks as her ultimate planning tool, designed to enhance daily life without the constraints of traditional planners.
"We created the Playbooks and they are without question my favorite planning tool ever." [10:05]
Key Features:
Seasonal Focus: Playbooks are organized by season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter), allowing users to concentrate on immediate priorities and adapt to changing life circumstances.
Daily Reference: Kendra uses her Playbook daily for task and priority management, integrating it seamlessly with other tools like Google Calendar and her notebook.
"At minimum, I glance at it every day... It's like a short little field guide to my life right now." [11:20]
1. Seasonal Organization:
Seasons Defined:
Customization for Hemispheres: Currently tailored for the Northern Hemisphere, with plans to develop Southern Hemisphere versions based on demand.
2. Inside the Playbooks:
How to Use This Playbook: An introductory page outlining the purpose and usage guidelines.
House Rules: Reminders to approach planning in a way that honors personal needs and current life circumstances.
Seasonal Reflection:
Past Season Review: Questions about the previous season's experiences and learnings.
"What worked, what's changed since last year..." [12:50]
Upcoming Season Planning: Space to define what matters most in the current season.
"Write down what matters to you in the season." [13:30]
Brain Dump Pages: Pages for jotting down all tasks and thoughts for the month.
Task Organization: Categorizing tasks into "Have To's" and "Hope To's," aligning with the methodology from Kendra's book, The Plan.
Weekly Pages: Four pages per month dedicated to each week, serving as holding spots for tasks without the pressure of immediate action.
"The week pages are the ones that I reference the most because that's where I pull my daily and weekly to-do lists from." [17:00]
Monthly Reflection: Space to assess personal well-being and recognize areas of self-improvement.
End-of-Season Review: A dedicated page to summarize the season, with optional journaling or creative expression through photos and stickers.
Kendra distinguishes Playbooks from other planning methods:
Traditional Planners: Often date-specific with calendar pages, focusing on long-term goals and daily task tracking.
"There are no calendar pages in the Playbooks. They are not dated." [20:30]
Bullet Journals: Highly flexible but require users to manually input and define priorities, lacking guided reflection on what truly matters each season.
Guided Journals (e.g., Emily P. Freeman's Next Right Thing): Focused on decision-making and reflection, whereas Playbooks emphasize task management and future planning.
"The Next Right Thing Guided Journal helps with decisions... Playbooks help with task management and the future." [22:15]
Seasonal Dockets: Available as downloadable PDFs for specific seasons, Playbooks offer a more integrated and physical tool that complements digital methods.
Advantages of Playbooks:
Seasonal Flexibility: Adapts to the ebb and flow of life’s seasons, allowing for relevant focus areas.
Minimalist Design: Simple aesthetics make it versatile and customizable to individual styles.
Holistic Approach: Combines reflection, planning, and flexibility without the pressure of rigid structures.
Kendra emphasizes that Playbooks are meant to be user-friendly and adaptable:
Personalization: Users can incorporate stickers, colored pens, or other creative elements to suit their preferences.
Integration with Other Tools: Complements digital calendars and notebooks for comprehensive planning.
Community Support: Access to a private Facebook group, "Playbook People," and additional resources via QR codes for creative usage ideas.
"There's never a shortage of ideas of how you might use your Playbook, but that pressure to get the most out of it... is from the old self-help paradigm." [26:40]
Kendra encourages users to approach the Playbooks with kindness and flexibility, allowing them to fit naturally into their lives without the stress of perfection.
Individual Playbooks: $12 each for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Bundle Offer: All four seasons available for $40, saving $8 overall.
Purchase Links: Available at thelazygeniuscollective.com/playbooks.
Shipping: Ships to all 50 U.S. states, U.S. territories, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Note on Southern Hemisphere seasons not aligning with regional climates.
"Since we printed on purpose a huge batch, our prices will remain steady until this inventory sells out." [29:50]
Winner: Kelly Dugan
Contribution: Kelly shares a creative method for organizing her flower pots:
Photographing Pots: Takes pictures of planted pots immediately after planting.
Labeling Plants: Uses a photo editor to add plant names next to each one.
Organized Albums: Creates albums for easy reference for future planting seasons.
Reminders: Sets reminders for additional tasks, such as purchasing more potting soil.
"This is a great reminder as we move into a season where a lot of you start planting flowers and stuff." [32:10]
Kendra commends Kelly for her thoughtful and organized approach, highlighting it as an excellent example of practical planning.
Kendra wraps up the episode by reiterating the value of the Playbooks in fostering a balanced and meaningful approach to planning. By focusing on what matters most in each season, the Playbooks offer a refreshing alternative to traditional planning methods, aligning with the Lazy Genius ethos of simplifying life while honoring personal priorities.
"Remember that different seasons require different things, which is a gift. You can be kind as you practice this new way of planning." [34:40]
Kendra invites listeners to explore the Playbooks and consider how they can enhance their own planning practices, ensuring that they remain grounded and connected in the present while gently navigating future endeavors.
Note: This summary excludes all advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections as per the request.