The Lazy Genius Podcast

Host: Kendra Adachi
Episode 446: Keeping Up With Chores When Life Is Extra Busy
Date: December 1, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Kendra Adachi addresses the perennial challenge of keeping up with everyday chores during extra busy life seasons—especially relevant during the holiday rush. Rather than advocating for big new systems or productivity overhauls, Kendra focuses on valuing and maintaining routines that already exist, plugging leaks in those that don’t, and giving listeners permission to let some things go or do them imperfectly.

She offers a practical walkthrough of categorizing household tasks, using what works, plugging simple holes in routines, and combating perfectionism with self-kindness and small steps. Sprinkled throughout are concrete examples, memorable quotes, and her signature “Lazy Genius” blend of gentle humor and actionable advice.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Myth of Big New Systems

• Kendra opens with the acknowledgement that life is already busy—and a busy season (like December) piles on even more.
• She reaffirms the podcast’s philosophy: “We value contentment, compassion, and living in our season. We favor small steps over big systems…being a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don’t.” (05:10)
• Insight: Don’t try to create or overhaul systems when you’re at maximum bandwidth. Instead, lean on what you already have.

2. Routines: Your Lifelines, Not Disposable Extras

• Busy seasons often tempt us to abandon our ordinary routines in favor of urgent tasks. Kendra emphasizes routines are “the backbone of staying a little calmer in a busy season.” (07:35)
• Important distinction: Now is not the time for a “new laundry system”—just value what’s already mostly working.
• Quote: “Routines are not disposable in a busy season. They are your lifeline and maybe the secret solution you already have in place.” (13:10)

3. The Seven Categories of Regular Life Tasks

• Kendra introduces her “domestic cheer” framework—categories for home tasks:
  • Food: Deciding, shopping, prepping, cooking, cleaning up. More than just cooking.
  • Clothes: Washing, drying, folding, swapping out seasons, clothing maintenance.
  • Mess: Tidying, putting things away.
  • Dirt: Cleaning (floors, sinks, counters). Different from tidying.
  • Logistics: Managing who needs to be where, when, and with what.
  • Tasks: Specific actionable items (ordering things, bills, plant watering).
  • Rest: Regular time for unproductivity, refueling, and enjoyment.
• Quote: “Every single person needs and deserves regular access to unproductivity, refueling, and enjoyment. Creating rhythms for that rest is worth the effort every single time.” (23:02)

4. Assessing Your Routines: A Practical Exercise

• Write each of the seven categories on slips of paper. Order them from most to least established in your life—not what’s easiest, but what’s habitually in place.
• Top two categories likely need no changes; nurture those.
• The bottom two are likely “where the leaks are”—don’t build new systems, just plug the leaks.
• Example: If tasks are scattered, corral all sticky notes into one mug or container for now—don’t try to invent a new productivity method.
• Quote: “Plug the leak. Don’t build a new boat. Now is not the time.” (38:50)

5. Lazy Genius Principles to Plug Leaks

• Start Small: “Each movement toward a finished task matters. It is worth doing, no matter how small it is.” (41:50)
• Essentialize: Do only the essentials; extras can wait.
  • “I can get back to doing face masks in January. Who cares?” (43:05)
• Decide Once: Pick one approach (same breakfast or repeated dinner menus) and stick to it for a while.
• Use Timers: Set a timer for whatever time/energy you have—a few minutes is enough.
  • “Done for now is still done. You can always come back another time.” (45:50)
• Zones: Create holding places for incomplete chores (e.g., baskets for laundry) rather than feeling it must all be done at once.

6. Nurturing Self-Kindness: The Shame of Lost Momentum

• Insight: If you fall out of a routine, be kind to yourself—momentum is hard to rebuild, but small steps are okay.
• Example: Kendra shares her own lapse in a weightlifting routine due to illness and busyness.
  • “If you are the kind of person who gets out of routine during a busy season and then you can’t seem to get back on the horse, please be kind to yourself…shame’s gonna do that.” (49:53)

7. Why Big, Comprehensive Solutions Don’t Work

• Kendra cautions those wishing for a “more structured and comprehensive solution” that these rarely work when you’re already overwhelmed.
• Quote: “Has that ever worked before? I don’t think so…systems are not built. You can’t solve the big problem of a busy life with one big solution.” (54:00)

8. Recap: Three Main Steps

• Be compassionate; regular life is busy enough. (57:07)
• Don’t start new systems during busy seasons.
• Lean on existing routines and plug leaks (not build boats) using small, specific steps.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On routines during busyness:
  “Routines are not disposable in a busy season. They are your lifeline.” (13:10)

• On difficult categories:
  “Food might be the hardest of the seven…At least top three for me…and yet it’s the most established in its routine.” (27:00)

• On self-permission:
  “Production and output…are not the measurements of a good life.” (1:10:39)

• On 'plugging leaks':
  “Plug the leak. Don’t build a new boat.” (38:50)

• Humorous self-compassion:
  “Laughing does not fold laundry.” (25:55)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 05:10 – Kendra explains the podcast philosophy (“contentment, compassion, and living in our season”)
• 13:10 – Routines as lifelines, not to be abandoned
• 17:30 – Introduction of the seven home categories
• 25:55 – “Laughing does not fold laundry”
• 27:00 – Food routines as simultaneously hardest and most established
• 38:50 – “Plug the leak. Don’t build a new boat.”
• 41:50 – “Start small” as a principle to survive busy seasons
• 43:05 – Essentializing routines; what matters now vs. later
• 45:50 – Timers as a low-stress tool
• 49:53 – Self-kindness after losing momentum
• 54:00 – Why big new solutions rarely work
• 57:07 – Final summary and encouragement

Bonus: Extra Segments

Travel Planning Tips for New York Trip (1:00:30)

• Try out your planned cold-weather outfits in similar local temperatures ahead of time.
• Use Google My Maps to organize potential food stops and attractions.
• Pre-pack toiletries for the family if you’re the planner and not everyone leaves together.
• Hold trip plans loosely; pivot and embrace fun no matter what.

Lazy Genius of the Week (~1:07:00)

• Gabriel Waters: Uses “decide once” to always bring the same seasonal dish to potlucks—eases mental load.

Mini Pep Talk: When You Don’t Know When to Quit (~1:09:30)

• “You are allowed to quit something you’ve always done, to stop something in the middle, to be lazy, to do less than you have done before.”
• “What is the worst that can happen?” as a lens for examining compulsions to go above and beyond.

Episode Tone

Warm, humorous, practical, and compassionate—a blend of friendly advice, real-life examples, permission to let go, and cheerleading for small wins.

Quick Takeaways

• Don't overhaul; lean into what works.
• Identify, don’t shame, your weakest routines—just plug the biggest leaks.
• Use simple tools: decide once, timers, zones, and essentializing.
• Rest matters as much as chores.
• Self-kindness is key—progress, not perfection, especially when life is wild.

For more encouragement and concise episode summaries, sign up for Kendra's latest Lazy Listens at thelazygeniuscollective.com/listens.

Host sign-off:
“Be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don’t.”