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Right now, Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their signature makeup bag with your first order at meritbeauty.com that's M-E-R-I-T beauty.com to get your free signature makeup bag with your first order. Meritbeauty.com hi there. You're listening to the Lazy Genius podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi. This podcast is not about hacking the system to find more time or hacking your energy to get more done. Hustling to be the best or to make the most out of every opportunity is exciting, exhausting, and unsustainable. So here we do things differently on this show. We value contentment, compassion, and living in our season. We favor small steps over big systems. Here we are, lazy geniuses. Being a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. And I'm so glad you're here. Today is episode 450, what to do before a house reset. I can feel it. This is the week, or at least the week is coming, where you look at the holiday decorations and extra presents and general detritus from the busy fall and you get, like an organizational fire in your eyes. Big black trash bags are coming out. Now. That energy's totally fine. But today, let's talk about what to do before all that happens. After that, we'll have a little extra something where I share with you my word of the year for 2026. I don't usually choose the word of the year, but this year I am. It feels right. And I will tell you all about it as a little extra something today. Speaking of the year. After that, I'm gonna share the lazy genius of the year. You guys, we've had so many great lazy geniuses of the week through 2025, and I have selected my favorite one to be our lazy genius of the year. And then finally, we'll close with a mini pep talk for when you're feeling discontent. Now, before we get into all of that, I do want to share the honorable mentions for the lazy genius of the year. Like, we narrowed it down to everybody could have won, but we narrowed it down to six options for my favorite sort of tip or idea of 2025 that they were all so good. They were all so good. So I'm just going to share the other five with you now. These are the honorable mentions and then at the end will share the lazy genius of the year. Okay, so the first honorable mention is Blake Bacara. This is what Blake said. I have recently been applying the meal Matrix concept to all the movies and shows I keep meaning to watch but never actually do because by the time I'm actually sitting down on the couch, I cannot fathom making one more decision. So I divided shows and movies up into buckets. A few of mine are stuff I don't really have to pay attention to. Visually pretty, plotty and exciting when I'm in a funk. I love that one. See seasonal and reliable go to's. Then I populated each bucket with a few options, some that I've seen many times before and some that are new to me. Finally, I made two decide once rules for myself. Number one, if I can't or don't want to choose a category, the default is reliable go tos. Number two if I can't or don't want to decide within a category, I automatically choose the one below. Whatever I watched Most recently, I've already watched so many of the things that had previously been languishing away on my list. I can already see so many other places this concept could be adapted games for game night restaurants we've been meaning to try Weekend adventures Wardrobe choices so many. So as someone who also struggles with what to watch when I have time to do it, this is such a great idea to help with that decision making. Plus, because it's written down somewhere, it acts as a record of what you watched too, which is always fun. So good job Blake. All right, next is Bethany Crumb who wrote it. I have a birthday bin I keep in my kitchen cabinet that holds all birthday items, candles, balloons, decor, plates, napkins, etc. My kiddo's four birthdays are one a month from September to December. So I whip that baby out before the September birthday and take stock of everything I have and everything I need. Then I place a pickup order if I'm out of a certain candle, need a couple more birthday plates, et cetera. That way I'm not scrambling each month trying to figure out what I still need. I also decided once what our birthday decor is when I one garland, one birthday banner and huge balloon numbers for the birthday kit as well as fun disposable birthday plates and napkins for the cake. I even keep the push pins above the window where I hang the banner so I don't have to replace them from birthday to birthday. Boom. Done. Birthday bin for the win. I love this one. Such an easy one to steal if you are in a similar situation as Bethany. Our third honorable mention is from SJP122. I bought a little garden flag that says Cheers with two martini glasses. I let my neighbors know that if the flag is out that means we are having happy hour on our front patio from 4:30 to 6 that day. They need to bring their own chairs and drinks. I just provide the time and place and it worked. Such an easy way to get people together. Start relationships with people who have lived on the street for years but never sat down and chatted like this. This one is so dear like I absolutely love this. And if memory serves, we got a Good bit of feedback on this one. Several people borrowed the flag idea and started gatherings with their own neighbors. It's just so great. All right, number four is Jess Knox. We've simplified decision making in our family for decisions between my husband and me, like where to eat or what's for dinner. He chooses on odd days and I choose on even days when it's something trivial that the kids can decide. The kid President of the Week gets to choose. Each week one of our four children serves as president, with the oldest going first and the youngest in the fourth week. The president also gets one on one time with a parent. On rare five week months, I get to be the president. I remember when this one came through many months ago and just laughed so much at the brilliance of a kid president. And then that the mom gets the random fifth week. It's so funny. But also just the odd and even day. Decision maker is great. Sometimes we just need someone to pick and know that it's their turn, you know. And finally, our last honorable mention is Abby Noyce. My Decide Once house rule is about the library. We go to the library on Fridays after school and each kid is allowed to check out as many books as their age in the kindergartner can get up to five books, the third grader can get up to eight books and I could get up to 40, which hasn't happened yet, lol. Beyond that, I don't police their choices. It's baked into our weekly routine so I don't need to remember to make it happen. And it's a nice outing to have on my calendar each week. I really miss library days with kids. It's just such a good season of life. I also love the idea of having like a for me a 43 book limit. Actually it's 44 now. I've had my birthday between recording this and when it comes out one day I will go to the library and check out 44 books and it'll be so fun. These are all such great ideas and I'm excited about another year of Lazy Geniuses of the Week. And stay tuned because in 2026 we are actually exploring audio versions of this. We're hoping to let some of you send in a voice recording of your tip so you can share it on the podcast. Most of those details are gonna go to the folks subscribe to the latest Lazy Listens email. That's our podcast recap email that goes out every other week. Since the people who get that are podcast listeners, they're more likely to be Lazy Geniuses of the week, so keep an eye out for that link. Once we get the machine set up on our end to capture your lovely voices, that'll be a fun thing to start in 2026. All right, let's take an ad break which makes this episode free for you to listen to. So thank you sponsors and if you would like to get that podcast recap, email and get first word on when we start voice recordings, head to thelazygeniuscollective.com listens make your home smell as good as it looks with Pura 4, the smart fragrance diffuser that lets you control your scent from anywhere. Choose from hundreds of premium fragrances, schedule your favorites, and set the perfect mood for every moment. And right now, get yours free when you subscribe to 2 cents for 12 months. Don't wait. This limited time offer won't last. Try it risk free for 30 days now@pura.com. I want to tell you about a remarkable new podcast I can't get enough of what happens when our Passions Become obsessions on David Green Is obsessed, one of America's most familiar voices and longtime co host of NPR's Morning Edition seeks out obsessives of all kinds while unpacking his own fixations. You'll hear David talk to comedian Tig Notaro about her complex passion for plant based food, actor David Arquette on his love for Bozo the Clown, Paula Poundstone on her house full of Cats, celebrity chef Michael Simon on why he just can't quit the Cleveland Browns even though they often make him miserable, and so much more. It's pop psychology disguised as conversations with the world's most fascinating people. You can listen to David Green is Obsessed wherever you get podcasts. All right, let's talk about what to do before a house reset the end of December slash beginning of January. That is prime house reset season. The same is true at the end of this school year start of the summer, and then at the end of the summer start of school year. Those are like our three prime seasons for when we're like we're like Mel Gibson in the movie Ransom, but instead of screaming give me back my son or screaming give me back my house, like it makes sense to feel that way when you're moving from one specific type of season to to another. Our stuff changes, right? Holiday decor, winter gear, sports equipment, school supplies. So it makes sense that when that stuff is no longer needed, we want to reset some things. It also makes sense because of how busy the season of October through December is for most people. It's a bit of a gauntlet. And then after we run it, we would like a little rest, a little reset, a little freshness. So first, I am not going to tell you to not reset your house. I'm not going to tell you to skip projects and put down your big black trash bags. I did tell you that earlier in December, that now that the holidays are, like, closer to over and things have probably slowed down for the majority of folks, it's naturally and maybe even good to start thinking about a wise reset in your home. But let's do it in a way that actually benefits how we live instead of just creating, like, more unfinished projects. In fact, that's the goal, really, to reset your home and then be done. We're trying to avoid starting too big or starting too many things at once and then being surrounded by piles and projects. It's worth the energy to be thoughtful because it'll save you a lot of time and energy and potential frustration over the next couple of weeks. So how are we going to do that? Well, first, I want us to start with a couple of important mindset reminders. How you think absolutely impacts what you do. So before you start doing, remember these things. Number one, as you reset your house, remember that the people you live with might not have the same house reset needs that you do. Don't assume everyone needs the level of calm that you need or the level of minimalism that you need or the level of control that you think you need, or vice versa. Maybe you live with someone who actually needs more than you do. It's really important to remember the differences in people. Now, most of y' all listening to this podcast are women, and a good portion of you are partnered and have kids. Everyone can be busy during the holidays, but I think the more people you have to manage, the busier that time tends to feel. And if you are the woman in the household, it's statistically probable that you are the primary manager of all that busyness. Therefore, my friends, you are desperate for calm in a way that your family might not be. They've had a great holiday season because you probably made it that way. That's a kind gift you gave them. And also, it means they don't have the same reset needs that you probably do. So this is an opportunity for two things. Well, really, it's one thing just in, like, two different directions. This is an opportunity for compassion. Your people can be compassionate of your needs to reset because you can kindly communicate with them how much you need some calm. After holding all the details of the season. You can do this without being passive aggressive or shaming, but you can also be honest. You can be like, I did a lot that you guys didn't see, and it's made me really tired and I need some visual rest. So even though you guys don't care as much that the hall closet gets reorganized and you really don't want to help me, it does matter to me and I appreciate your help. You know, that's compassion from them to you. There's also compassion from you to them. You don't have to resent your crew for not caring or for being content to live in what you refer to as a pigsty. It's probably like not even close to that. You just have a higher sensitivity to the visual overwhelm because you've also been dealing with the logistical overwhelm. So you can soften toward them for not caring the way that you do. I say this in my house all the time, actually. No one's ever going to care about my house being tidy or calm as much as I care. And that's okay. My family can benefit from my care without my being resentful about it. But I can also communicate to them that I need some help and would appreciate them doing it because they love me, not because they agree with me or have the same need. It goes both ways, right? So that's the first thing. Another thing to consider is, rather than thinking so much about now, consider what you can do for your future self next winter. Some of your reset stress is residual from the season you just came out of. So a good way to channel that might be to use the magic question to help yourself out later. Just pay attention to that. So the magic question is one of our original 13 lazy genius principles. What can I do now to make winter in my home easier later? Later meaning next year? So as you're resetting, think about that. Maybe that is the mindset that you need to actually hold that it's about taking care of yourself next year because you just feel really stressed from this past season. There are a lot of possibilities of how you could answer this question. If there are Christmas decorations in your bins that you did not use this year and you realize you did not use them last year either, I want you to pull them out and donate them. Make your storage easier right now by having more room to pack things up, but also by getting rid of what you don't need for next time. If you hang stockings or wreaths or some kind of Christmas card holder situation like bag up Those things with the hooks or leave them on the wall like our lazy genius of the week did with the birthday banner, right? You can just leave the nails in the, in the wall. You can put all the things in like a little sandwich bag so you can label them and be like, this is what this is for for next time. If you know that you already pull out something early, like candles or stockings or an advent calendar, like, you do that first, pack that last, pack that on top so you can access it more easily next year rather than having to like sift through all the things to find it, right? You could even put like a piece of painters tape on the container that says open me first. Like, this is the one that goes first. You can even walk around your house now before your house reset and take photos of where you put all your decorations, how you set up stuff so that you can remember next year that you liked it when the little bottle brush trees were on your mantel instead of somewhere else or whatever. What can you do now to make decorating for Christmas or getting out all the winter gear or whatever? It is easier later. Keep that magic question in mind as you reset the house. You might not need to do much for the immediate future as you do for next season. Next year it might scratch the itch more than you think. And one final reminder as you do this house reset, keep in mind that you don't have to reset the house for 20, 26 or whatever year you're listening to this in. You can just think about this for January, right? What do you need in this next small season, in this next month? What would help you feel calmer in your home just for January? If you keep your thinking smaller, you'll keep your choices smaller. And that's really helpful to keep you from being surrounded by piles and projects. All right, so with those reminders in mind, let's practically think through a house reset. Okay? First, let's name what it is you want to do. What are you wanting to reset? What projects are you itching to start? What rooms in your house are you like, I want these back because I don't like being in here right now. If you don't spend like five minutes really naming this, the likelihood is high that you're going to pinball between different rooms and different projects that do not matter in the same way. And then you're going to get distracted and you're going to start too big when a smaller solution might have worked just fine. So taking a few minutes to really name all the things you want to do kind of like a house reset brain dump. It's going to be worth your time, I promise. So I want you to do that first. I want you to walk from room to room in your house with your notes app open on your phone, or, like, a little pad and pen, and identify what you want to reset. Now, you might have specific answers in one room, and then you might just have a general sense of overwhelm in another, and that's fine. Just name it. Now, as you make your list, I want you to ask yourself through through each room. What's the smallest thing I can do in here to make this room feel better? Name that while you're walking and write it down. That's going to help you prioritize what you actually have time to do. For example, so our coat rack and shoe storage are both in the kitchen. Okay, that's no worries, except that we've had a season of band concerts that require dress shoes and rainy days that require boots and new shoes because feet have gotten too big, and more coats because it's gotten colder. And now I feel like the coats and the shoes are eating my kitchen. Now, if I were to start my house reset walkthrough in the kitchen with a general sense of overwhelm, which I do feel a little bit, that's fine. But if I don't also try and identify the smallest thing that would make that room feel a lot better, I would ignore the shoes and coats, and I might instead start reorganizing all the cabinets that don't actually need it. The cabinets aren't the problem. Right. So just pay attention and be honest in your walkthrough of how you're feeling about a room and what you want to change. Important to name that feeling, but also take the time to identify a small thing that's causing a bigger problem. I know for certain that if we essentialize the shoes and coats, only keeping what's necessary for each day, and we store the rest somewhere else, the kitchen's gonna feel totally fine. Like, that's all it really needs. And I just saved myself four hours of needless organization and piles of plates and bowls. Right? This is the goal. This is the goal. So do a house reset walkthrough. Make your list of all the things you'd like to do. Don't be shy, make it long, but then name what small thing would make a big difference in each room. Knowing you could stop there for now if you wanted to, that's a great place to begin. All right, now you potentially have A to do list or like a project list right now? How do you choose where to spend your limited time and energy? Because hear me, hear me. Your time and energy are limited. Unless you are deeply disciplined and intentional about the list that you just made, you absolutely have things on there that you're not going to have to. You're not going to have time to do. You're going to have to let go of them for now. You're not going to have time to get to all of them. Not without sacrificing rest and regular responsibilities and just the enjoyment of the last few days of the holiday season. So how do you choose what you're actually gonna do? As you look at your list, start by asking yourself this question. Is this busy work or is this genuinely helpful? I'm the queen of busy work. I like relabel and reorganize and overcomplicate things all the time. I just need a place to put my energy and sometimes I channel it into busy work for the house. Now that's fine, that's not bad. But I find it so helpful to know that that is my tendency so I can spot it more easily. Just the other day I felt the itch to reorganize my photo app. I have lots of, like, organizational folders, but I haven't dealt with them in a while. Rather than just tending to the most recent photos or even just deleting things I no longer need, I was like, let's delet, delete all the existing albums and start over with something better. No, there is nothing wrong with my folders. I just haven't practiced a couple of good habits in a while. Ms. Freddie, a wonderful resource when it comes to digital photo organization, has this concept called the Daily Delete, where you go through the photos that you took that day and you delete what you don't need. So you have eight photos of one kid posing. Go ahead and pick one and delete the seven. You have a grocery list screenshot that you sent your husband, but you don't need it anymore. Delete that. That daily practice. It keeps your photos from getting out of control over a long period of time. And I haven't practiced it in a number of months. I used to have an alarm on my phone to remind me to do the Daily Delete and then I deleted the alarm because I didn't think I needed it since I was doing the Daily Delete every day. Well, you guys, it turns out I was doing it because the alarm reminded me to do it, not because it was Something I remembered naturally. And now I have months of photos that have not been tended to. So the solution here wasn't for me to create a bunch of new albums. That's busy work. That's not helpful. What's helpful is to delete photos from the last two weeks today and then maybe do another handful of weeks of deleting tomorrow. And I'll set an alarm to remember. You hold a lot of power in being able to identify what's busy work and what's actually helpful. And I'd argue that more than half of your house reset energy is absolutely busy work. So just name it, name it that that's what it is, and then let it go. Or name it and do the smallest possible thing to make it feel better and then see if you can let it go. Okay, now with what's left on your list, maybe you've identified like, oh, yeah, that's busy work. I don't really need to do that. But you have the rest left. I want you to look at that and say, what is the project that if I do, will make me feel the best? Now, I know all of them would feel great, but what's the most essential to get your early energy? You wanna go in the right order. And doing the most important thing with your highest level of motivation. Right now is a really good place to start. Now, if you have not taken down your holiday decorations yet, that's probably a really good place to start. But let's say, what if the closet where all your stuff goes is chaotic? What if you could put everything away, but there's just not an easy way to do it because where it goes is already too messy? Right. I can see a world where cleaning out the closet is first. That that goes before you take down all the holiday stuff. But let's still apply the principle of starting small, which is essentially what we're trying to do with all of this. What's the smallest thing that you can do in this closet to make the organization work better? What are the alternatives to taking literally everything out and starting over? Kind of like my photo app practice, over and over asking, what's the smallest thing? What's the smallest viable solution? What's the best bang for my buck, however you want to phrase it. See what you can do to make things better without redoing everything. It's the idea of starting fresh rather than starting over. You can do just a couple of smaller things to improve the organization of that closet rather than gutting the whole thing. So if your order requires like a Little closet or basement or garage tending before you take down your holiday stuff. That's great. Just keep those. Those start small glasses on your face so you don't add more to your list than you need to. So pick the most important thing to you on your list that would be really helpful and then do it. Do it. Kindly try to do it without getting distracted by other offshoot projects that do not matter right now. Keep telling yourself this is the thing that matters most. I'm gonna focus on this right now and do it with small steps as the priority. Now, this takes practice, but it's worth the practice. Now, if you have a big project and you finish it, that's amazing. You're absolutely allowed to start over and gut and all the things. I just want you to do that, like on purpose, not accidentally. We don't need accidental projects that will just like stick around all January long. Okay. And then one final thing that I would remind you of before you reset your house is to focus on one room at a time, if you can. The nester, Michael and Smith has the phrase one sane space, which I've used on the show before. I use it in my house all the time. The part of our house that we call the L, which is our living room, kitchen, table and kitchen, it's in the shape of the L is where we spend like almost all of our time as a family. That is my one sane space. As long as that L is tended to regularly or reset when it's house reset time, the other stuff can wait. It's fine. Like having one space that feels more or less done is really good for you. So as you do your house reset, maybe start with the most important room. Reset that room to a gratifying point, all while starting small and not starting over before you move on to another room. It's like the idea of cleaning up one game or activity before a kid starts a new one. Clean up one whole room and reset it before moving on to another. That would build momentum in a better way and keep you from living amongst all the projects and the piles. Okay, so let's recap here. Remember, I'm not telling you how to reset your house. I'm telling you what to do before you reset your house. So before you do any sort of house reset, start with some helpful reminders. First, the people that you live with might not feel the same way about all this that you do. And that's okay. Compassion, both ways. Second, consider what you can do now to help yourself next season. That could actually give your Big black trash bag Energy A place to go that's really helpful for next year. Third, think about just this next month as you reset. Not forever. You're not resetting the house forever, it's just for now. Now is great. Now you can also do a walkthrough of your house and really name what you want to do. Just go ahead and say what it would be, but try to keep in mind what's the smallest thing that would make this room feel better. Right? That's always a good lens to look through. Also, be on the lookout for busy work. Instead of something that's genuinely helpful, ask yourself what is the most important thing that you could do in your house? And focus on that instead of project pinballing all over the place, which we often do, and try and reset one room at a time so you can have a place that feels more or less done and calm and is ready for moving into this next season. And that's what to do before a house reset. On this podcast we talk about being a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. So that's why I'm excited to talk to you about Cozy. With Cozy, you don't just get your dream living space, you also get the sweet relief of knowing your future self will thank you. The choices you make for your home today should make life easier tomorrow. And Cozy gets that. Their furniture is designed to take the pressure off less mess, less stress and more space. That works for you, not the other way around. 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