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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 419, Five Things to Do Before Summer Begins.
For most of y 'all Northern Hemisphere people, summer's pretty much here.
Today is Memorial Day in the U .S., so pools are opening, schools starting to slow down or finish completely, and we are entering the abyss, I mean the beauty, of the summer season.
Anytime we move from one season to another though, whether it's a season of life or a season on the calendar, it's really good to pay attention to a couple of things so that we don't suddenly find ourselves in the middle of a new season without the tools that we need to live it the way we hope to.
So today I'm going to share five quick things that you can do before summer begins in order to enjoy your summer in an intentional and fun way.
Number one, describe this season, describe this season.
If you already have the summer playbook, you have a spot to answer a few questions about last summer, what last summer was like, and then what that means for this summer.
Essentially we want to name where we are.
We want to describe this upcoming season so we can know what's up.
We can know what things might be thrown at us.
We can know what's different this year than last year.
Describing your season it helps you more easily do the next four things on the For our family, I would say this summer is a summer of independence.
If I were to name where we are right now, so Sam, my oldest, is getting his learner's permit, he will be learning to drive, he'll be driving the family around this summer.
He's also gonna be managing his time more on his own, because he's 15, and he needs to, and he's got places he's going and doing and being responsible for.
I am, I'm gonna use the pool snack bar, we belong to a little community pool, and I'm going to use the snack bar as a way to teach my younger two kids about budgeting so they can learn some independence and how they spend in like a low risk way.
It is the summer of independence because it's the first summer that we are not hiring a babysitter for Annie.
In fact, she is going to be doing some babysitting on her own with a couple of families, like a little parents helper sort of thing.
So she's going to have her own little babysitting schedule, that's going to encourage a lot of independence in her.
I would also love for all three of my kids to end the summer knowing one more meal that they can make on their own.
They all have a couple that they can already do, but I would really like to encourage a bit more independence and helping them expand that.
Not ten meals, not five, just one.
One new meal that each kid can cook by the end of the summer by themselves, right?
We start small in So this is a season, if I were to describe the season this summer, it's a season of independence.
For my kids knowing that is so clarifying, which leads me to number two.
So if you describe your season first, the second thing you're going to do is you're going to name what matters about this season.
Sometimes the description of your season will be identical to what matters, but knowing where you are helps you see what you want to prioritize.
So, for us, in this season of developing independence for my kids, saying yes to their independence, it really matters this summer, right?
This is the season of independence, and so, actually engaging in that matters a lot.
So, that looks like letting Sam drive us places, even when I know we won't get there as efficiently as if I were driving or if Kaz were driving.
Or maybe it's like still letting him drive, even if I'm a very tired mama that day, who does not really have as much energy to patiently be a passenger, I still wanna say yes, right?
So he can develop that independence.
Having independence matter, it means saying yes when Ben asks to spend the afternoon in the pool alone with his friends, or taking the time to stand with Annie while she learns to cook chicken nuggets in the air fryer and not burn herself, you know?
I want my posture this summer to be open to the independence of my kids, saying yes to their independent choices matters to me like more than just about anything else this summer.
So I wanna keep that priority top of mind and I wanna work that muscle of letting them become more separate from me and being engaged in what that process looks like.
If you're struggling to name what matters in a particular season, sometimes it's helpful to look at the season that you just came out of so are you absolutely exhausted from a busy spring?
You know, maybe what matters at least at least for the first month of the summer maybe what matters is rest you know it's slowness and play and not rushing to anything because all you've been doing is rushing.
In fact it might actually help you to name what matters in each summer month individually.
The the playbooks do help you do that, which nice since they're broken into months.
But maybe June, maybe June needs to be a month of rest. July can pick up speed a little more with like play and adventure, and then maybe August is focused on like refueling and preparing for the next season.
But as we learned from Emily P.
Freeman, the past is a great teacher.
Pay attention to where you've been so you could have a better understanding of what you need in the place you are right now.
So that's number two, what matters in this season?
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So first you describe your season.
What does it look like?
What's going on right now?
And then second, you're gonna name what matters now that you know where you are, what matters most during this time.
And remember, remember it doesn't have to matter forever.
You're living in the season, quite literally.
It only matters right now, maybe even a week or a month at a time, and that's great, that's great.
Okay, that leads us to number three, which is a bit more practical.
Number three is to plant some flags.
I used the phrase plant your flags to reference things on the calendar that are pretty set in stone, vacations, camps, work deadlines, and the time needed leading up to that deadline.
maybe you're preparing for a surgery or there's some other kind of like before -and -after moment this summer go ahead and plant your flags.
So we have a product in our digital store called the Summer Docket which helps you name what matters specifically about summer specific activities and there are undated calendar pages that you can print out that might help you plant your flags so you can like see it you can write it down and like big bold letters the things that are unmoving.
Um our director of community Latoya she uses the summer break calendar from the company the essential calendar, I love the essential calendar we have one hanging in our house right now.
Um she uses the summer break calendar to do this kind of thing it's like it's one single paper calendar like one big page and you can see everything from Memorial Day to Labor Day and that might be a really helpful place to visualize your flags.
The point here, The point here is to mark what isn't moving.
So that you can anticipate your rhythms a little bit.
This is definitely happening right here.
And in fact, man, there are three things in a row that are definitely happening.
Hmm, I did not, I did not realize that.
That might mean I need to pay attention to the time after those flags and not plant anymore for a little while, right?
Too many flags can make any season feel rushed and robotic.
Like even with great flags, even things that you're really looking forward to, it can be hard to be present where you are when you're just doing planned thing after planned thing.
So notice how many flags you have, like after you get it all down and you see what's set and unmoving, notice how many flags you have, how close they are to each other, and then visualize how you might want to experience the time in between.
For our family there is this stretch in late July, early August, that's very flaggy.
Very flaggy. It's like I'm on a work trip that overlaps with a youth group retreat for my husband and my boys, followed by our annual Team LG retreat that overlaps with Sam's marching band camp.
It's basically like two straight weeks of ships passing in the very windy wind.
Guess what? I have already made sure that those last two weeks of August, after the crazy weeks, those last two weeks of August before school starts, they're pretty much empty.
One of those weeks I'm even taking off work completely.
With the exception of getting school supplies, we're just going to hang out and enjoy going to the pool and we're going to go slow and we're going to avoid flags.
I won't schedule doctor's appointments, or meetings, or essentials then.
nothing essential is happening because so much that was essential just hit us like a ton of bricks right so planting your flags it helps you see where you need some space to just be okay so that's number three plant some flags number four ask the magic question this is a lazy genius principle I haven't I feel like I haven't mentioned this in a long time but the magic question is what can I do now to make something easier later?
And in this case, what can I do now to make summer, or some aspect of summer, easier later?
This can be small, big, a series of things, whatever you want.
Now, as we all know, you know, smaller things tend to happen more easily than the big things, smaller problems are easier to solve, so perhaps starting small is a good call here.
But one thing I know that's gonna make our summer easier later is to clean out our hallway closet slash pantry it's where we keep a bunch of food but also like wrapping paper and coolers and like all those random things now it's it's fairly organized until it's not and right now it's not right now it's very much not the speed of May has created a pantry where things have not been put back in their places they're just put back in the closet it's getting hard to walk in there plus the things that we need for summer they're in the back rather than front and I know that that pantry it will irritate
me every day because we will use it every day but it is not suited for the summer season so guess what would make this summer easier lazy genius thing that pantry the other day I found a bottle of Thai curry paste in that pantry that expired two years ago and I bet that's just the beginning about that's just the beginning I need to essential eyes and throw out or move things that are not essential to summer and then I need to organize what matters most in a way that will make life a little easier.
That's a small project on my radar that I might even be doing today while you're listening to this because it's supposed to be chilly and rainy on this North Carolina Memorial Day.
So we'll see if we're not eating hot dogs at the pool I might just be cleaning up the pantry, but I might be moving the things that are on one part of the pantry to another because it's easy we need to get to them more often because of the summer.
So I'm really excited about magic questioning by pantry?
Okay, so step four is to ask the magic question, what can I do now to make summer easier later.
And then finally, number five, schedule rest. This is also one of the 13 lazy genius principles.
And for some of you, well, I think we all need this.
But there are different ways that we could look at scheduling rest in the summer.
I think some of you probably have a rhythm of summer that actually doesn't change a whole lot, right?
From the rest of the year, like maybe you don't have kids, you're still gonna go to work and do your job and live your life.
You know, maybe some of the weekends are like buy water or like you're outside with friends more than normal or something.
But for a lot of you listening to this, your summer is kind of the same that it normally is.
Others of you it's the same because you have tiny kids at home and you're always home with your children.
And so summer is just hotter.
Like it's that's the only difference, right?
But a lot of you Summer is a whole different animal Because your kids are at home a lot of you listening are parents Which means that during the summer you are you are a working parent like no matter what you're a working parent you're either working by having your kids at home all the time or you're working a job somewhere else and Having to manage your kids not being in school anymore there is a different set of skills required to be a parent in the summer and And those skills will likely sap your energy at a different rate than other seasons.
Not only that, if your kids are no longer at school, that means that they're probably home, which is maybe where you are too.
Like, summer's not the season for alone time.
I've mentioned this before, but one of the hardest things for me about transitioning to summer is losing my day off.
I take Fridays off of work, which means I get to be in my house by myself with nothing productive to do once a week.
And it is maybe one of the most important rhythms of my whole life.
In the summer, the ease of that is gone.
Someone is always home.
Like even Kaz, even my husband, he's a school counselor, which means he gets to be home for like a solid four to six weeks every summer.
And it's amazing, but also it's another human at home who usually isn't.
So as you prepare for summer, schedule rest, schedule breaks.
Think about how you can experience some solitude or quiet or energy for your own personal enjoyment this summer every day.
Now like anything, like anything starting small is going to be really important here.
You might be a mom of tiny kids and you're like, that's adorable but there's no solitude or quiet ever heard chef and it is possible to name something really small in this season that can help sustain your energy and rest if you keep an eye out for it.
So I really want you to start thinking about a way to schedule some form of daily rest. Maybe it's shifting how you spend a kid's nap time or Where you eat your lunch, you know just for the season Maybe it's naming that like if you guys if you go to the pool or something Maybe it's naming that the first hour at the pool is your time You can tell your kids who?
Love for you to play with them that you cannot wait to get in the water with them after the next swim break But for the first one mommy is gonna sit in this chair and she's gonna read for a little bit You know, it's taking those moments, those deep breaths, those chapters of a book, those snippets of conversation, where you can get them, but also choosing where some of them happen.
Be intentional about those moments of rest where you can.
I would also love it if you would look at your calendar, check where those flags are and go ahead and schedule a day of rest. Maybe even longer than a day, you know, organize an all -day babysitter.
Ask your parents to take your kids for one weekend wherever they live and then rest and enjoy yourself while they're gone.
If you can take a day off of work just one day or maybe even work from home without any meeting scheduled or something all while your kids are at camp where you can just be in your house by yourself, you could do that.
You could split a local hotel room or an Airbnb with some friends and do a sleepover just one night where you just laugh and read and play games and go to sleep when you want to.
Schedule some rest, little daily rest. Maybe bigger if you can in places, but please don't skip this.
Be vigilant about noticing when you can rest so you can live.
So in summary, before summer begins, carve out a few minutes to think through these five things.
Number one, describe this season.
What's going on? What does it look like?
Where are you right now?
Number two. Name what matters this summer.
Now, that might be the same answer as the first question, or the answer to the first question will at least help clarify the second, but what matters?
3. Plant your flags.
Look at what is immovable and what rhythms you might need to not always feel like your summer is just jumping from one thing to the next.
4. Ask the magic question.
What can you do now to make the summer easier later?
And five, schedule rest, honor yourself, prioritize your time.
If you are so hesitant to do that, if it makes you cringe or twitch, your homework is to right now go listen to episode 406 of the Lazygenius podcast, which is a Big Sister pep talk about how you're not being selfish when you choose to do things that fill your own bucket.
I think you need a big sister kick in your you do not have time for or deserve rest. No ma 'am, we do not do that here.
I refuse to believe it's true and I want you to stop believing it's true.
So you can go listen to that episode if you need a little reminder.
So those are the five things to do before summer begins.
All right, I already mentioned the summer docket in this episode.
You can get that anytime that you want to get started on what matters to you this summer.
Remember if you do download that, it's like lifetime access, you can print it out as many times as you like.
You can grab your copy at the lazygeniuscollective .com slash store.
Also, if you still have not gotten the summer playbook, but you keep meaning to, here's your reminder to go ahead and place your order.
You can grab the seasonal bundle, which is like all four seasons of playbooks at a discounted price.
That way you don't have to rush to order the next season in time to have it before it starts.
You'll already have it waiting for you, which is fun.
You can find info about that at the lazygeniuscollective .com slash playbooks.
Okay, before we go, let's celebrate the lazy genius of the week.
This week it's Kristen Brink.
Kristen writes, A few years ago, while doing a major declutter, I decided to pare down mugs a lot.
I drink coffee every day, so this was kind of traumatic.
I decided to keep my favorite 7 mugs, one, for every day of the week.
Now I can enjoy each of my absolute favorites, but I also know that if it's Tuesday, it's the white one.
If it's Friday, it's the pink one.
Etcetera. This is tiny, but it is one less decision I have to make.
Kristen, I love small choices like this.
First, I love that you have a coffee cup cue.
You know, we talk about a meal matrix or whatever, you have a coffee cup matrix.
This is what I drink out of on this day, right?
This is also utilizing the lazy genius principle of essentializing, which is a concept that Greg McEwen started around business, but it actually works beautifully for regular life too, and that's to only have what you need.
only have what you need.
Kristen decided she didn't need as many mugs as she was storing and kept only the essentials, only her favorites.
So that makes decision making and storage easier, but it also leaves lots of room for enjoyment of the mugs that matter most. So I just love this, I love this Kristen.
Thank you for sharing.
And congratulations on being the Lazy Genius of the week.
This podcast is part of the Odyssey Family and the Office Ladies Network.
This episode is hosted by me, Kendra Adachi, and 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.
you
