[The Lazy Genius Way & The Lazy Genius Kitchen]: A Double Review

Happy almost 2023, y’all!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas full of favorite traditions and wonderful memories with those you love. As we enter 2023, I am excited to share a review of two books that have inspired me recently and fit well into this goal setting time of year.

The Lazy Genius Way and The Lazy Genius Kitchen are both written by Kendra Adachi. A good friend of mine recommended these to me at book club over the summer and I am so glad I read them. Adachi is so down to earth and real. And she gives her readers the freedom to decide what is important to them and let go of the rest.

I listened to these both on my Libby app. The audiobooks are fantastic and Adachi reads them herself! I love that.

Book Summaries: “Being a Lazy Genius isn’t about doing more or doing less. It’s about doing what matters to you. The chorus of “shoulds” is loud. You should enjoy the moment, dream big, have it all, get up before the sun, track your water consumption, go on date nights, and be the best. Or maybe you should ignore what people think, live on dry shampoo, be a negligent PTA mom, have a dirty house, and claim your hot mess like a badge of honor.

It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed by the mixed messages of what it means to live well.

Kendra Adachi, the creator of the Lazy Genius movement, invites you to live well by your own definition and equips you to be a genius about what matters and lazy about what doesn’t. Everything from your morning routine to napping without guilt falls into place with Kendra’s thirteen Lazy Genius principles.

Discover a better way to approach your relationships, work, and piles of mail. Be who you are without the complication of everyone else’s “shoulds.” Do what matters, skip the rest, and be a person again.“

“You want your kitchen to be the heartbeat of the home, but you’re overwhelmed and out of breath trying to make it happen. Meals are on a never-ending loop, and you don’t have time to prepare dinner, much less enjoy it. Popular Lazy Genius expert and bestselling author Kendra Adachi is here to help!

Packed with proven Lazy Genius principles, the book will teach you to:
– name what matters to you in the kitchen–whether that’s flavor, convenience, or something else entirely
– feed your people with efficiency and ease
– apply a simple, actionable five-step process–prioritize, essentialize, organize, personalize, and systemize–to multiple areas of your kitchen, empowering you to enjoy your kitchen the way you’ve always wanted

You don’t need magical recipes, fancy gadgets, or daunting lists to follow to the letter; you just need a framework that works whether you’re cooking for one or for twenty. Straightforward, strategic, soulful, and a little sassy, The Lazy Genius Kitchen will turn your hardest-working room into your favorite one, too.”

I love how personalized Kendra makes her Lazy Genius principles; I felt so capable of change after reading these books. She gives readers lots of ideas but then lets them apply the ones they need most or want to focus on. She is constantly asking readers to name what is important to them. To think about how your home or your kitchen or your family works within the framework she lays out. I love her writing style and how she builds up her readers. Her focus is on change for her individual readers in their own lives. She shares her experiences on her own lazy genius journey which makes her even more engaging as an author. She shows readers her mistakes and her successes. I felt like I made a new friend who support me on my own lazy genius journey.

I loved all the lazy genius principles and how being a lazy genius can mean many different things. I appreciate the way she defines the term lazy genius — someone who finds the balance in life between doing everything perfectly and doing nothing well. What matters to you? What do you care about? How can you make your life better? Smoother? More efficient? Happier?Everything comes back to your personal lazy genius way and how you can make your life better one step at a time. Kendra talks about doing small things well and not trying to save the world or change everything in one sitting. In fact, she says to pick only a few of the principles to focus on at one time so you don’t get overwhelmed. I am already applying her ideas to my life.

Favorite takeaways from these books:

What is important to you? This is not a unique question but it is so central to the entire lazy genius journey. What is important to you will drive how you act and live well. Not everything is important. There is no right or wrong answer.
The Magic Question. What can I do now to make later easier? I LOVE this idea! I try to ask myself that when I feel stressed about big events or busy schedules coming up. This can be little things like putting dinner in the crock pot early in the day when the evening will be busy. Setting out clothes to make mornings go smoother. Schedule times for exercise or reading or playing with kids. Little things make a big different.
Make mealtimes easier. I loved all her validations and tips for making meal times more efficient. Make a plan and stick to it. Meal plans are there to help you, not the other way around. It’s fine if you eat the same 4 meals on a rotation. Put kitchen things in places that make sense for you. Simplify if you feel overwhelmed. I have felt so much more capable at mealtimes with the lazy genius principles behind me.
Acknowledge the stage of life you are in. She talks about this one a lot. And it really helped me to hear her say that your stage affects everything you do! If you have young kids, meals will look different than when you have teenagers. Right now you might feel overwhelmed by your stage. But later, it will be different. She talks a lot about embracing your current stage and living in the present. Being okay with the chaos of your stage and loving your people as they are right now.
Rest is important. This idea really speaks to me. I love what she says about scheduling rest so you know it will happen and you can be present in other parts of your day. We all need time to recharge and to do things that we do only for ourselves. For me, rest includes reading, blogging, and journaling. It will be different for you. The important thing is taking time for ourselves at all stages of life.

I loved this book so much! It really spoke to me and I found it so applicable to my life and experiences right now. Great books that I finished feeling confident and motivated to live my best life! Can’t recommend these highly enough!