The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn't, and Get Stuff Done

I was so excited for this book. It had such great reviews. But I'm not the intended audience. This book is for moms who have young kids and are expected to take on all the traditional female roles in the family: cooking, laundry, shopping, child care, gift-giving, etc. I'll admit, I gave up on the book before Principle #4. When there are suggestions like, "What can I do now to make getting everybody out the door for school easier later? Make lunches the night before." I just can't give it any more of my valuable time. I find this kind of advice condescending, even if just given as an example. (See photo of other examples.)If you are a young Christian mom (heavy dose of Church in the parts I read), trying to do too much for your family, this may be a great book for you.

What a refreshing book! I struggle with trying to do everything that a “good housewife and mom” is expected to do and I sink in the chaos sometimes. I’m a homeschooling mother of six amazing children, ranging from Kindergarten up through a high school senior. It can be tough to keep up with the lives around me and the happy chaos they bring to our home.It is such a blessing to read about Kendra’s transformation and to hear her encouraging words about not having to do it all, but to just focus on what matters to me. I’m artistic and disorganized by nature. Efficiency and organization do not come to me easily. Kendra’s ideas have felt ground breaking when I feel like I just don’t have any fresh ideas for how to do things better. There have even been times where I laugh to myself for not having realized some of her simple ideas sooner.I LOVE that she reminds people of our God that loves us and made us perfectly in his sight. That He already feels that we are good enough just the way we are.It is truly a refreshing book to read!

The book is 13 Lazy Genius guiding principles explained in a caring and fun voice. Also, Kendra shares some failures which helped birth some of the principles and then how she has implemented these things in her life all the while being very clear about differences we all face. Meaning there is space to implement these things in a way that makes the most sense for your situation.And these are not just life hacks for how to clean X room in a certain way (although that is in there...Go in the right order), they are sometimes ways of shifting how we see things or define things so that the doing of the thing makes sense for us.The largest practical item I have implemented is what Kendra calls the Magic Question...I'm going to be annoying and not tell you what it is...go buy the book. It's worth it.In case one take away isn't enough I'll share another: Start Small. So you guys none of this is rocket science. It's all very relatable and probably things we have heard, BUT what makes The Lazy Genius Way different is how inviting Kendra is. She doesn't say do this thing this way and do not deviate and life will be perfect TA-DA! No, she invites you to look at your life and see how starting small could help and then gives examples from her own life and ideas for what it could look like AND small actionable ideas at the end of most chapters to begin right where you are.This is going to be a reference book. Something I pull out when I'm stuck because I've forgotten to start small, or the Magic question or one of the other principles. This will be a book you devour at first and then go back to again and again as you start implementing one thing at a time and seeing how it works or needs to be tweaked as seasons change.

I’ve always joked about there being a handbook for how to be an adult, and I missed the handout window. But with The Lazy Genius Way, Kendra gives us just that - a resource for figuring out what matters to ME and a way of thinking through systems to be a genius about those things. I’m so glad I bought the hard copy book, because this is a resource I will be coming back to again and again!

Full disclosure, I’m a Lazy Genius fangirl. Kendra’s words resonate with me in a way not many others’ do, and I’ve followed her online for several years now. She’s equal parts practical and funny and thoughtful, and her book whips up all of those qualities into the quintessential life companion.If you follow Kendra online, some of her systems and thought processes will be familiar, but The Lazy Genius Way isn’t a half-baked version of her blog or podcast; it’s the perfect complement to an online community that’s become very dear to me.Kendra’s words have a way of affecting me on a soul level, and the last chapters of this book had me figuratively—almost literally—slow clapping and praise-handing. This book helped me feel more like myself, and I can’t give higher praise than that.

“There comes a point when grasping for control makes you feel tired instead of safe.”This quote and SO many others spoke to me deeply in this book. Kendra has a great sense of humor and down to earth attitude that makes reading her book like reading a note from a friend. A friend that had been inside your house and your head and knows just the right perspective to put in things.This book is full of practical tips and solutions. It’s broad enough that you can apply them to almost any situation (SAHM? Single? Married? Kids? No Kids? Work outside the home? She’s got you covered!) but also specific enough to be SO helpful!!I highly recommend this book!

I wish I had a book like this when I was a younger wife and mother, or for that matter, a single college student! The Lazy Genius principles are just that…genius! The whole premise is to learn to prioritize and think about what matters to you and your family and what isn’t so important, and then how to manage your life so that the important stuff gets done. She doesn’t tell you what needs to be important, as everyone has different priorities, but rather teaches how to adapt the principles to what matters to you. Love this book as well as the authors podcasts and highly recommend!

I really needed this book! Kendra outlines direct, doable steps to help live (and love) your life without the chaos and the crazy tiredness that goes along with it. She also transparently shares relatable, personal examples of how to do it. Thank you, Kendra!

This is the best book I have read so far this year, and it's going to be difficult (if not impossible!) to top. I've read so many books and articles with "life hacks I need" or "the best morning routine for everyone", and none of those suggestions have worked. Now that I've read this book, I see why: the systems that work for someone else's life and priorities aren't always going to work for mine.Kendra Adachi's tagline in her blog, podcast, and now book, is to be "a genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don't," and this book helps you do exactly that. After you identify what matters to you, Kendra guides you to craft an approach to your life that supports what matters and doesn't waste time and effort focusing on what doesn't. Instead of telling you to do life the way she does, in this book Kendra gives you thirteen principles to help you create your own systems that reflect what matters to <i>you</i>. Some of these principles might seem fairly straightforward (like "start small"); others are going to change your life ("go in the right order" has made me feel so much more relaxed about my to-do list while still getting a lot more done).Each principle is explained in Kendra's funny, insightful style, which listeners of her podcast (The Lazy Genius Podcast) have come to love. She gives plenty of specific examples of how one might apply the principles, but what makes this book so brilliant is that, ultimately, YOU are in the driver's seat. Once you understand the thirteen principles, you can apply them to your own challenges and circumstances and create an approach to life that supports what matters to you. Kendra never made me feel like I was doomed to fail if I didn't get up at 5 o'clock in the morning, follow a seven-step daily routine, and follow a strict, robotic schedule. Instead, she has kindly encouraged me to identify what matters and has given me a toolkit so I can create my own systems, routines, and strategies that work for my unique personality, situation, and priorities.I genuinely believe this book will work for everyone. It's the only book I've ever read that gives strategies actionable enough to start using right away but flexible enough to handle changing life seasons, stressful circumstances, or even the energy fluctuations that interfere with so many of our attempts at productivity and intentionality (hello, 2020). So far, this book has encouraged me that I don't need to get up any earlier to have a successful morning routine, nor do I need to resign myself to chaos if I abandon perfectionism. Instead, Kendra has given me thirteen principles with which to craft a to-do list that focuses on what matters, pull myself out of slumps when 2020 wedding planning inevitably overwhelms me, and keep my home reasonably tidy without feeling like I'm spending all day doing something that, frankly, is low on my priority list during this season. This book is, without exaggeration, the one tool I need to get myself through the rest of 2020 intact, sane, and thriving. 100% recommend.

Loved the book, loved the concepts, and using what I’ve learned. Excellent!

No matter what stage of life you are in, I think you can get something valuable out of this book! I generally don’t read a lot of “self-help” type of books, and I don’t even know that this fits squarely into that category, but it his book spoke to me. She has so many well-thought-out, practical, logical systems and methods for all areas of life. I found myself taking notes and reflecting on how I could do things differently the entire time I was reading. Small changes really do add up and I find that things as simple as putting the groceries away, to more ‘complex’ things like planning out holidays, is a little easier “the lazy genius way”…I highly recommend this book and also her podcast :)

This book is actual gold. I knew as soon as I finished it that I’d be telling everyone who would listen about it. What is most revolutionary about this book is that @thelazygenius doesn’t tell you, “this is what works.” But she says, “this is how I discovered what works for me and how you can discover what works for you.” (Ok that’s not an actual quote, but if I imagine Kendra speaking to me - which I do and it’s not weird - that’s what I think she’d say.) Listen, we’re all different humans with different motivations and things that matter to us. There is no one answer. There is no Traveling Pants. Kendra invites you in and equips you to do the discovering for yourself, and isn’t that far more empowering than just taking orders from someone anyway? PS - Kendra, if you’re out there, today’s Magic Question is “What can I do today to make it easier for @thelazygenius to be my friend?”

4.5 out of 5 Stars.*I received an advance copy thanks to NetGalley and being a part of the #LazyGeniusWay launch team.*A beautiful and gentle book. Kendra holds your hands through each step and gives you permission to focus and prioritize what you need to make your life a little simpler. Her openness with her own life and her gentleness when speaking to the reader is heartwarming. The last chapter, HOW TO LIVE LIKE A LAZY GENIUS, specifically made me tear up, it felt like being hugged by a friend -"...you are enough. You can stop trying to be the ideal, future you, carrying a load you were never meant to carry. Let go of the working, the listing, the striving - all the things you're doing to deserve the love of the people around you. You are enough."If you need to hear that as much as I did, grab this book. Kendra is not here to shame you.The structure of this books allows it to be read straight through or slowly taking in one principle at a time, one chapter a day/week/month. Now that I have read straight through, I plan to take one principle at a time and attempt to incorporate it into my life. This structure of the book was quite clever and helpful.Only Four stars for one main reason, while it is applicable to so many, it is not applicable in my season. I am living with family while attending grad school which means that much of the decision making is not up to me. Of course, I did this intentionally so I could focus my mental energy on school. This book would best serve moms of young children and new homeowners, mainly around a late 20s to early 40s women demographic. However, I did just get engaged so it is possible that in the next year as I plan a wedding, graduate grad school, and move in my future husband, this book could prove immensely helpful. I look forward to finding out.I am also curious as to how applicable this book will be, considering that it is being released in the middle of a pandemic. It may prove more applicable or less applicable, even by a principle by principle basis, due to this season.

Kendra is so down-to-earth. She gives you what is needed to let go of all the things (possessions) in your life that don't really matter, so you can embrace what does. Putting her principles into practice will change your life and make you a more joyful person -- you won't feel weighted down by all the excessive possessions you've begin trying so hard to keep organized. I can't recommend her book enough. She really is a genius -- "The Lazy Genius!"

I am a Lazy Genius convert! I love the principles and how they allow me to problem-solve in my own life, prioritizing what matters to me. Kendra is very relatable in her anecdotes in the book and great at explaining how the principles can be put to use. Listening to her podcast along with reading this book have helped improve many aspects of my life! You will love her “kind big sister” energy.

Not great for hot beverages unless you are VERY careful. But perfect for our needs camping. We have mugs for hot beverages. These help keep the bees and flies out and color coded so the kids don't loose track of their cups.

I got these cups for making hot chocolate while camping. They could not handle the hot liquid the little silicone things slipped right off and he did all the way through. We now use them for water cups while camping and they work fantastic. It keeps leaves and dirt out of the cups and each kid gets to pick a color.

Bought these to take in an annual camping trip with friends and they were perfect in these Covid times to keep everyone’s germs to themselves.They do get hot if used for coffee, but they’re metal, so that’s no surprise, and the silicon sleeves are removable, which makes them easier to clean

These cups are great for camping! They keep drinks hot or cold for a long time and don’t take up much space for storage.

Exactly what I was hoping for! Put these into a camp kitchen along with steel plates and bowls from same company and it was all fantastic. I love having stuff I can boil to sterilize when I'm camping.

Purchased for my sister's family and they love them. The silicone wraps let everyone quickly identify who's cup it is. Very hot liquids are still a little too hot to handle, but work well once it's cooled down. I would definitely recommend!

These are great for saving space in camping gear. The hole In the lid for drinking is small and therefore is slow (sipping). These do sweat if you put cold drinks in them.

Just what we needed at the cabin! They can’t break, wash well and the silicone sleeves prevent burning your hands.