Be a Lazy Genius: A Better Way to Manage Your Time

Kendra Adachi shares 5 key insights from The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius.

We’ve all heard it before: to succeed in life, you need to hustle, optimize every minute, and strive for perfection. But what if that relentless pursuit of greatness is actually stealing your peace of mind? Kendra Adachi, host of The Lazy Genius Podcast and bestselling author, believes there’s a better way. In her new book, The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius, Kendra shares practical strategies for living a life that isn’t about doing it all but about doing what matters most. Perhaps the path to a well-lived life isn't paved with endless hustle, but with something far more radical – acceptance of where you are right now.

Scroll down to hear Kendra explain the Lazy Genius way.

The 5 Key Insights:

1. A good life doesn’t have to be great to matter.

2. You’re allowed to start with who and where you are today.

3. The goal is not greatness. It’s integration. 

4. Your season of life matters.

5. It’s more valuable to learn how to pivot than how to plan.

1. A good life doesn’t have to be great to matter.

In America, greatness, hustle, opportunity, and potential are in the fabric of our national identity. The American dream tells us to chase after and fight for what we want as we constantly seek to grow in greatness and prosperity. We should all be masters of our craft and our lives. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, some personalities are suited for the pursuit of greatness, some jobs require it, and some people genuinely love it. Trying to master something is a beautiful thing, and we all benefit from the mastery of others. But there is an expectation that if you’re not always trying to be great, you’re wasting your life. I disagree.

The reality is that most of us live fairly average lives, but rather than celebrating and cultivating contentment and valuing beauty in the ordinary, we’re told to keep hustling. Make every minute of every day count toward an invisible future that you have reverse-engineered and are constantly striving to bring to fruition. If you can’t do it, you’re considered not disciplined or motivated enough.

That’s a dangerous paradigm to live under. The future is beautiful. Mastery is, too, but I don’t think that is where we can begin.

Hear Kendra explain the Lazy Genius approach to time management: