Kendra Adachi, author of the popular The Lazy Genius Collective and podcast of the same name, writes this insightful, funny, and innovative book, which helps the reader decide what really matters and what is less important. Priorities are considered, and kind and thoughtful advice and ideas are shared by this wry and insightful author, who decides once, and names what matters.

I have listened to That Lazy Genius podcast a few times and I like the concepts, but didn't fully grab ahold of what Kendra was talking to. Then I read this book and it was such a good read for me. I consider myself fairly organized, kind of a minimalist and can run a pretty decent house. But yet, I am in a busy season of life, especially in the summer, and this books equips you with principles to help maintain that well-oiled routine going.

There are 12 principles that lazy geniuses should follow and one mantra. The mantra is this: "Be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't." Basically, how I interpret this is to establish a routine, brain-free plan for dealing with those things you don't really care about, but still have to be done. This frees up time and brain space for those things you really do enjoy and want to put thought into.

For example, principle number one is "Decide Once." What this means is that if Monday morning you struggle to get going because you have to figure out what to wear and what to eat and what to grab for lunch, then what you need to do is make that decision one time and be done with it. Decide that you are going to always wear your blue outfit on Monday, you will always eat a muffin for breakfast and have a cheese stick and yogurt for lunch. You do this every Monday and you reduce the decisions that need to be made first thing in the morning.

But then principle number two is to "Start Small." So probably you would only make one of the above decisions at a time and gradually add in the other ones.

Other principles include building the right routines, having a place for everything, and so on. I'm not going to list them all because then why would you need to read the book? But you should read the book if you are wanting to simplify your life.

"When you fill your life with things that are not essential to what matters, you unintentionally add noise, and managing noise is part of why you're tired."

I really enjoyed this book. And while I received a copy from Waterbrook/Multnomah via NetGalley, I would like to add a paper copy to my own library for future reference.

All opinions are my own.

Decent book but leans toward the housewives or women with kids. Would love more ideas for those of us who have alternative families and no kids

This book was so helpful! It gives smart tips about focusing on what's important for you and getting done whatever you have to but not always want to do. What I didn't like (as usual in self-help books) was the introduction -- I always don't care what the author's motivation is to write a book, just give me the tips! :D

So, I fully admit I am in the target audience for this book. I'm a white woman, a Christian, a mom of two kids, working a full time job and living a very typical upper middle class lifestyle. I have more than enough of all I need except time. That being said... I found The Lazy Genius Way to be extraordinarily helpful in framing my life. I've listened to Kendra's podcast, and found the book to be very similar. The woman is consistent! I appreciated that the book encouraged me to focus on what matters to me personally, rather than what matters to others. I thought Kendra's faith-based references were thoughtful, authentic, and not cheesy. I was glad to know that I already do some of her principles such as batching and deciding once. I think this is a book I'll refer to in the future. It was a quick, easy read that can make a difference in your life.

Not all books work for all and sometimes it just takes some part of a book to make a significant impact in someone's life. I have been reading non-fiction books for quite a long time now and many failed me even if they were very appealing with their concepts and then some books left some of their essences with me and offered scope of improvements. After all this time I concluded that as a reader I can only absorb what's works for me and discard what doesn't but I can never deny the possibilities that some books really have some potential—no matter to what degree— to make significant changes in our lives.
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Kendra Adachi's ‘The Lazy Genius Way’ is one such book that may not be helpful to everyone because of its contents. This book consists of 13 lazy genius principles where the author teaches a simple mantra to simplify the mess of one's life, and that is: “Be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't.” Some of her practical principles like ‘Decide Once’ and ‘Start Small’ were very helpful to me because when a person gets stuck in a loop of procrastination, I believe that these are the two principles that can help him get his productivity momentum.
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Apart from that, I kind of developed a belief or assumption about this book that the big part of this book was concerned about household works; almost every other principle was about how one can do household works in order, batch the products, building routines, putting everything in its place, going into the right order and others—it was like the author's intention was to help housewives and house-husbands (why not?) or people who grind between their hectic work schedules and managing house and kids.

Maybe those parts didn't work for me because I am not in that phase yet—but hear me out— this book can be alluring for those people who struggle to manage and balance their work-house duties, always feel unproductive because of loads of work, who can't put themselves in the arena because they get too exhausted and tired with its anxiety and who just want to learn to do things more conveniently and in a right way without wasting too much of their energy.

Kendra Adachi is the Queen of Lazy Geniuses around the world! She has the best tips and systems for getting done what you don't always like to do (but still has to be accomplished) so that you can enjoy the things that matter to you more. Her systems can be adjusted to suit each individual and they are truly life-changing. Kendra's way of writing is like reading a letter or blog post from a friend. This book was excellent!

I loved this book! I had first heard about it on the Currently Reading Podcast and the. I saw this title on Netgalley and was lucky enough to get an ARC.

Kendra Adachi talks about principles we all kind of know but sometimes just need to hear again. I have been thinking about some of her life lessons and will definitely try to apply some of them in my life. This is also a book I would gladly reread in a few years time and will recommend to my girlfriends.

I LOVE Kendra... Her blog and podcast have TRULY added so much value to my life, and this book did NOT disappoint! It is one I recommend for all my friends!

If you are looking for a book that tells you what to do in what order, a la Flylady, this is not it. Kendra Adachi reminds her readers, over and over again, that each one of us has different priorities in life. To make things easier for ourselves we first need to figure who we are and what's important to us. I know that other reviewers feel like this book is strictly for moms with young children at home but I highly disagree. Those people are projecting. The author is simply telling us what is important to *her* not that you should adopt her priorities in life. Having said that, I wish I had read something like this when my own son was very young. I would have given myself permission to be much kinder to myself.

The Lazy Genius Way left me with some great ideas to help simplify my life. My favorite tip was “decide once” for everything from meal planning to gifting to what to do with the dog leash! Some of the lazy genius suggestions are quite obvious, but Kendra proposes them in a way that make them seem novel and easy, all at once. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to implement the tips in my life!

Oh my word, I loved this book so much. It'll be included in my annual Summer Reading Guide in the non-fiction section.

Thank you to @netgalley and @waterbrookmultnomah for this free ebook. I first heard about the "lazy genius way" from @annebogel on her podcast #WSIRN. I was initially intrigued because we share the same name, but I was happy to read this practical guide to making your life easier. Kendra details 13 principles to thinking smart about your everyday life. The basic concept is the let what is important to you be important and streamline the rest. I found as I was reading that I had already begun applying some of these principles to my life all on my own, so I was happy to know I was already on my way to being a lazy genius! Kendra does a great job of explaining every principle, giving concrete examples in her own life, and then giving you one small step to take for you to set that principle into motion in your own life. I have already seen benefits!

The Lazy Genius Way is fantastic in it's detailed simplicity. Adachi has a way of giving you steps to simplify your life without being overbearing or seeming like a know it all. She addresses her own privileges and biases along the way and invites her readers to do the same. Even though I've read a million self-help books with similar advice, Adachi has a fresh take on actionable ways to simplify your life. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels like they're not living up on society's standards for them. I also highly recommend Adachi's podcast which breaks down many of the steps in her book for very specific situations.

This book contains good, straightforward advice on how to uncomplicate your life and focus on what matters to you. I found the forward and introduction to be tedious and unhelpful, however, so I recommend skipping them. I could also have done without the references to the author's religious faith and personal values throughout. If you can overlook those things, you'll likely find the book helpful.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

"You may be tired of waiting for whatever sits on the other side of the longing and feel exhausted by the guilt of longing for something else"

Loved the writing style of the author. All the advice is very practical and can be followed in small steps as the author intended. I could really identify with the circumstances mentioned.
I had the digital copy and so the postscripts did not make sense to me.

I got an ARC for an honest review on the book.

Kendra gets it. She gets that life is busy, and that we want to spend our energy on the things that matter to us. She gets that there are a million voices out there with complicated ideas about ways forward to the life we dream of, and she wants to add a calm voice to that cacophony.

I, for one, am a fan of the lazy genius way and I think it may just be the best way.

I really enjoyed The Lazy Genius Way, I was looking for something motivational to read during this Pandemic to assist me with pumping myself up to just do the regular things that seemed to be so hard todo during these times. I love the steps they were easy enough to do and made me feel great to make some progress on my procrastinating. Easy to digest and fun to read.

I tried to read this and had to DNF. I don't know if I am already a lazy genius, but I didn't feel like the tips were revolutionary. I think I was just not the right audience for this book.

This was a really unique, quick, and great read! It was super easy to read and I loved Adachi's voice throughout. It truly felt like I was listening to a friend! While not all of her tips were relevant to me since I don't have kids, I can appreciate that they'd be great for busy moms! I really did like her ideas related to batching tasks and working to make decisions easier — it really made me think about areas of my life where I could try to fit them in. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others. I think it would be great on audio as well!