The Lazy Genius Podcast

You know that feeling of wanting to burn everything to the ground and start over? I like to call that Big Black Trash Bag Energy, and today, I want to share three small steps to help you identify what that energy is really saying. Then we’ll talk about a little framework to figure out what problems that energy wants you to solve.

This episode is chock-full of personal examples of what this looks like in my own life, and tiny problems I’ve solved recently with my Big Black Trash Bag Energy (but without throwing anything beloved away).

Helpful Companion Links


Order my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy.


The Lazy Genius Kitchen Ep. 4 - The Freezer Fix with Annie F. Downs


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Download a transcript of this episode.

Want to share your Lazy Genius of the Week idea with us? Use this form to tell us about it or record your idea and share your voice on the show.


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I could talk about meals my entire life and never run out of things to say.  There are so many decisions, and things like seasons, budgets, and dietary restrictions impact those decisions. It just never ends. You’ll be feeding yourself and maybe others forever. So today, I’m sharing twelve ways to easily feed your people. They work in any season for any family grouping - single to many - and for any cooking level. These are the most dependable meal tools out there, and I’m pumped we’re going to have a whole episode of them.

Helpful Companion Links


Order my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy.


Episode #97: One Simple Step That Changes Meal Planning Forever


Fearless Chicken Tikka Masala recipe


Erin Moon’s episode of The Lazy Genius Kitchen video series (making regular dinners on a regular basis)


Watch the whole series here


The New York Times Food app


The Cook’s Book by Bri McKoy


Cookish by Milk Street and Christopher Kimball


I Dream of Dinner by Ali Slagle (I talked to Ali on the podcast a few years ago, by the way!)


Sweet Enough by Alison Roman


Sign up for our every-other-week podcast recap email called Latest Lazy Listens.


Sign up for my once-a-month newsletter, The Latest Lazy Letter.


Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links)


Download a transcript of this episode.

Want to share your Lazy Genius of the Week idea with us? Use this form to tell us about it or record your idea and share your voice on the show.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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Today is a bonus episode where we’re resurrecting an old episode that feels like a good thing to listen to right now. The Seven Kinds of Rest and How to Know Which One You Need is one of those episodes we didn’t expect to become a classic, but it kind of has. It helps differentiate different kinds of rest and what you might actually need. It’s why when people, even people like me, tell you to take a nap and it doesn’t help, it might be because you’re looking for a different kind of rest than what napping offers. 

Helpful Companion Links


Order my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy.


Episode #458: Simple and Meaningful Ways to Rest


Sign up for our every-other-week podcast recap email called Latest Lazy Listens.


Sign up for my once-a-month newsletter, The Latest Lazy Letter.


Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links)


Download a transcript of this episode.

Want to share your Lazy Genius of the Week idea with us? Use this form to tell us about it or record your idea and share your voice on the show.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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Daily rest is the sustainable driving force of living whole, present lives. We wrongly think that rest comes from big, sweeping things, like vacations or long weekends away. Those are great, but we all need ways to rest and feel like ourselves every single day. So today, we’re going to hear from you.

Over a hundred of you shared ideas of how you get simple, meaningful rest, and we have curated a list of ideas and experiences to share. You might hear your own idea or voice on this episode, but more than that I hope you hear yourself, your own experience, that you hear solidarity and a simple, meaningful idea that can help you rest in a sustainable, reasonable, do-it-right-now way. 

Helpful Companion Links


Order my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy.


Counterweights by Shannan Martin


What Should I Read Next, a podcast hosted by Anne Bogel


Shelf Respect, a new podcast by The Popcast Media Group


Sign up for our every-other-week podcast recap email called Latest Lazy Listens.


Sign up for my once-a-month newsletter, The Latest Lazy Letter.


Get The Book List!


Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links)


Download a transcript of this episode.

Want to share your Lazy Genius of the Week idea with us? Use this form to tell us about it or record your idea and share your voice on the show.


To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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Life is full of projects. Some are fun, like my album project of 2026, and some are less fun, like cleaning out a garage. But we all have them, will continue to have them, and you can probably think of one that needs doing right now. It’s nice to have some tools to lean on that help you get better at projects, to start projects you’ll finish, and finish projects that matter to you. So today I’ll share ten ways to get better at projects.

Helpful Companion Links


Order my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy.


The Project Playbook


Sign up for our every-other-week podcast recap email called Latest Lazy Listens.


Sign up for my once-a-month newsletter, The Latest Lazy Letter.


Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links)


Download a transcript of this episode.

Want to share your Lazy Genius of the Week idea with us? Use this form to tell us about it or record your idea and share your voice on the show.


To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices