I am a huge fan of @thelazygenius and had already pre-ordered Kendra's new book, coming in October, when I was picked for an advanced reader copy. I'll be thrilled when my hardcover comes in so I can mark it up. Kendra has so many great ideas. The last part of the book is little chapters of pep talks based on what you need, which is genius. Kendra’s new book, The Plan, is a must have for busy women!

I am a big fan of Kendra Adachi and have been for years! This book is great but almost too helpful! A little overwhelming with all the information but having a physical copy would be more helpful to be able to refer back to.

I’ve loved Kendra’s podcast, so I waited until I could finish the book on audio to get the full effect of her voice and storytelling. I thought this book was a thoughtful and helpful exploration of planning as it specifically comes to women. I found it smart and informative, especially with its noted differences between this book and other productivity books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Convergence Books for this ARC!

I’ve listened to Kendra Adachi’s podcast and her tagline “be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don’t” speaks to my soul. Her previous book, The Lazy Genius Way, made so much sense to me and had lots of practices I put into place. This book, however, was a little bonkers. She describes herself as having squirrel brain and that’s what this felt like. I love her so much and wanted to love the book but it just made me more grateful for her previous work.

This book just didn’t resonate with me. I love Kendra’s other books and love her podcast. I love that there’s a time management book from a woman's perspective and I think it’s good to acknowledge some of the things we have to think about that men don’t when planning their time, but it was a bit over the top for me with the whole chapter on periods etc. The acronyms and different processes also felt more confusing and complicated than her Lazy Genius Principles.

Coming to Kendra Adachi through her first book AND loving it, I was really excited to have the opportunity to read this. Unfortunately, it felt "icky" to me. I could not get past how much the author wanted to blame men and make us aware of our menstrual cycle. It just felt very off-putting to me. There were nuggets of usefulness, and I do very much appreciate her urge to listen to the season of life you're in and give grace to yourself. However, this is ultimately not a book that I have a desire to own or would recommend.

This wasn’t my fav of Kendra’s books (perhaps bc I’m so familiar with her podcast and her work) but I still think it’s an important addition to the Time Management conversation. Like she says, so few books about time management are written by women and this one is unapologetically female.

I love Kendra Adachi’s books and podcast. Her first book, The Lazy Genius Way, remains my favorite, but The Plan is full of helpful time management advice and practical tips from Kendra. She’s relatable, funny and I always enjoy the time I spend reading or listening to her. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced ebook.

I am a huge Lazy Genius fan and this book did not disappoint! Kendra has such a knack for providing helpful advice while also allowing us to be kind to ourselves. This book is so different than other productivity books and I love that the “hustle culture” so prevalent in society today doesn’t have to be the only way to live. Kendra provides fresh ideas on how to live in a meaningful way instead of just checking items off a to-do list. I highly recommend this for anyone who, like me, is a Type-A recovering perfectionist!

Kendra Adachi’s writing is always a hit. She writes similarly to Jen Hatmaker in that her in-person voice comes across so vividly through her writing. This book is exactly that. A well-researched and actionable book about how today’s woman considers time management. It’s a long overdue topic written by someone who gets it. She does the topic - and the reader - justice..

Kendra's Book Helped me SO much! I went and preordered it after I started reading it on here. Highly recommend!

It was fine...I really liked the peptalk sections though and I appreciate acknowledgement of bias and privilege. Not ground breaking though and not that practical for all women imo.

I love lists, planning, Kendra Adachi, and "The Lazy Genius Way"! So while I was very much looking forward to this book, I'm sad to say that I didn't end up loving it. For a book that was supposed to simplify planning, it felt very, very, confusing to me. It was acronyms within acronyms. It reminded me of taking notes in college when each bullet point had a set of bullet points and those bullet points had bullet points, and on and on. Usually when consuming content by The Lazy Genius, I'm left with a clear action plan and steps to take. I unfortunately didn't feel that way after reading this book.

Author Kendra Adachi doesn’t know this but she has been added to my personal wellness team, along with my therapist, primary doctor, and best friends. Her book “The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius” has already pulled me out of several spirals over the past several weeks.

Kendra details a female-empowered approach to time management and productivity one that is realistic and accessible. Her approach addresses factors that relate to women’s bodies, like menstrual cycles and hormones, and how that impacts women differently than men. But her book is not only for women, it’s for everyone starting wherever you’re at right this moment and acknowledging the factors that impact your life.

And if you can't handle periods, grow up. It's time to openly talk about periods, women's health, human intricacies, how our bodies work, mention it all.

The PLAN mindset entails the following: Prepare, adjust, and notice are equal sides of a triangle with the POINT being to LIVE. One more time, the main objective of the PLAN mindset is to LIVE and enjoy life. What a novel idea!!!! I write that sarcastically but truly, it is so rare that living be so prominently at the forefront as a main purpose driving our decisions.

The base of this triangle is what matters most in this current season of your life—not necessarily by climate conditions (although could be that too)—but is where you are today.

For example, my current season is “Income hunt in a harsh job market with funds dwindling and depression setting in” season. What matters most in my current season is my mental health as this will impact everything else. If I’m struggling with depression and anxiety then I will not be able to find a job or generate income which is my biggest need right now.

So everything I do is based on monitoring my mental health in order to make gainful efforts toward finding a stable income. Those out there seeking employment, I feel you, we know that it is absolute savagery out there.

It’s been a difficult battle ever since I was laid off earlier this year but Kendra’s PLAN has given me the tools to ease my anxiety and redirect my focus. I have been following the PLAN for two weeks now, specifically utilizing “The Lighten the Load Framework” which helps me visualize, prioritize, shrink it down to smaller actions and decisions, and execute.

In testing out the principles and frameworks, I’ve discovered I am extremely guilty of spending all of my energy on overplanning and creating a new system that I have nothing left for the execution which causes me to internalize as a failure. I scrap it all and start over with a brand-new system. Repeat.

It’s an overplanner's rehab if you will. My name is Tyler and I am an overplanner.

But this isn’t a whole new system. The PLAN is a simple set of principles and frameworks meeting you where you are today, freeing you of the shackles of the current productivity and time management industry we’ve been gobbled up by.

With “The PLAN” I have been able to be more productive with less energy/time spent on planning all while feeling better about myself in the season I’m in.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg and what I was able to extract from the book and put into practice but there is so much more. And you don’t need to do everything all at once—take what you can handle and come back later if you want or need more. I’ve re-read and re-listened to this book several times, taking on only what I can manage and listening intently as Kendra reminds me to be kind to myself.

Last but certainly not least, I love an analogy and Kendra provides my new favorite one: live life as if it’s a painting rather than a puzzle. A puzzle is preset with each piece having a place and a home to form an existing picture but if we’re painting, then we decide how it looks and how it’s created. That’s how I will be living my life moving forward—I’m in charge of how it looks.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and Convergent Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This isn't just a time management book; it's a cheerleader for people who worry that they can't achieve their goals and dreams. The advice is practical and simply explained, and tasks are broken down to make them manageable. I liked how the author acknowledged that we need to look back before we can look forward, and how we should schedule regular check-in points to take stock.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I enjoyed this book and will re read it in the future. Kendra’s words offer both kindness and practical principles to help with all that comes at us in life. I raced through it a bit so will certainly come back to this book as a guide and to try new ideas out and just to enjoy the pep talk. As someone who often feels overwhelmed this book was soothing.

I have been a long time fan of Kendra Adachi's work and her Lazy Genius Podcast (5+ years), so I had high expectations and excitement for her newest book, The PLAN. Unfortunately, the book was a bit of a disappointment to me but there are some good takeaways.

First, the good. Kendra's exuberant, cheerful, kind, encouraging big-sister-energy voice comes out strong in this book. It was very easy to read and feel supported and loved. The book had a good blend of Kendra's original thoughts, ideas, and practices so there are many easy takeaways/wins in this book. The emphasis of this book, beyond managing time like a lazy genius is about how women specifically can manage their time, was to pick and choose various time management and organizational strategies work for you, in your current season (of which there are many!) and apply them to your life. I think there was a lot of good intention in this approach. However, this also leads me to the bad part of my review.

There was so much content. So, so much. It was hard to sort through it all and hard to remember it. I think a hard copy of the book, as opposed to an eBook, may have been better - easier to scan through and flip between sections. But for me, reading this book in one go was overwhelming and too much. For many folks who have listened to her podcast and participated in her community over the years, some of this content is recycled from previous podcasts and/or newsletters (or even her first book!). Good marketing strategy of course, but this meant it was not always fresh and new. I also was annoyed at times by all the "let's take down the patriarchy" vibes and allllll the feminist content. I get it. It was too much.

One other related issue was that the book stated (at least once if not more) that the audience, in general, was women. That's great. I am in a similar demographic to Kendra - a white, middle to upper middle class working married mom. Our values and faith align, and from what she's said on her podcast we want similar things in life. Our vocations are different - I work in higher ed and she's in the internet entrepreneurial/influencer space, and she's a bit older, but still... overall, similar demographics. I related to SO MANY of her examples in the book which kept me engaged. I don't see how this book could easily translate to women in other life stages (grandmas, single women, etc.) despite her best intentions. I wish she'd just owned that - it could have made the book better. Alas, just my two cents.

I think this book could be a good fit for some audiences - new followers, people who prefer books over podcasts but still want Kendra's content, people who want a mega-reference guide to Kendra's time management related theories and ideas... but for me, the book was all in all too much. Will I return to it in the future? Probably. She had some good list making strategies and other things I could apply to my life. The problem is though, despite reading this book carefully, I can't remember much of it because there were too many strategies and acronyms and mnemonics. 2.5 stars

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Everyone needs to read this book! Kendra Adachi can do anything because she has a plan, and so can you!

As a long time lazy genius fan I really loved Kendra’s compassionate approach to managing our time with alllllllll the things in life. It felt like a really thoughtful and kind older sister offering advice and encouragement. Heavy on the encouragement

THE HOOK/APPEAL: A "real" person's plan to help you manage your time.

THE REVIEW: Like many have mentioned, she's writing from the perspective of being the big sister that we all wish we had (as opposed to the myriad of books that are a stuffy professor's perspective. Who wants that??). It made the content accessible and relatable in ways that others in the genre have failed at.

THE RATING: For that reason, solid, 4.5!