Book Review: The Plan by Kendra Adachi

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Sally Mercedes, Executive Director of Feminist Book Club, first introduced me to The Plan by Kendra Adachi. Sally reached out to me because she thought I’d be a good fit to review It. She was absolutely correct. I am a hardcore color-coding, project-planning, and to-do list-checking kind of person. I’m a Program Manager in my full-time career, and it fits me well. I love to develop detailed plans and execute high-quality deliverables.

HOWEVER. It has its ups and downs. Productivity has somehow overvalued rest and balance. Using your spare time to completely optimize your life has become the “gold standard”. Whether it’s managing a side hustle (no shade, I write all about the art of the side hustle here) or checking off every errand on your list. What happened to intentional rest? What about finding balance so we don’t burn out? What are just…doing nothing? The Plan does a fabulous job of sharing strategic frameworks for how you can manage your time while finding time for rest, listening to your needs, and adjusting your plan.

I loved Kendra’s analysis of the productivity-industrial complex and how it has historically excluded women’s needs. Adachi shares a fantastic point that the majority of time management books are written by men for men. I never thought about that before. She shared that “men have a twenty-four-hour cycle…” and “women are on, approximately, twenty-eight-day cycles, not twenty-four-hour ones.” Mic drop. How are women supposed to follow the guidance of a time management book that was written with the intention of having the same energy levels all month long? It’s an important conversation to have. People with periods do not have the same energy levels as people who do not. But that’s not a part of the conversation in the productivity-industrial complex. It’s just, “Keep going! You got this! Work harder!” We don’t account for the complexities of women’s bodies and hormones in our productivity strategies. 

An impactful takeaway from The Plan was the importance of focusing on “what matters most in your current season.” Many time management and productivity books are pushing you to just go, regardless of your current state of mind. But that’s not life. Life happens and routines need to change. You can’t expect your strategies to stay the same as your life changes. 

This came into play in my life over the last few weeks. I am an extremely regimented and routine person (I’m SUPER fun at parties). I have my morning, exercise, nutrition, evening, skincare, generally all the routines you can name. When my routine is off, I don’t feel great. However, I recently had a very tumultuous health scare. I won’t get into details but there were a couple of weeks where I was floating in the unknown about what the future held. During these weeks, my routine – and I – needed an adjustment. I had a couple stress stress-induced migraines so I could not work or exercise.

What I needed was to open up and talk to those around me, rather than charging through a standard day. I needed to focus on what was happening in my “current season”. What I needed in this season was rest. It was self-care. It was vulnerability. And once I shifted away from the I’m going to push through and stay on track mentality, my body finally got a second to breathe. Sticking to the routine isn’t always the best strategy. You have to meet yourself where you are. That message from The Plan really stuck with me. This book dives into practical strategies that will help people organize their time while staying true to their needs. I thought it was a game-changer for the productivity genre.

The Plan by Kendra Adachi is out in October 2024 – pre-order a copy for yourself today!

Yasi Agah

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Yasi Agah is a born and raised Californian living out her dreams in New York City. She loves to read, write, listen to podcasts, and teach yoga. Becoming by Michelle Obama makes her cry every time she reads it.