Actually Lao Tsu and his description of philosophical Daoism are way older, Lao Tsu wrote the Tao te Ching in the 4th century BCE. Its very fitting if you read it thorugh the lens of learning languages I think. But this is off-topic perchance.
Just go with the flow of nippongo and you will be rewarded.
A word caution on low level graded readers:
They are notorious for being geared toward Japanese children rather than English speaking adults learning Japanese, or very unnatural material directed at learners. This can make them have very difficult language for non-natives / not have any practical application.
Also, the more culturally relevant the material, the better off you are. Thatās why I donāt believe Harry Potter, Star Wars and other translated materials are worth reading either, but thatās a discussion for a different post!
I recommend NHK Easy News over almost everything else through N4 and the group of beginners Iām working with is reading ćć¤ć°ćØ as their first book if thatās any help. Both are culturally dense!
I think any time spent immersing is valuable, regardless of whether itās a low level graded reader or native content
I live in Japan so Iām constantly surrounded by it, so if anything sometimes I try to find ways to escape the never ending onslaught of Japanese lol.
But podcasts, and Im reaching a level of understanding where I can more casually watch something in Japanese and generally understand whats happening. So ive been going to sleep watching One Piece and just watched the first two Harry Potter Movies in Japanese the other day. Gonna probably put those on relative repeat.
Other than that, I have a bar I go to for speaking practice and been speaking to the ladies at the reception more often too. In replace of that I would suggest a meeting if your have one in person to go to. What Ive also been doing recently is joining the VC of an English/Japanese discord and lurking in there. Listening to everyone speak has been weirdly motivating to me and has prompted me to try to do quicker output so I can jump into conversations.
But as other people said keeping it simple is probably best. Choose one or two things that arent necessarily āstudyingā and do those daily.
Just finding multiple ways to immerse so my ADHD monkey brain stays amused. Watching youtube, cooking from Japanese recipes, reading manga or light novels, watching Netflix and most importantly, drinking wine with random ojiisans or beers with my colleagues.
My daily routine looks like:
On public transport: read Japanese books, textbooks, watch TV Programs/livestreams
At home: Do Bunpro learning and review
Walking/needing background noise: Listening to Japanese radio shows (NOT āPODCASTSā)
I think the idea of listening to Japanese podcasts or at level media and content is not helpful at all once youāve reached N3. Of course, in the early stages, getting as much info and easy to understand content is good from N5 to N4 stages, but after that, youāre losing out on what you donāt know.
You could ignore what I do, but I think avoiding podcasts and channels from N3 onwards that are made for Japanese learners is best, outside of those that are made to directly talk about topics such as vocabulary, grammar and pitch accent etcā¦
I usually just watch Japanese TV programs without subtitles, watch live streams or videos of people doing normal activities that you would watch in your own native language, and then also read books that you might not fully understand. You increase your pace, your vocabulary, you start finding patterns and your brain begins to find meaning in words you may not have learned before but have learned through context. This way you escape textbook-ish speaking and listening, and become more proficient in actual real Japanese.
Depending on what you want to do, search for āxy japanese n5 n4ā or something like that. Go down the rabbit whole, reddit was a great resource for me, use AI, etc, you will find it.
For podcasts, nihongo with teppei is usually mentioned, he has super beginner audios, to the point of being irritating. I tried it once, did not like it, never returned.
My favorite is lets talk in japanese, with Tomo, he grades his podcasts, starts at n4, go for n4, donāt waste your time listenig to hajimemashite repeated 5 times. Actually Tomo sensei has a podcast episode where he explaines why he does not do n5 podcasts, and his main reason is that beginners do not benefit from an n5 level podcast, becuase there is no challenge in it. He teaches in a Japanese language school for foreigners in Japan, so he knows what he talks about.
YT now is congested with n5-n4 level listening practice, one search gives you thousands of results. Same for spotify or whatever streaming platform you use.
A tip here: find someone who speaks the Japanese you aim to speak, for example young/ old, female/ male, university student/ office worker, becuase langauge differs based on these (and many other aspects). I still struggle to find something suitable for myself, since I donāt want to speak Japanese as a male university student whose favorite hobby is playing online games and waifu anime/manga, and never held a respectable professional job in their life.
Usually people mention yotsuba and crayon shin chan as easy, because it is media aimed for children, but that is misleading. In my opinion children speak their mother tongue, even if they cannot speak yet, like half a year / one year old children, so while it seems like beginner text, it is not. It is native text simplified for native speakers. Plus usually it is super boring imho.
Tried yotsuba, was bored, stopped. Crayon shin chan is another level entirely, I think it is super misleading to say it is for children, Shin chan is effectively an ojisan with very dubious tastes and the language is loaded with nuances. For this exact reason, I love shin chan, he is a troll, but the RoI of watching/reading shin chan is low, so it is placed low on my priority list. But whenever I have the time for it, I am rolling on the floor (ROTFL, yep, I am that old).
Regular media, like manga, anime is not geared for n5 or n4, they just have whatever level they have, they are not created for language acquisition purposes.
For reading you may try the readers in bunpro. Or open your choice of AI and tell it to prepare a n5 level text for letās say, the summary of the first season of your favorite anime. Then ask for an n4 level summary. Read, compare, ask for a mix of n5 and n4, if need be, but in general, just go for the n4 and sweat through it.
If you continue learning the language parallel, you will get better, things will become easier. Donāt be impatient. Donāt compare yourself to others. Donāt mind what others do. Do what you like. And accept that no pain, no gain.
I have a sticky note on my laptop that just says āyou want thisā
Every time I look at that I immediately want to study. The day where thatās not true is the day I write ādonātā on it.
I am not a fan of the āstudy every single dayā and āimmerse as much as possibleā mindset.
When I get tired I have to stop and take a breather, even if it means not studying for 3 days.
In my opinion plattforms with a streak mechanic that you canāt turn off (such as duolingo) are toxic. It shifts the motivation from wanting to learn a language to fear of breaking the streak.
Sorry, this is not really answering your question 
Fascinating stuff, seriously! I feel like there might be some similarity with Yukio Mishima, though Iām just guessing. I really love Mishimaās philosophy of dying beautifully. Not everyone gets it, and I can understand why, but I think it comes from his deep admiration for the samurai ways of the past. I donāt know much about Daoism or Lao Tzu, but Iām definitely going to read up on it now because youāve made it sound really interesting. 
Thanks for sharing. I would love to know what TV programs (a short list) you recommend for someone at N4 who wants to start transitioning to native content?
A very good routine btw
Why do you think this?
Iām studying for n1 and I find them immensely helpful
I see.
Amazing! I just searched his YouTube channel , thanks for the recommendation!
I am just getting into it. What is your opinion on Kamen Rider (and similar shows) for immersion?
Thatās the plan.
REAL!
I recommend checking teppei, you may like it. He has tons of podcasts, most people love it, itās just not for me.
Never watched Kamen Rider, I admit, I know what it is, and knowing myself, itās not for me. But in general if you find something you enjoy even if you do not understand sometimes whatās going on, just go for it. The longer the series, the better.
I watch Bleach, with the caveat I mentioned: sometimes archaic and mainly strange language, useless in real life, good for entertainment. For example, one of the characters use the word onushi, itās a personal pronoun, which I understand, but it is archaic and no one actually uses it in reality. Usefulness level zero, and I am a practical person.
I will dig up a google link I found on reddit and add it here, on media recommendations based on jlpt level.
Mainly because this content is generated not for the Japanese audience, instead for foreign audiences.
Case in point: Japan has a large and very strong culture regarding radio media, where whilst we have transitioned away from radio and into podcasts, Japan still prioritizes radio and has radiko, Spotify archived radio like ANN, and therefore the content is a lot better with material that is more current.
So I think you benefit more from media thats actually consumed, generated by people and interacted with real Japanese speakers, over curated selections.
I think you get benefit from any time spent trying to understand japanese tbh
N4 Level is at a point where you benefit from any sort of media that is accessible to you.
I would say, see if you can find any streaming of Japanese TV and hop onto NHK and watch for about 10-20m every day.
Pretend youāre an exchange student or live there, and watch the news etc. as you would usually and you donāt need to search or translate anything unless youāre interested and want to know more, as you get practice from listening and being exposed to new media.
I think that Migaku plug in or whatever (I havenāt used it) is a good way to branch into Japanese dramas on netflix.
If you have an account, in general, romance series or action series arenāt too bad to start watching (Alice in Borderland etc.), but you will start to face walls in very strong and difficult to understand words (so maybe watch the episode with no subtitles and rewatch with subtitles?).
The Pokemon series in Japan seems not to bad to understand,
For N5/N4 Iād recommend checking out Nihongo Con Teppei For Beginners. If you start from the very beginning, it is extremely simple, built on a lot of phrases and vocabulary that you will likely already know. If it feels too simple, skip ahead a few episodes at a time until you find what fits. Later episodes are more complex, and I think the episodes he has been releasing lately are probably more like pre-intermediate.
For slightly more advanced content, I like to listen to Teppei-sanās other podcasts as well (NCT ę³¢!, Japanese with Teppei and Noriko, NCT with Kimiā¦), and occasionally Iāll listen to Everyday Japanese Podcast by Sayuri Saying, Japanese with Shun, or others.
I highly recommend starting with podcasts that have short episodes, like 5-10 minutes, as you can get a good idea of whether you like it or not without getting overwhelmed. 
When it comes to finding Japanese communities, it was sort of by accident. I tried out an online social game that turned out to have a huge Japanese playerbase. Once I started looking for Japanese groups there, I was able to find some corresponding to my interests (e.g., linguistics, outer space), so I just started attending their events and gradually meeting more people that way.
ććććØćļ¼ This spreadsheet is amazing 
Iāve been searching for something like this forever. Thank you so much for sharing it!
Also good to know about Bleach, Iāll keep that in mind. And yeah, Iāll just try Kamen Rider and see if I like it.
Seriously though, this spreadsheet is gold. Iām definitely going to save this and use it as a guide. Thanks again!
Thanks for the advice! The āpretend youāre an exchange studentā mindset is actually a cool way to think about it. Iāll try NHK news for 10-20 mins a day and see how it goes
@banndsand Thatās awesome! What game was it, if you donāt mind sharing? I never thought about using online games to find Japanese communities.
Thanks for the podcast list! Iāll check em out
@someoneyoudontknow
Iād like to experience that as well XD