After posting about my 4 favorite podcasts to listen to, many of you have asked me when I find time to listen to podcasts.
First, here are two things that help me not have information overload:
1. Only subscribe to your absolute favorites.
There is SO much great information out there, but you can’t consume it all. Don’t feel like you have to even try! Just subscribe to your absolute favorites and don’t worry about what else you might be missing out on.
Not all podcasts are for everyone. Find what feeds you, find what inspires you, find what you love and enjoy and stick with those — even if it’s different than what
2. Only listen to topics that interest you.
I stick to listening to podcasts on topics I find inspiring or that I’m interested in learning more about. This changes from time to time and that’s okay.
Focus on the information you need right now for where you are. If I find that a podcast is making me feel like I need to add a bunch of extra to-do’s to my list, I usually take that as a sign that I need to stop listening.
Here are some simple and practical ways I find time to listen to podcasts each day:
- Listen while you’re getting ready in the morning. I usually always listen to something while getting ready (showering/blow drying my hair/putting on makeup, etc.) each morning.
- Listen while you’re working out. When I’m exercising, my brain seems to come alive. It’s a great time to stimulate it!
- Listen while you’re cleaning. I have started to love cleaning, because I get to listen to podcasts while I’m doing it!
- Listen while you’re doing simple tasks online. If I’m doing something that doesn’t require a lot of brain space — like scheduling posts on Facebook or pinning pins — I can listen while working.
- Listen while you’re driving. I often sit my phone in the seat next to me and listen while I drive.
- Listen while you’re doing handwork. I love adult coloring books, knitting, and embroidery. It’s so relaxing to turn on something to fill my mind and feed my soul while I do these things that make me happy and relaxed.
- Listen while you’re going to sleep. This is one that wouldn’t work for everyone. I feel like it’s better to go to bed quietly and not stimulate your mind. However, if I have trouble going to sleep because my mind is racing, I’ll often listen to a podcast that will relax me or shut my brain off so that I can fall asleep.
How do you find ways to listen to podcasts throughout the day? I’d love to hear!
I listen to podcasts while prepping dinner if the kids are busy in their rooms. Otherwise it’s too much noise.
I also listen when I do laundry, and whenever both kids fall asleep in the car.
But I’m careful to not let it take from our family time. I always turn it off when my husband is around, unless it’s something he’s interested in too.
Some of my favorite podcasts:
Every Branch (life balance)
Edit Your Life (parent hacks)
Good Life Project
Happier, by Gretchen Rubin
Art for Your Ear
The Savvy Painter
Artists Helping Artists
Smart Creative Women
Magic Lessons, by Elisabeth Gilbert
Art of Manliness
Dave Ramsey Show (financial)
Bigger Pockets (real estate investing without hype)
I love podcasts too! To your point, there’s so much out there though and it’s hard not to get overwhelmed. Before I used to feel like I needed to listen to all of the podcasts of a certain person, but now I focus on topics that interest me, like you recommend. I definitely listen to podcasts when I’m in the car, cleaning and doing yard work.
Serial just came out with their first season 2 podcast! So, that will be a fun, cheap date night for the hubby and me :).
Is there an app that you guys use or something to organize & save podcasts together for future use? Thank you!
I have recently started pairing my least favorite homemaking task (folding laundry!) with listening to podcasts. Now I actually look forward to it! I haven’t listened to the Seeing the Lovely podcasts before, but I’m excited to try them out. Thanks for the suggestion!
Great idea! I have two loads I need to fold tonight!
Thanks so much for this post! I read it last night and decided to apply it. I listened to your Facebook scope while I did the dinner dishes and learned so much!
Woohoo! And thank you so much!
Okay I can’t believe I am going to admit this on your site but, I actually keep one podcast on my iPod just because I find the podcastor’s voice so soothing that it helps me fall asleep on nights that I just can’t get my mind to shut off.
He hasn’t produced a new podcast in ages and yet I keep his podcast on my phone just because of his voice. My husband must shake his head every time he comes to bed and has to turn it off while I snore away!
I listen in all of the above ways that you mentioned but my favorite is listening while I declutter.
Oh, and if anyone reading this suffers from hearing loss like I do investing in a small good quality wireless speaker really helps if you listen without headphones.
I have 2 by jam box and they make a huge difference. I have lost my low tones so I can’t hear male voices as well as I once did but by boosting the sound with a wireless speaker I can hear fine as I walk around the house decluttering.
That totally cracked me up about listening to a podcast for the podcaster’s voice!! 🙂
My commute to work is my favorite time to listen to podcasts! I never thought I was a podcast girl but I realized I’d much rather soak up useful information than sing all the way to work!!
How do remember what you’ve listened to? I have to take notes and I can’t do that effectively while I’m doing other things. Suggestions, please!!
My favorite thing about podcasts is that I don’t feel like I have to make time for them. I listen while I’m in the shower or cooking dinner (even though I might not catch everything that’s said if the kids are playing nearby).
I love listening to Learn to Blog Hangouts on YouTube, too. Technically they’re videos, but I find I rarely miss anything by just listening. One of my current favorite podcasts is Elise Gets Crafty.
I took a blogging break earlier this fall and am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. Pregnancy and selling a house will do that to you. lol. But before then, I used to listen to the Brilliant Business Moms podcast a lot while doing dishes, showering, or in the car (we live rurally so everything is a 10-45 minute drive). I have an Etsy shop as well so I really like that one. At home I would watch the Learn to Blog hangouts while doing dishes. I’d prop my phone up on the window sill over the sink so I could see.
I used to listen to a homemaking one too but honestly, I don’t feel like I need help or encouragement in that area. So I stopped listening.
I love how listening to scopes/podcasts makes me look forward to tasks I would otherwise dread (like getting ready in the mornings and folding laundry!)
I really love listening to podcasts and periscopes, however I’ve found that they have become another distraction for me that takes away from my kids. I’ve caught myself on more than one occasion not responding to my 4 year old’s questions while doing dishes because I’m so engaged to the podcast or periscope.
I’ve started only listening when my older son is at preschool and my baby is napping or when my husband is home and playing with the boys. It means that I miss out on many scopes or podcasts that I would love to listen to, but it also means that my boys are my number one priority. 🙂
Thanks for all of the wonderful suggestions, Crystal! I need to start downloading them to my phone and listening while I’m driving! 🙂 I’ve never tried that before.
I agree on podcasts being hard to listen to with little ones around. If I’m trying to listen and keep getting interrupted it tends to make me grumpy, so it’s better not to listen sometimes 🙂 There are a few where I don’t have to hear every single word to enjoy them, so I’ll do those occasionally. And I can’t use earbuds when the kids are awake or I don’t answer questions either! Ha 😉
Yes! I save the podcasts I listen to for when I don’t feel like cleaning. Nothing can quite motivate me to clean or get started on the dishes like the reward of listening to a good podcast. Brilliant Business Moms is my absolute favorite, and EntreFamily (when they are updating). And my boys love to listen with me 🙂
Love these tips, Crystal! I listen at all of those times too. I love road trips for that reason – I catch up on all my favorite podcasts and audiobooks!
I also listen while I’m cooking/getting dinner ready, and while I’m unloading and loading the dishwasher. My handy husband is currently looking for a way to build a system to let me listen in the shower.
I’m definitely a “if nothing else is working put on a podcast at bedtime” kinda girl. I struggle so much with having a million ideas flood my brain, so like you, listening to something and closing my eyes often helps me turn it off.
And I also agree with learning as you go. I love listening to non-business podcasts for that reason! If I listen to too many business ones at once, I’ve got way too many ideas to handle! And, I’m often inspired and think creatively from podcasts outside the business space. (I feel like this is an anti-ad for our podcast, ha!)
I love “Mystery Show” although it’s only had 6 episodes. I love Start-Up. I love Planet Money (I’m always learning something so random and interesting on that one!) And MacKenzie’s new podcast Cultivating the Lovely is great! Oh, and Sarah Mackenzie’s Read Aloud Revival. Bringing Up Betty is a beautiful podcast about special needs parenting. I really just love it and always tell the host, Sarah, it’s like therapy for me! Note to Self – also tackles really interesting topics surrounding technology in modern life. I know it doesn’t sound interesting but it is! And sermons from David Platt of The Church at Brook Hills.
My favorite biz podcasts: The Art of Paid Traffic, Smart Passive Income, Social Media Marketing Podcast, Social Media Marketing Hour, Amy Porterfield, Biz Chix Podcast, and I am still sad that Kat Lee quit doing her “How They Blog” podcast.
Ok, book is over. I could talk podcasts all day apparently!
I put my phone in a bowl on the bathroom counter or on my daughter’s stool when I listen in the shower. The bowl makes a sort of speaker to make it loud enough I can hear.
I bought an inexpensive waterproof Bluetooth speaker from Amazon so that I can listen in the shower. Works great!
I have one of those short, long Windows over my bathtub, so I bought a sound bar to put on the window sill. My phone hooks up automatically by Bluetooth, so I can listen while showering, brushing teeth, even blow drying because it’s so loud. 🙂
These are great tips. I have never listened to periscopers or podcasters before I started following you on periscope. I’m so glad I decided to do that. It is actually not like me at all to take time to listen to shows like this. I’ve really really enjoyed it though. I think I love Periscope the best because of the interaction, it’s not just listening.
I love 60 minutes and Freanomics podcasts. I now listen when cooking and working out. The only “me” time with three young kids.
Thanks so much for those podcast recommendations!