A few months ago I decided to make a list of all the podcasts I listened to during that week.
I didn’t choose a particular week; it was simply a random week without any forethought.
At the end of the week, I totalled up the time spent listening and I had a big shock:
11 hrs 45 minutes
A few thoughts flashed through my mind:
- I could have listened to 1 long fiction book or 1.5 non-fiction books.
- I worked from home 3 days that week and about 3 hours a day is not unreasonable. I also listen to podcasts while tidying and organizing on the weekend.
- Hmmm. What would happen if I tried some new things?
This is fascinating because I’m both the subject of the study and the scientist.
I also have a phone storage problem because I only have a 16 GB iPhone which means I have to delete photos off my phone twice a month. I actually don’t mind this because it keeps me in a good photo routine.
I also have to be diligent to only download one audio book at a time and only my subscribed podcasts.
Do you know what I decided as a result of all this thinking?
I unsubscribed from all but two podcasts.
No prizes if you guessed one of those podcasts is Happier with Gretchen Rubin. The other is the 5-word prayers daily with Lisa Whittle.
The other podcasts are still there but they’re below the subscription fold so I see them update but I only consciously download an episode when I’m ready to listen.
This decision…
1) freed me up because I don’t feel any podcast guilt (similar to Feedly guilt when you see 172 unread blog posts ;)) and in true upholder fashion,
2) I decide how much I want to listen to and when, and
3) if I don’t feel excitement about the episode, I don’t even download it. Before, the episodes would drop automatically and I’d feel almost compelled to listen immediately because of the aforementioned storage issue.
4) I’ve also listened to lot more audio books!
Yes, this post is about me listening to podcasts but it’s really about tracking behavior and making changes to align to your goals.
I have a few questions for you:
Have you ever tracked your time for a day or week? You’ll be surprised how much time you spend doing mindless tasks.
What have you learned as a result?
Is there something niggling at you? perhaps you spend too much time on Facebook or Instagram?
(our pastor said something this weekend that has stuck with me – people spend approximately 4 hours a day on social media, and other people are making money from those same people scrolling their feeds. Wow!)
