Hey Podcast Hosts! Are you feeling the time crunch?
We get it! Whether you’ve been podcasting for awhile now, or you’re just starting out, what should have become pretty clear pretty quickly is that podcasting takes time! And your podcast also needs time to grow. But finding the time in your busy life can be a challenge.
In between all your everyday, family, and work responsibilities, your podcast also needs your attention.
And especially if your podcast is your passion project, where does it fit in amidst your busy life? You might find that it’s falling by the wayside because you just can’t find the time to give it the attention it needs.
Enter this post!
We’ve got a stack of quick tips to help you hack your schedule to create the time you need spend intently focused on your podcast.
(You can thank us later…)
1. Prioritize Your To-Do List
When you’re running a podcast amidst everything else in your life, it’s really easy to get lost in all the tasks you still have to do and not focus on the task at hand. But by not giving your tasks your full attention, you’re most likely not giving it your best. And often, this can mean tasks need to be repeated. A frustrating exercise!
So to avoid all that, prioritize your to-do list.
Look at all the tasks you need to accomplish in a day/week/etc. and rank each item from the highest priority to lowest. That way you can be clear on which tasks will be most important to do and you can get them done first. Once those big task are out of the way, you can speed through the smaller tasks.
Make sure that the tasks you need to do for your podcast also make it onto this list, and you’ll be able to get through all you need to do.
If you break your goals down into manageable, ordered activities, each one becomes less daunting of a task. You’ll have time for all you need to do and you’ll be less likely to get overwhelmed by everything you have on your plate.
Looking for help with prioritizing your to do list? Check out this article: How to Ruthlessly Prioritize Tasks to Get More Done
2. Schedule It In
If tasks don’t get included in a schedule, the truth is they very likely won’t get done! So make sure you include your podcasting tasks in your weekly schedule.
To create an outstanding show, you need to give your podcast the time it deserves. But, particularly if your podcast is a passion project, side hustle, or a “just for fun” activity, it might not be making it on to your weekly schedule. This is a mistake!
We don’t prioritize what we don’t make plans for, so make sure your podcast makes it on to your schedule each week.
And when it’s time to spend time on your podcast, do it! Treat that time slot the same way you would treat a business task, a team Zoom meeting, or a work deadline. Have the mentality that your podcast is not something you ‘reschedule’ or only do “when you have the time.” It has a valid spot on your schedule which must be honored.
3. Set Goals
Setting goals are important as they are a way to make sure that you prioritize achieving those goals. So write down those goals you want to achieve with your podcast. If you write your goals down, then it will be easier for you to keep track of what you have done and what is left to do. Setting goals can also help you with getting organized as they give you a clear heading and set you off on the direction you want to take.
Setting goals also help with time management. When you know what you have to achieve, you have a better understanding of how to plan your time to reach your goals. So if you want more time for your podcast, set those goals!
4. Look For Time Pockets
You may never feel that there is enough time to do all the things you want and need to do, but if you closely examine your daily comings and goings, you may be surprised at what you find.
How often do you spend your evenings on a Netflix binge? How many times do you hit “Snooze” in the mornings before actually getting out of bed? How long does it take to prepare dinner from scratch every night? And lastly, how long is your daily commute? The answers to all of the above questions may indicate your pockets of time. Time that you can use to complete some of your weekly podcasting tasks.
5. Maximize Your Evening Hours
Our evening hours often hold plenty of under-utilized potential. But in order to harness this potential and break out of your usual habits, you need a nighttime routine. A nighttime routine will help you use your evening hours effectively, and not waste them scrolling through social media feeds.
Having an effective nighttime routine will not only help you manage your time better and carve out those pockets of precious time. But, putting an evening routine in place may actually help you get to bed at a reasonable hour and may even help you get a better night’s rest! Yes, please!
Related read: Strategies To Improve Your Night Time Routine: A Guide For Improved Productivity
6. Kick Procrastination To The Curb
Procrastination is a very detrimental habit. Not only can it cause excess stress as you rush to pull everything together last minute, but in the long-term, it can be self-defeating. You may be sabotaging the future success of your podcast because you’re procrastinating in completing your tasks now.
But the good news is that you can beat your procrastination by starting with small steps each day. You don’t need to tackle everything at once. You could start with something easy – some of the smaller, easily accomplished goals on your to do list. And as you tick those off, you’ll become motivated to tackle some of the other task that may have built up in your metaphoric backlog. Soon, you’ll have all your tasks completed, and you will have successfully created more time to focus on your podcast.
7. Boost Productivity
If your schedule is already super tight and you don’t know how you’re going to make more time for your podcast, perhaps you need to find ways to boost your productivity?
By doing that, your schedule might not change, but the amount of work you’re able to accomplish could markedly increase!
We have a whole post dedicated to helping you boost your podcasting productivity. Check it out here: How To Boost Your Podcasting Productivity.
8. Don’t Feel Guilty
Nothing can cripple your mojo and stop you dead in your podcasting tracks like guilt!
And, particularly if your podcast is a hobby, or something similar, you may be feel all sorts of guilt whenever you spend dedicated time on it.
Yes, you might have done something else, equally, if not “more important” during the time you set aside for your podcast, but we also have to prioritize the things that bring us joy!
So, don’t feel guilt for allocating time and energy to your podcast. Make the most of the time you do set aside for it, and you’ll find that you’re able to accomplish all the tasks for your show, as well as everything else on the list.
9. Reduce Distractions
Another key strategy for making more time for your podcast is to reduce any distractions when you are focusing on a podcasting task. The effort to refocus on a task after each and every distraction just slows you down and hinders your overall progress.
Rather reduce the distractions so that you can give your podcasting task your full attention, as this will ensure it’s completed effectively and efficiently.
Think about the things that typically distract you or take you off task. Your smart phone or tablet? Google or YouTube? The craving for a snap or a “quick” cup of coffee? Once you know your triggers, either remove these items from your immediate path, if possible, or place “obstacles” in your way to prevent you from being easily distracted. Reduced distractions equals more time for your podcast.
10. Join a Group
If your podcast is a one-person operation, you’ve probably found that it can be a bit of a lonely journey. And if it’s up to you to get all the tasks completed, and you’re relying on yourself to keep motivated, it can all become a bit much, and you may start to let things slide.
So a great way to be more accountable to your podcast is to find and join a podcasting group.
These groups are a great source of encouragement when your motivation levels are low, but they can also serve as an accountability partner who helps you stay on track. And you could even meet other podcast hosts who have had success with finding creative ways to make more time for their podcast.
Search Facebook or platforms like Reddit to find the podcasting group that’s the right fit for you, the one that will give you encouragement, motivation, and share all sorts of valuable nuggets of wisdom for finding more time for your podcast.
11. Break Up The Process
If you are struggling to fit your podcasting routine into your day, a simple solution is to fit every task in is to break up the process. If producing an episode of your podcast takes a couple of hours, it can be hard to find that kind of time in any given day.
So rather than trying to schedule in the start-to-finish process in your schedule, break up the process into smaller tasks that can be spread out throughout the week, or depending on how often you put out a new episode.
These smaller, more manageable tasks allow you to make working on your podcast part of your busy day. And because smaller tasks are more manageable, you can be constantly checking off tasks on your to do list, which always feels great!
12. Have Fun!
Remember, podcasting is fun! But it can lose that joy when we’re stressing about how we’re going to get everything done, or we’re feeling guilty for not giving our podcast the love and attention it deserves, a lot of the podcasting joy gets lost.
Don’t let that happen! Give yourself the space to adjust to a new schedule, try different strategies, or a combination of these strategies to find out what works for you, then have fun! Don’t put pressure on yourself to get your schedule right the first time. Remember, habits take time to form. So until you’ve got your time schedule wax, enjoy the process!
Related read: 10 Top Free Resources To Boost Your Productivity
