A Simple Trick To Power Through More Podcasts In Less Time [S3E42]

You need exposure to inspiring podcast content if you want to make an inspiring podcast of your own. But none of us have an abundance of time, so how do we do that?

I have a technique that lets me be an active consumer of over 100 podcasts. 114, to be exact. This technique doesn’t require you to listen at 2x speed, doesn’t require you to change your preferred podcast listening app, a is “non-destructive”. so if it doesn’t work for you, you can go back to the way things were in a matter of seconds. You will not lose a single episode or subscription, I promise.

Start by thinking about your current podcast subscriptions from a high level, mentally sorting shows into one of two groups.

The first group is made up of all the podcasts you listen to that require sequential consumption. Shows that tell a story or present content that builds on the episode that came before. Podcast fiction, educational shows, and journalistic deep-dives. Anything that takes several episodes to get the message across.

The second group is… well, everything else. And I literally mean every other podcast you listen to where sequential listening is not required. 

For now, we’re going to touch your must-be-consumed-sequentially podcast subscriptions. No matter how important they are. Leave them as they were. Instead, we’re going to separate out everything else by creating a brand new station/playlist/channel/filter or whatever word your app uses.

(Apple Podcasts calls these lists Stations, so that’s what I’m going to call them from here on out, so adjust accordingly to whatever your podcast listening app calls them.) 

Give that new station a clever name and add every subscription of yours to it other than the sequential-required content. But with two caveats:

Only Include Most The Recent Episodes - Remember: this station is just a filter or logical grouping of your content. It’s a specialized view into some of the episodes from some of the shows you are subscribed to. You’re not losing anything. Go into the settings of the station and tweak it so that this station only includes the most recent episode of the podcasts you’ve added to it. Sort The List From Newest To Oldest - You have neither the time nor the bandwidth to assign “importance” individually to each episode that drops on your phone. You need to trust the system to do this, and the best system is to always have newer episodes push down the episodes you haven’t listened to yet. Or didn’t finish listening to. I know that sounds really strange, but I promise it will work if you’ll let it.

This new station is going to be your go-to spot when you’re ready to listen, either first thing in the morning (like I do) or when you’re doing a “found time” activity, snatching listening time when you can. 

The power of this Main station is in the automatic prioritization, with a deference towards recency and urgency. It forces me to see new and varied content. It also artificially limits my choices, which is great for when I don’t want to make hard choices. Which is most of the time. I do enough of that as it is.

If an episode keeps getting pushed further and further down the list, or maybe keeps getting replaced with a new episode before I can listen, it probably means that show isn’t all that important to me, or it needs special treatment.

If the Main station is empty - which has happened - it means I have room for more content! So I seek out new podcasts and add them to this Station. It’s important to be exposed to new podcasts all the time. I find this a great way to make that happen on a regular basis, without feeling like I’m neglecting the shows I’m currently subscribed to.

However you use it, this simple trick should help you power through more podcasts in less time. Let me know how it works for...

You need exposure to inspiring podcast content if you want to make an inspiring podcast of your own. But none of us have an abundance of time, so how do we do that?

I have a technique that lets me be an active consumer of over 100 podcasts. 114, to be exact. This technique doesn’t require you to listen at 2x speed, doesn’t require you to change your preferred podcast listening app, a is “non-destructive”. so if it doesn’t work for you, you can go back to the way things were in a matter of seconds. You will not lose a single episode or subscription, I promise.

Start by thinking about your current podcast subscriptions from a high level, mentally sorting shows into one of two groups.

The first group is made up of all the podcasts you listen to that require sequential consumption. Shows that tell a story or present content that builds on the episode that came before. Podcast fiction, educational shows, and journalistic deep-dives. Anything that takes several episodes to get the message across.

The second group is… well, everything else. And I literally mean every other podcast you listen to where sequential listening is not required. 

For now, we’re going to touch your must-be-consumed-sequentially podcast subscriptions. No matter how important they are. Leave them as they were. Instead, we’re going to separate out everything else by creating a brand new station/playlist/channel/filter or whatever word your app uses.

(Apple Podcasts calls these lists Stations, so that’s what I’m going to call them from here on out, so adjust accordingly to whatever your podcast listening app calls them.) 

Give that new station a clever name and add every subscription of yours to it other than the sequential-required content. But with two caveats:

Only Include Most The Recent Episodes - Remember: this station is just a filter or logical grouping of your content. It’s a specialized view into some of the episodes from some of the shows you are subscribed to. You’re not losing anything. Go into the settings of the station and tweak it so that this station only includes the most recent episode of the podcasts you’ve added to it. Sort The List From Newest To Oldest - You have neither the time nor the bandwidth to assign “importance” individually to each episode that drops on your phone. You need to trust the system to do this, and the best system is to always have newer episodes push down the episodes you haven’t listened to yet. Or didn’t finish listening to. I know that sounds really strange, but I promise it will work if you’ll let it.

This new station is going to be your go-to spot when you’re ready to listen, either first thing in the morning (like I do) or when you’re doing a “found time” activity, snatching listening time when you can. 

The power of this Main station is in the automatic prioritization, with a deference towards recency and urgency. It forces me to see new and varied content. It also artificially limits my choices, which is great for when I don’t want to make hard choices. Which is most of the time. I do enough of that as it is.

If an episode keeps getting pushed further and further down the list, or maybe keeps getting replaced with a new episode before I can listen, it probably means that show isn’t all that important to me, or it needs special treatment.

If the Main station is empty - which has happened - it means I have room for more content! So I seek out new podcasts and add them to this Station. It’s important to be exposed to new podcasts all the time. I find this a great way to make that happen on a regular basis, without feeling like I’m neglecting the shows I’m currently subscribed to.

However you use it, this simple trick should help you power through more podcasts in less time. Let me know how it works for you!

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Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions.

Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few.

You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com.

If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources:

1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion.
2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions.
3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics.
4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet.
5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more.

We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy