Managing a Life/Work Balance
Podcasting is fantastic, it has opened up a world of possibilities, friendships and new learnings for me. One downside….you become hooked and it can take a lot of time.
Podcasting is social, it is about connecting with the host. The host gives a huge amount of time to preparation, producing etc and as your fascination grows with podcasting it is important to ensure that the time invested does not take away from other important parts of your life. Here are some ideas that I have found that helps to keep the balance.
1) Prerecord as much as possible. If you have a standard introduction, ending, admin, adverts, how people can get in touch etc…then record once and then drop them into the show each week.
2) Use downtime to map out your show. Travelling is a great source of time for me. If I am driving then I record into a voice recorder, if on the train etc then I use a molekin notebook.
3) Work out the time you do have available which does not take away from your family, children and friends then stick to it!
4) Concentrate on quality rather than quantity. One great show a week is much better than poor daily ones.
5) If you have children or a partner interested in technology can you incorporate them into the show so that it becomes a family hobby.
6) Don’t be afraid to cut back if you lose the life/work balance. Family and work is important and they should not suffer. Talk to the listeners and explain the reduction to once a week, once a fortnight until you have more time.
7) Encourage listener participation. The more listener feedback the more the dialogue is created and reduces the amount of input from you.
What about asking a listener to volunteer to do the show notes, or help with the editing?
9) Allow a few gaffes in the audio…don’t over edit. Listeners enjoy the human side and a few mistakes.
10) Look out for new tools like the levelator that will help reduce the time invested….each month people are coming up with tools to help us lowly podcasters.
Finally have fun, when something is fun you are more efficient and the time goes quickly!
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