How to become a more productive podcaster

We both know that running your own podcast or business means you get to wear a lot of different hats, especially in the beginning when you’re first starting out and doing everything yourself.

That’s why it’s really important to know how to be productive when working and create a flow that not only lets you accomplish everything you want but leaves time left over to enjoy yourself at the end of the workday.

Be specific about your day

When it comes to being a badass at productive work, the best place to start is to be really specific about what it is you want to get done that day. Treat your business and publishing your podcast like a normal job, with tasks given to you by your manager, deadlines for projects, strategy meetings, and so on.

Write down 3 big tasks, and 4 small ones

You’ll help yourself have a productive workday when you stick to accomplishing 3 big tasks and no more than 4 small ones.

A big task is something that requires a lot of your brain power, focus and creativity, while a little task is something that you could do on autopilot or is much shorter to accomplish.

This way, you’ll be able to get done the things you most need to do, but in a balanced way that doesn’t overschedule or burn yourself out. 

Prioritize your tasks

Our brains are most alive right at the start of your day – even if it feels like it doesn’t get going until that first cup of coffee. Knowing that, you’ll have more productive work when you can harness all the power and put it towards the thing that needs the most of your creativity.

Start with the thing that’s most creative

Even if you’re naturally creative like me, you may find that it gets harder throughout the day to be productive when it comes to writing, design and marketing your business or podcast. 

I recommend you jump headfirst into the project you’re working on right now, so you can feel good about making headway and still leave time for everything else you need to do.

Choose what’s on your screen

Our minds are easily distracted, and our eyes get pulled quickly into other things without even noticing it. That’s why if you want to be in a productive workflow, you need to choose what’s open on your laptop and what’s not.

Only have the tabs open that you need for that task

This one is super important – it’s been said that our brains take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes after switching to a new task before it really fully focuses.

If you need to write a blog or post for your social media, write it before you open up your website or go on the app. That way, you just have to drag and drop what you’ve created, and you minimize the chances that you’ll get pulled off into doing other things or fall down a rabbit hole of content.

Keep your body awake

It’s no secret that sitting or standing all day isn’t good for the body, but did you know that it’s also not good for productive work?

Physically stand up after you finish something

As hard as it may be, you’ll want to stand up and walk away from your screen – both laptop and phone – to not only give your eyes a break, but your body and mind as well.

This is your opportunity to get the blood flowing and your body moving lightly, so you can receive a refreshed feeling and be more productive as you move into the next thing for your day.

Be kind to yourself

Sometimes we’ll have days where we don’t get it all done – maybe something took longer than expected, a deadline popped up that we forgot about, or we had to completely switch because of a personal issue. 

Look at what you got done vs. didn’t without judgment

The more you practice creating discipline, the better productive work you’ll have. But until then, you may need to give yourself a kind bar when it doesn’t go as perfectly as you planned.

We’re all human, and we won’t execute our plans 100% perfectly every single time. What’s important is that we stay open to learning and try again the next day. 

Plan for the day ahead

Keep the organization going throughout the week and stay connected to what you’ve done v. what you still need to do.

Write down tomorrow’s plan before you finish the day

At the end of every workday, I want you to look back at those 7ish items you wrote down that you wanted to get done and then write an arrow next to what needs to still be accomplished.

Then on the next page, put that as your #1 priority to get done so you don’t have to worry about it being left behind or forgotten.

Strategize your week

Your marketing is the lifeblood of your business and sharing what your podcast is all about, it’s what brings in money and clients so you can do what you love.

Spend time on planning your marketing

Create space at the end of every week to look at what pieces of your content marketing did well, so you know what your audience is responding to. Also, look at the launch dates of your future projects, services, courses, and products.

Knowing what design and language is connecting is how you’ll be able to keep going down that same path and always know what to post.

Try and adapt 

You can find your best productive workflow with some trial and error, habit changes, and practice. Try out these tips when working on your podcast and make sure you apply them whenever you add something new to your plate.

It’s good to pause each week and allow yourself at least 10-minutes to look over what’s working for you and what’s helping you successfully market your podcast, and identify – without judgment – what’s not.

From there, you’ll be able to find a system that’s better suited to helping you have productive work and create days where you can get everything done that you need.