When you feel overwhelmed by the backlog of podcasts to consume, it's time to refine and simplify! This will give you more time, focus, and motivation for what matters.
I have previously shared a list of all the podcasts to which I subscribe in 2014. But I couldn't keep up; I had nearly 300 hours of unplayed podcasts!
Thus, I did a podcast shakedown and unsubscribed from more than a dozen podcasts. Without naming any of the unfortunate victims, I'll tell you how I chose which podcasts to drop. Plus, I'll give you actionable tips on how to clean up your subscriptions, too.
You probably shouldn't apply these ideas to all other areas of life!
1. Remove irrelevant podcasts
I'm no longer in the business of designing websites. That was a hard decision that I will explain later. I was subscribed to several podcasts covering WordPress management, WordPress development, web design, and CSS. While I still occasionally tweak my own CSS and that of the podcasters I help, but I don't make complete designs.
Even though I'm still interested in the field of web design and development, it's no longer relevant enough to my personal or professional interests.
Actionable tip: When you change or a podcast changes, re-evaluate what you consume. Remove what is no longer relevant to where you are or where you want to be.
2. Leave the disliked podcasts
I often enter a niche and start to consume every piece of content in that niche. This sometimes means even subscribing to podcasts I don't like very much. It could be that I wanted to hear from my “competitors,” or that I just wanted a broader perspective on the field. Am I the only one who does this?
Leaving these podcasts not only reduces my incoming information, but it also improves the quality of my life by keeping just what actually enhances my day.
Actionable tip: When a podcast regularly annoys you, stop torturing yourself and just leave it! If you don't eagerly await the release of each new episode, that may be a good podcast to leave.
3. Drop the podcasts with no benefits
There are plenty of great podcasts out there with great information. But I realized that many of my subscriptions weren't providing me with any benefits. I wasn't learning anything new. The information was just presented from a different perspective. These shows certainly have their places and can help many others, but they weren't benefiting me.
Actionable tip: If you're not actually learning something new, drop the time-wasting repeats of what you already know.
4. Unsubscribe from podcasts with low quality
“Quality” can mean many things to many people. In The Audacity to Podcast, I've talked about the four quality cornerstones for a great podcast: content, presentation, production, and promotion. When I'm objective, I recognize that some of my subscriptions were to low-quality podcasts.
For some shows, the content was low quality (I covered that in #3); for many, the content was not presented very well; and for others, the audio quality was too poor to consume comfortably. (Poor audio quality isn't just a matter of the mic!)
Actionable tip: You may be able to endure a form of low quality when something else is good enough. But when you're tired of poor quality, unsubscribe!
Don't feel guilty
Podcasts are often very personal and even intimate forms of content and connection. It can be hard to leave a podcast you once loved. The hardest part of my own decision was unsubscribing from podcasts hosted by people whom I now call my friends.
Don't feel guilty about refining the amount of information you receive! This simplifying will allow you to focus more, waste less time, and get more of what you need for feeding your passions.
This can also help you delete individual episodes
You may not be able to cut down on the number of podcasts you're subscribed to, but you may be able to reduce the number of episodes piling up. Try applying these same tips to the episodes collecting in your app. This is easiest when the podcast puts out topic-focused episodes.
How do you choose the podcasts you unsubscribe from?
Great tips, Daniel. I’m constantly evaluating my podcast queue. I typically skip episodes or skip through episodes to the content I want to hear.
Thanks, John! Now, I need to find those episodes to skip. I still have more than 100 hours of podcasts. 🙁
yeah, i think i need to readdress the stuff in my catcher.
This is true in so many areas of life. You’d think podcasts would be one of the easiest to deal with since you don’t even get a “why are you leeeaving me?!!” email. But, you’re right, the medium makes you feel like dropping a friend when you move on.
I just signed up for about a dozen podcasts last night to check out, but I told myself they are just on a trial basis and it won’t be a big deal to click unsubscribe from the ones that don’t work out. BTW, I was looking for things to help me lighten up. I’m missing my Ramen Noodles. 🙁
Thanks for helping us produce the kind of podcast people don’t ever want to unsubscribe from!
🙂 Thanks, Cheri!
I unsubscribe from famous comedians like Marc Maron and Jau Mohr. They didn’t make me laugh, and in some cases I don’t recognize the guests and don’t care to learn about their friends from 20 years ago. No benefit.
Great post Daniel.
I have this same problem with my YouTube subscription feed. I have this one channel that I absolutely love and don’t want to miss any of their videos — unless they’re in Spanish! I went so far as to contact their support desk and ask them to set up a separate channel for their Spanish videos, but I don’t think they’re listening to my advice…Come to think of it you might want to take a look at some of their webinars. It’s the SemRush channel. They have a fantastic SEO tool. Have you ever tried it?
Sorry for being a little off topic — sort of.
Btw – This is a nice looking blog, I think this is my first time visiting – it’s very nice.
Thanks for stopping by, Ileane! I think my launching and trying to maintain this blog is partly inspired by your guest appearance on The Audacity to Podcast when we talked about why podcasters should be blogging.
I think you’re totally right about the separate channels. The same can be said for podcasters who consistently cover different topics, like combining shows into a single feed.
It is interesting to talk to podcasters who fear loosing audience and feeling ‘hemmed in’ by separating their podcasts into separate channels. I understand their feeling, but agree that it is not in the best interest of the listener. And the listener usually wins what is best to do (usually, especially in the world of doing for the love of it vs. steady pay from day 1).
However, those that do separate will often make the mistake of not making it easy for an audience to know what other content they provide a veracious audience of raving fans. I felt cheated for how long I did not know about your other shows when I heard about them in passing on some episodes. I think the best solution is to mention them most at the end of the podcast (so we don’t have to hear about it each episode) and/or episode 0. So gentle reminders that there are other channels seems key to meeting everyone’s desires.
Good article, Daniel. And very good points. My wife and I have totally different personalities, and those differences are apparent in the way we listen to podcasts. I talked about all that in my podcast and linked to your article, too.
How about a link? 🙂
I didn’t share the link at first because I didn’t want to look spammy. 🙂
But since you asked . . .
http://JasonNorris.com/6
I don’t consider it spam when it’s relevant. 🙂
Thanks for the mention!
This came at the exact time I had “weeded” out my podcast garden. I tried a few new ones, could not get through the first 5 minutes of some.
I listen to try to learn something about podcasting (I hope to do one) and look for subtle things that irritate me, make note of them and see what makes the good ones “tick”.
This is all pretty new to me. I am still figuring my own thing out.
I do enjoy your work Daniel and do look forward to your episodes!!
Thanks, Rick!
In simply ran out of time with all the podcasts and blogs I am interested in. During times I have a lot to drive it’s no problem to hear a lot of episodes. But staying in the home-office does not provide me this broad listening availability. Therefore I started weeding, but your list gives me some different perspectives I do appreciate very much.
Another situation popped up, which I never considered at my start listening podcasts: my interests changed. I mean, at the starting point of my podcast I was interested in the very basics. But this time is over and now I need the intermediate skills, which were not provided by some of the podcasts. Therefore I unsubscribed, too. But I assume this is then intention of podcasts with a very dedicated and focused audience – it’s a niche.
Like you, I also don’t listen as much in my home office. I need to focus a lot more on my tasks, so I have less attention for other stuff.