I’ve quit a lot of podcasts in the past, like the Helpful Podcaster, Ear Brain Heart, List Envy, the 5pm Club, 15 Minutes to Save the World, Mark Steadman’s Escape Hatch, the Mood Elevator, Mark Steadman’s 7 Day Trial, Little Tiny Dot, the Emberseed, the 2014 Show, Bootsector, the Web in 90 Seconds, Deadlink, and the New Media Junkie. And that’s not counting the ones I tried briefly and didn’t continue. Some of these podcasts had great ideas, but I just didn’t have the capacity to continue them.
What do these shows have in common? They were all weekly shows. When I worked on the Helpful Podcaster from 2020 to 2023, I put in the same effort as I do for this daily show. However, with the weekly show, I would often reach the day of recording without a strong list of topics or not feeling inspired by the chosen topic. It felt easier to push it off, do something else, or wait for something shiny to catch my attention. Then, it would become late, and I would rush to get the episode out at night for the next morning. The quality suffered as a result.
Oddly enough, I find the daily commitment to be easier than going weekly. The expectations are different, both for me and the listeners. Although I still produce around 50 to 70 minutes of content per week, it is spread out more evenly, and the pressure is reduced. When every day becomes a “make the donuts” day, it becomes part of the workday and feels more manageable.
Of course, this approach may not work for everyone or every medium. It may not fit your schedule or the nature of your work. However, if your main project takes longer to develop, you can still show daily progress towards that goal. For example, musicians can share snippets of their work each day, comedians can share jokes (even if some are bad), and artists can experiment with new mediums on a daily basis.
If you’re interested in giving the daily commitment a try, start by asking yourself what it would be like to do it every day. See if you can change or add something to your routine to make it more feasible. You don’t have to uproot your life for it, but if you have a specific day dedicated to your craft and feel sluggish on publishing day, trying a daily commitment for a month may pleasantly surprise you.
Add your response