Podcasting is a wild and amazing journey. One minute you’re excitedly recording your latest episode, and the next you’re drowning in editing and second-guessing every little detail. In this episode, we dive into the seven telltale signs that you might just be taking your podcasting journey a smidge too seriously...because taking your podcast too seriously is possible.

We chat about how obsessing over minor editing mistakes can suck the joy out of your creative process. I mean, have you ever listened to a popular podcast that sounded like it was recorded underwater? Probably Yet, they still have tens of thousands of listeners. This just goes to show that your audience is more interested in the content that you can give them rather than a perfectly polished audio track. So, are you finding yourself giving up fun for perfection? If you’re stressing over a missed breath sound or an awkward pause, it might be time to reevaluate your approach.

In the episode, we also tackle the pressure of posting schedules. Yes, consistency is key, but if that pressure is making you want to pull your hair out, it’s time to hit the brakes. Remember, podcasting should be a joy, not a chore. And comparing yourself to full-time creators with fancy studios? Let’s just say it’s a recipe for burnout. We’re all just trying to make magic happen from our dining tables, right? Plus, we discuss the dangers of over-planning. If you find yourself exhausted before even hitting record, that’s a sign you might be overthinking it. Let’s embrace spontaneity and authenticity instead.

Whether you’re podcasting as a hobby or a business strategy, it’s crucial to keep the fun alive. So, if you’ve ever wondered, ‘should I quit my podcast?’, or are wondering how to re-inject the fun back into your podcast, this episode is for you.

Takeaways:

• Taking your podcast too seriously can drain the joy out of creating, so keep it light and enjoy the creative process.
• If you find yourself obsessing over every tiny editing mistake, it’s time to relax a bit. No-one is going to mind about the odd breath or 0.2 second pause.
• Remember, podcasting can be a fun hobby, not just a business strategy or stress-inducing chore.
• Comparing yourself to full-time creators may lead to burnout, so embrace your unique journey and what your individuality can bring to your show.
• Over-planning your episodes can kill spontaneity. Keep it real and authentic for you and your audience.
• If recording feels like a chore, it might be time to reevaluate why you started podcasting in the first place and fall in love with the podcasting process all over again.

Podcast Episodes Mentioned:

• Ep 43: Should I Quit My Podcast? >> https://lazygirlpod.captivate.fm/episode/ep-43-should-i-quit-my-podcast
• Ep 100: Why It's Okay to Take a Break from Podcasting >> https://lazygirlpod.captivate.fm/episode/100
• Ep 112: 7 Tips to Get Out of a Podcasting Creative Slump >> https://lazygirlpod.captivate.fm/episode/ep-112-7-tips-to-get-out-of-a-podcasting-creative-slump/

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the Lazy Girls Guide to Podcasting with myself, Verity.

Before we get into today's episode, I would love it if you could hit subscribe or follow on whichever platform you are currently using to listen to this podcast.

And then when we drop our new episodes, you will be notified straight away.

In today's episode, we are looking at the seven signs you might be taking your podcast to seriously.

Is there such a thing?

Can you take your podcast too seriously?

Yes, I think you genuinely can.

And we spoke about in the last episode all about how podcasting can be a hobby.

It can be used for enjoyment, and I say can be because some people use it for business strategy, for monetization strategy, et cetera.

But your podcast can be a hobby, it can be a passion project, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But what happens when podcasting stops being fun?

What happens when your hobby stops being being enjoyable and you're not getting any fulfillment out of it anymore?

And regardless of if your podcast is a hobby or if you use it as a business strategy, I feel that you can take something away from today's podcast episode as we dive into the seven signs that you might be taking your podcast maybe just a little bit too seriously.

Because I do think that regardless of how you're using your podcast, whatever the end goal is, you, you need to have enjoyment in it as a format at the end of the day.

So sign one.

That you were possibly taking your podcast a little bit too seriously is that you were obsessing over tiny editing mistakes.

Yes, audio quality matters.

We know that decent audio quality matters, but there are a lot of very big podcasts out there, and I'm not going to name and shame, so please don't come at me, but there are some very big podcasts with very big budgets out there which in my opinion, have got terrible audio and I mean really, really bad audio.

So if they can make it big with maybe not the best editing, then there's no reason why your show needs to be scrutinized down to the last millisecond.

When it comes to audio quality, people need to be able to hear it, people need to be able to not get a complete ick when they're listening to it because there's, you know, a million and one things going around.

It doesn't want to sound like you're underwater, etc.

But do you know what?

Sometimes good quality audio is all you need rather than absolutely amazing audio quality down to the last millisecond, especially when you consider that the majority of podcasters are recording at their dining room tables, in their bedrooms, etc.

Not at an amazing studio setup which costs goodness knows how much with all the bells and whistles.

So if you're spending hours cleaning up every single, um, every single breath, every single minor background noise, maybe you're losing the voice behind your podcast and forgetting why people are tuning in to listen to your content.

Listeners care about what you say, not if every breath sound has been taken out.

Yes, okay, we don't want every single breath sound.

Especially we don't want majorly huge noisy breath sounds and long pauses.

They're not relevant.

But your audience will forgive you for the odd breath sound and the odd pause.

Sign two is pressuring yourself to post weekly or not.

If weekly.

If on a really, really strict schedule when you' to yourself every week I must publish.

That can turn into a complete pressure cooker which is really, really taking the enjoyment out of your podcast.

Yes, we like to try and get regular content out because listeners want regular content.

However, if that is stressing you out, that is going to show up in your work.

And pressuring yourself to publish to a really strict schedule shows that actually maybe you are taking your content a little bit too seriously.

Especially if it is draining you.

Because at the end of the day we're all busy.

Real lives get busy.

And particularly if you're a one person show.

I mean, I'm a one woman show for this.

I record, I edit, I publish, I come up with the ideas, I write the scripts, I write the bullet points.

That's all me.

I don't have anybody who is helping me to do that, apart from maybe a little bit of AI.

Thank you very much Captivate assistant from Captivate FM who helps me with the show notes.

Otherwise, it is a one woman show show.

So putting too much pressure on myself is unrealistic because I have a full time job and I have kids to look after as well and I'm not going to burn myself out for the sake of getting content out if I really can't achieve that.

Sign number three, that you're possibly taking your podcast a little bit too seriously is when you are comparing yourself to full time creators or comparing yourself to podcasters who have got crazy huge budgets.

As I said, I record this at home in my free time as I speak to you.

At the moment, I'm recording in my dining room.

There is mess on one end of the dining room.

I'm not in a studio.

I would love to be in a studio in London, ideally, with, you know, cups of tea being bought.

To me, an amazing setup, someone who's going to do the editing for me.

But do you know what?

That's just not going to happen.

So why would I compare myself to podcast shows that I listen to where that is the case?

Because I'm not going to get the same output as somebody who is recording in a studio which is costing a few hundred dollars or pounds to rent.

And paying somebody to edit it for me and then paying somebody else to promote on social media.

That's just not realistic to make that comparison and to make that comparison is just draining.

Sign four is over planning every single episode.

Yes, you need a plan to your episode.

Yes, that might be three bullet points on a post it note.

Yes, that might be a complete script which you are going to read out word for word.

Different people plan differently.

But if you're over planning to the point where you sit down and by the time you even hit record, you are exhausted of the episode you haven't even recorded yet, that tells me you've probably over planned and you're probably taking the episode too seriously because people want authenticity and spontaneity and over planning kills those things.

Sign five is spending money to fix kind of non problems.

And what I mean by that is if you've got a microphone which is working great, use it.

If you're going to go out and break the bank spending more money on a microphone that isn't really fixing any problems because you don't know how to use it for its best quality, then that's just overworking the process more than it really needs to be worked.

It's really easy in podcasting, I think, to chase shiny object syndrome.

And that's something that we've really talked about on the podcast before, about how you don't need to be spending money jumping from one system to another system to another system, or one microphone to another to another, because at the end of the day, it's your content that people are showing up for.

And is that thousand dollar microphone really going to bring in more listeners than your $500 microphone?

Probably not.

It's the content people want.

So if you're chasing shiny odd shout syndrome, that tells me that you're probably really overthinking your podcast.

Sign number six, that you are taking your podcast too seriously is being scared to try new formats.

Now I don't mean this in a way that you don't want try a new format because there's a difference between being scared to do something and not wanting.

For example, if you do an interview only show and every episode is 60 minutes, you might not want to go to a 10 minute solo episode because that is not the format of your podcast.

Equally, I do 10, 15 minute episodes, sometimes even shorter on this podcast, which are, generally speaking, just me.

So it wouldn't really make sense if I all of a sudden went and interviewed somebody on the podcast for an hour and a half.

That's not going to resonate with my audience if I go from putting out these 10 minute episodes of tips and tricks to an hour and a half of conversation.

It's not what my audience is looking for.

So I don't want to do that because it doesn't fit the schedule and it doesn't fit the format of my show.

But there's a difference between not wanting to do something and actually being scared to try something new.

If you are actually scared of trying any new format in any way, and you're scared to experiment with your show in any way, shape or form, you're probably taking it too seriously.

And the final sign that you are taking your podcast too seriously is that you're losing enjoyment generally in the process and generally in your recording process as well.

And this, to me is a big one.

If you are genuinely thinking to yourself, I just can't be bothered to record this episode, to edit this episode, you open up whatever your editing software is and you're just feeling drained before you've even done anything.

If it's feeling like a chore that something else that just needs to be done on your to do list, you're probably taking your episode and your episode production, your podcast production, way too seriously.

Two episodes ago, in episode 112, we were talking about how to get out of a podcasting creative slump.

And in that episode, I was talking about losing enjoyment in your recording and what you can do to get that enjoyment back.

And I think that this speaks to this particular point in this episode, that if you're losing enjoyment in your recording, you're taking your podcast way too seriously, especially if your podcast is a hobby.

To me, podcasting is something that should genuinely bring you joy.

And if it's not, then I think it's possibly time to reevaluate it.

And it might be that you go back and you listen to episode 112 about getting out of that podcast creative slump, or you go back and you listen to episodes 43, should I quit my podcast?

Or episode 100, why it's okay to take a break from podcasting?

Because as I said podcasting should be fun.

Whether or not you're monetizing it, whether it's a hobby, whether it's part of a business strategy, you need to have fun with it.

Otherwise, I just don't see the point personally.

So Those are my 7 signs you may be taking your podcast too seriously.

I will link the episodes that I mentioned down in the show notes, and I would really recommend going back and listening to those episodes because it might just help get you out of that creative slump or help you evaluate whether or not you are going to continue your podcast or if you're going to take a break with it.

If this episode has helped you in any way, if this episode has resonated with you, I would love if you could subscribe, follow on whichever platform you are currently listening on, and I will be here next time with more lazy girl podcasting tips for you.

See you next episode.