Most podcasts don’t struggle because the ideas aren’t good.

They struggle because the release schedule quietly starts to drain the energy out of them.

Somewhere early on, a lot of podcasters decide they probably 'should' be weekly.

Not because it makes sense.

Because it feels serious.

In this episode, I talk about why recording less can actually make your podcast better.

I also share a simple way to decide your schedule based on intent, not pressure, and explain why consistency isn’t about never missing a release day. It's about something far deeper.

If your podcast is starting to feel heavy, rushed, or obligation-driven, this episode will help you reset without disappearing.

Chapters

00:00 – You Probably Overcommitted (And You Know It)

00:53 – Why Weekly Feels “Serious” (But Usually Isn’t Thought Through)

01:36 – The Guilt Loop That Quietly Ruins Podcasts

02:12 – Recording From Obligation vs Recording With Intent

02:47 – What Actually Happened When I Missed Episodes

03:19 – The Spotlight Effect (And Why No One’s Watching You That Closely)

03:53 – Frequency Doesn’t Build Trust. Intent Does

04:15 – What Listeners Really Respond To

05:07 – Consistency vs Frequency (They’re Not the Same Thing)

05:50 – Recording Less Without Disappearing

06:46 – Choosing a Schedule That Actually Fits You

07:27 – Why People Forget Podcasts (And It’s Not Because You Missed a Week)

Links:

🔗 Podmastery site – https://podmastery.co

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Mentioned in this episode:

Chapters

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A Podknows Production

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This episode might come across as a bit weird

to you, mostly because it contains truth.

Inconvenient truth for some.

There's a moment almost every podcaster has.

It usually happens a few episodes in. You look at your

calendar, you feel your energy, you look at the

microphone and you think, oh, I

might have slightly over committed here. Because somewhere

early on, you decided this podcast was going to be weekly.

Not because weekly made sense, but because weekly

seemed serious. Like the podcast equivalent of

buying a planner in January, most indie podcasters lock

in their publishing schedule far too early in the process.

Weekly feels like the default. It feels professional.

It feels like what real podcasters do.

But it's usually a decision made before you know what the show actually

wants to be, how much energy it's going to take out of you,

or whether you even enjoy recording

yet more content. So what starts as

excitement slowly turns into obligation. And

obligation is where podcasts

quietly lose their spark. Let's talk about the

guilt loop, and this is going to feel quite familiar.

Here's the pattern I see all the time, and yes,

I've done this myself. You miss a week, you feel

guilty. You record something quickly to make up for it. The

episode is fine. You feel a bit worse, though,

so you promise yourself, I'm gonna be more consistent

from now on. Which usually just ends up with you

feeling more tired. There's a very specific type of episode

you record when you're doing it out of guilt, and listeners

can hear it instantly. Your words carry

energy. It's the podcast version of when someone

asks you, you okay? And you reply with, yeah,

all good. When absolutely nothing is all good.

Here's a recent, very real example that I can share with you.

This actually happened to me a couple of months ago

during the November December period. I

oversubscribed myself to my own recording schedule.

I didn't factor in getting sick. I didn't factor in needing to

rest my voice. I definitely didn't factor in

being a human being who needs Christmas. I

ended up about four episodes behind, if you look at it through the lens of

a strict weekly schedule. And yeah, there was a little

flicker of guilt, that voice inside that says, people

are going to notice. People are going to wonder where you've gone. But

then I realized something slightly awkward.

I'd literally just recorded episodes telling people

not to do exactly what I was doing. So I took my own

advice. I rested. I didn't record with a knackered voice

and a bad mood, and the world didn't end.

No angry emails from listeners going, where The F are your episodes.

No dramatic drop off. No one sitting around thinking, I

can't believe he's abandoned us. When the episode eventually

did publish, the response was basically, oh, there he is again.

Which is exactly how I react when

podcasts that I enjoy take their breaks. What

I was really suffering from there was the spotlight effect.

I've talked about this before in this podcast. It's that feeling that

everyone is paying far more attention to what you're doing

than they actually are. We think listeners are tracking our

schedules. They're not. They're busy. They got their own lives.

They press play when something shows up in their library and it sounds

interesting. They don't sit around moping because you missed a

week. They just get on with things.

Look, here's the truth that a lot of podcast gurus won't

want you to hear. Frequency doesn't build trust.

Intent does. Nobody's really ever thought,

I wasn't sure about this podcast, but then I noticed

they religiously publish every Tuesday, and suddenly

I felt emotionally invested. That doesn't happen. What

builds trust is knowing why your episode exists

and how it helps them, feeling like the host

actually wanted to be there for you, and sensing

that your time wasn't just treated casually.

Here's the truth. I would much rather

listen to a podcaster who goes quiet

occasionally than one who never stops talking. At

least the silence is honest.

Consistency doesn't mean weakly

never missing, pushing through. Regardless,

consistency is a recognizable voice

showing up, a familiar pace, a sense

of you care. You can be consistent

without being frequent. And you can be frequent and

not be consistent. And only one of those makes people stick

around. And honestly, recording less doesn't

mean disappearing. It means giving you

time to finish off your ideas, letting

episodes earn their existence.

Stopping when your thought is done, not when the clock says so.

Now, some podcasts genuinely thrive weekly,

others don't. And forcing yourself into that

regular schedule just because others are doing it,

even though it flies against everything you believe,

everything you're capable of, and everything you desire, well, that's just

dumb. And it makes you quietly resentful, which is not

what any one of your listeners wants from your podcast.

Now, here's the kinder way to decide your schedule on your

terms. Instead of asking, how often should I

publish? Try asking, how often

do I actually have something to say? And that

answer may well change. And that's allowed. You're not

signing a blood oath here. The podcasting gods are not

going to suddenly turn up with a contract signed in your blood

saying you signed the contract in your own blood. Eliza,

you owe me Weekly episodes Do not disappoint

me. You're learning what this thing needs to be.

And if you're worried that recording less will make people forget about

you, here's the promise they won't. People

don't forget podcasts because they miss a week. They

forget them because they're and nothing

sticks. And the episodes people remember are almost

never the rushed ones. I hope you found this helpful,

and if you did, please do share it with another podcaster that you

think might find it useful to hear or watch. Followed the

podcast yet? If not, make sure you click Follow or

subscribe in your favorite podcast app. I've been Neil Velio, the

Podmaster. This is Podcasting Insights. And until the next

episode, good luck with your continuing journey

towards podmastery Podcasting

Insight

Podcasting Insight.