How do I come back from podcast burnout?
Welcome to the softer cast, a podcast for small business owners and creatives who want tender podcast advice without any tech bro bullshit. I'm Amelia Freebee, and I'm the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for women and non binary entrepreneurs. On this show, I answer your questions about podcasting. Things like, should I put my show on YouTube? Can I just record it on Zoom?
Amelia Hruby:How much do editors really cost? And how many downloads should my podcast be getting? Yeah. I'll even answer that question. Every episode of the softer cast is really practical, a little magical, and less than 10 minutes long.
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Amelia Hruby:I'm Amelia Hruby. I am the founder of Softer Sounds Podcast Studio. And here on this show, I answer your questions about podcasting without any of the brocast bullshit that we may or may not all have heard at some point in our journey. If you're not familiar with softer sounds, I'd love to briefly let you know that we are an editing and production studio that supports women and non binary artists, writers, creators, and business owners in developing and producing purposeful, powerful shows. We have an amazing roster of folks who are working in the creative space, whether that be through an artistic practice, through wellness conversations, through business development, and so much more.
Amelia Hruby:And we would love to add you to our roster if you are looking for your own producer. You could head to our website at softer sounds dot studio to learn more. There, you will also find our courses on launching your own podcast or DIY promotion and monetization, and I have some 1 on 1 advising spots open as well. So, again, head to softer sounds dot studio to learn more about what we're offering and up to this season, and thanks so much for tuning in to the show today. In this episode, I'm gonna talk about a question that I've been getting from a lot of clients recently, and that question is, how do I come back from podcast burnout?
Amelia Hruby:As I'm recording this, we are deep in the summer months, and I think that a lot of people are just not feeling like podcasting right now. I mean, I can relate. I don't feel like podcasting every single month of the year, even though I love podcasts. And I also think that in every pod caster's journey, there comes a point where you're just tired. You have been working so hard on your show, and it just keeps asking even more of you, and you're not sure how to find the energy that you need to keep going.
Amelia Hruby:And so I wanna talk about a couple different levers that we can pull when we find ourselves in podcast burnout that help create the space and time we need to rest so that we can recover and come back to our shows. So first, let's talk about the lever of slowing down our production. I would say that I encounter podcast burnout the most with my weekly show publishers. So the folks who are releasing weekly episodes, and with them, I think the first thing that I do when they're feeling podcast burnout is ask if we'd like to move to a biweekly or to releasing episodes every other week for a while. So our first lever that we can pull when we're feeling burnt out is to slow down the frequency of publishing so that we are releasing less often.
Amelia Hruby:So if you're weekly, you could go to every other week. If you're already every other week, you could go to monthly. I think that that's one way that we can feel a little more spaciousness while still continuing to speak to our listeners with consistency. Another lever that we can pull is to take a break. So if you're realizing that you're feeling really burnt out and you just want some time off, I think that a break is a great solution for you.
Amelia Hruby:And when I think about podcast breaks, I think the most important thing is to be really clear with your audience that you're taking a break, that you're going to pause the show for a period of time, ideally sharing with them how long you think that will be. You know, you could say, we're gonna be off for the next 3 weeks. You could say, I'm gonna take a break for the summer. You could say, I'm gonna take a break for 6 months and then I'll be back. There are different ways to share about the length of time that are more or less specific, but I think giving them a sense of how long you expect to be gone for is important.
Amelia Hruby:And I think very clearly communicating that is important because if you just stop publishing, your listeners might feel ghosted or they might wonder what's up, or they might just unsubscribe from your show entirely. But if you're letting them know like, Hey, I'm taking a break. Here's when I think I'll be back. Then they're more likely to be on board for the journey that you're on. I did another episode about how to take a break without losing listeners.
Amelia Hruby:So I will link that in the show notes if you're interested in using a podcast break as one way to support more rest and healing from podcast burnout. Another way to come back from podcast burnout is to hire some support. So I think that a lot of podcasters start out by doing everything themselves, right? Maybe you're listening to this and you're like, yeah, Amelia, I am coming up with the episode ideas. I'm writing the scripts, I'm booking the guests, I'm recording it myself, I'm editing it myself, I'm writing the show notes myself, I'm publishing the episodes, I'm doing the promotion.
Amelia Hruby:There's so much that goes into every podcast episode, right? You know that, you're a podcaster, you're very familiar with this. And so I think that one way to come back from burnout is to bring on some support. Now, earlier I said higher support because, of course, I run a podcast production company and often people hire us to edit and produce their shows when they're feeling burned out. Like, they realize that if they don't get some help, they're not gonna be able to keep making this show.
Amelia Hruby:So I think hiring a production company or an audio editor is a great way to get support. But I also don't think that support has to cost money. So you could get support by asking a friend of yours who has a podcast if you could start doing monthly calls to talk through your podcast ideas. Or you could reach out to someone you know who doesn't have a podcast and say, hey, would you be willing to listen to my episodes before they go out and give me some feedback for a couple of weeks? You could get support through accountability or support through feedback.
Amelia Hruby:There are so many ways we can bring other people into our podcasting process so that we feel more supported. And I find that feeling supported often brings us back from the brink of burnout or helps us heal even if we're feeling burned out. Another way to come back from podcast burnout can be to develop some type of listener support program. So sometimes I hear from podcasters that are really burnt out because they feel like they have been pouring into their show and it's not clear what they're getting back in return. And sometimes that can be resolved by doing a listener survey where they're getting responses and feedback from listeners or doing a little promotional campaign where you ask for ratings and reviews, and then you get a flood of new 5 star reviews and that kind of fills your creative cup to keep going.
Amelia Hruby:If you're feeling like your podcast burnout is related to finances and you're just pouring money into your show and not making any money from your show, you could look at launching a listener support program, like a Patreon or a membership of some kind, where you're asking your listeners to support the show financially. Now, this can also take a lot of work. So I think that if you're in the depths of burnout, you may have trouble kind of summoning the energy to launch a whole new listener support program. It might not be quite the right time for that. But if you're starting to notice that you're feeling a little burned out, that, like, the energetic flow between you and the podcast and the listeners is not working for you, if you want a lot more reciprocity in that process, that might be a good moment to consider developing a listener support program to help kind of ward off future burnout.
Amelia Hruby:Another thing that I've seen really support some of my podcasters who are feeling burned out was shifting from an ongoing release schedule to a seasonal release schedule. So often I find that folks might start a podcast, and then they just are creating episodes consistently into perpetuity. And so I had some podcasters come on who were like, I've been making my show every other week for 3 years, and I'm kinda burned out about it. And with them, what I find is that if we can move the show to a seasonal release schedule, then they're really able to channel their energy into the show for a certain number of weeks or months at a time. And then when the season is over, take an actual break where they're not working on the podcast.
Amelia Hruby:And those breaks then allow for rest and rejuvenation so you can return to the show for another season and do that work that way. This is a tactic that I use for my own show off the grid. We have seasons because I need breaks. I love making the show. Sometimes the seasons are 6 months long, sometimes they're 2 and a half months long.
Amelia Hruby:Like, they vary a lot. But the purpose of the season itself is to give me time off throughout the year so that I can be resting and refilling my creative ideas and inspirations so that I can make better episodes. I definitely think that breaks of some variety are always make help us become better creators. So if you have an ongoing show and you're feeling burned out by it, shifting to a seasonal show could be one way to plan breaks more often. But if you're not ready to make that shift, you can go back to my second suggestion, which is just to plan your 1st break.
Amelia Hruby:You know, you don't have to move to seasons to have a break. You can have an ongoing show, but take a break for a few weeks or months within that ongoing schedule so that you can get a sense of how breaks might help you refuel. And my final tip for coming back from podcast burnout is to reflect on ways that you can make your whole podcast process more fun for yourself. So sometimes with the podcasters I work with, we realize that as they've gotten more and more burnt out, they're kind of doing, like, what they perceive to be the bare minimum for their show, which also can be the least fun parts of the process for them. So if you feel like your show, you've really streamlined production, you're like only doing the stuff that really matters, but you're starting to find it kind of boring and it's burning you out in the process, how can we inject a little more fun so that you look forward to sitting down and recording so that you even enjoy the editing process.
Amelia Hruby:For me, this has looked like creating some nice prerecording rituals. So I have certain candles I light and beverages I drink and things that I do to get ready to record that make it more fun for me. I'm also a big fan of just having treats around while I'm editing. So I'm listening to the episodes, editing them, you know, with a cookie nearby or with my favorite blanket wrapped around me. I'm trying to think about ways that I can make that experience more enjoyable for myself.
Amelia Hruby:I've also started ending every editing session by taking what I just edited, popping it onto my phone, and going for a walk and listening to it that way. Like, I love being outside, and I love walking around the neighborhood, and it makes it more fun if my, like, second pass through is happening in that setting than if I'm, like, forcing myself to sit at my computer and do it again. So these are just some simple ways that we can make podcasting more fun, more pleasurable, more enjoyable for ourselves, and I find that they can make a big difference. Because if we approach the podcast process as a grind, it's gonna feel like a grind. And so if we can change our mindset and some of our behaviors so it can just be more fun, then it feels more fun and we're less likely to burn out as we go.
Amelia Hruby:So I hope you enjoyed this episode with a whole bunch of suggestions for how to come back from podcast burnout, how to avoid getting burned out in the 1st place, and how to take care of yourself when you are feeling burnt out. If you're in the middle of it, please know that I empathize and I'm with you. And, also, if you need it, this is a big permission slip to pause or end your show, to take whatever break that you need, to decide if you're done with this project and actually wanna do something else. Sometimes I think that burnout is something to get through and come back from, and sometimes it's signaling to us that this is actually kind of coming to an end and we can move on to the next thing. So don't be afraid to really listen to what your burnout's telling you and to take the next steps that you feel are right, even if they're not necessarily like the best podcast advice in the world, whatever that might be.
Amelia Hruby:Who knows? I respect you as an empowered sovereign creator, and I think that you know what's best for you and your show if you give yourself the space to tap into and tune into that wisdom. So thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you enjoyed it, please leave us a 5 star rating and review in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We could definitely use some new Apple Podcasts reviews these days, so I'd really appreciate if you could just pop down there, write a little title, like, love this show so much and a quick review, like which one's your favorite episode and why, that would mean the world to me and help me keep creating this show without podcast burnout.
Amelia Hruby:And if there's anything else I can do to support you in your podcasting journey, please don't hesitate to reach out via email or the SpeakPipe voice inbox in the show notes. Until next time, my friends, I will see you on the softer side of podcasting. Thanks so much for listening to the softer cast. If you enjoyed this episode, please send it to your podcast bestie. And after you do that, go ahead and drop us 5 stars on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Amelia Hruby:If you'd like to submit a question, head to speakpipe.com/softercast to record a message or email us at hi atsoftersounds.studio. And last but not least, we made some awesome free things for you. Head to the show notes to download our free podcast launch toolkit or our 3 step podcast audit. No matter where you're at in your podcasting journey, we're here to support you. Thanks again for tuning in and joining us on the softer side of podcasting.