Consider: Has a podcasting hiatus changed your perspective on the grind of production?

Workbench
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You didn’t plan for a hiatus—it just kind of happened. Stepping away from the routine of podcasting, has it changed the way you see the relentless pace of content creation? Do you feel more or less pressure to keep up with a schedule now? Has this break made you rethink what “consistency” really means for a podcaster? ~ Asked by the LLM[1]

Yes, it definitely changed how I look at everything about podcasting. I’ll unpack the reason for the hiatus, so that my take-aways make more sense.

First, in April 2024 we had an unexpected death in the family. Given the scale of things, it was a no-brainer to cancel the several guests who were scheduled for recording sessions. Unfortunately, I over-worked myself for a stretch of days, and that led to my being exhausted and getting sick. In those first days, as I sent “I’m really sorry, but…” messages to the guests, I was thinking about this in a very particular way: This is the right thing to do for these people who kindly set aside time for me.

The first take away from this experience is to be honest and realistic with myself. An unexpected death changed my daily priorities. I’m sick and my voice is crap. I need many weeks to recover, assess, and figure out what I can do in the coming months. In the past, I might have tried to work harder to try to keep juggling everything.

Then in May, a routine blood test returned results which one would prefer to never see. Through June and July, and then into August and September, I worked through a cancer diagnosis. This further “adjusted” my priorities and schedule for the rest of 2024.

The second take away is just having a conversation with anyone is a crazy-awesome gift. And (as I’m getting back to podcasting now, in Feb 2025) to be able to record and share them is just icing on the cake.

As for the grind, consistency, a schedule? No, not any of that. I hope I can hold on to this mindset:

I’m insanely lucky to get to do just one more episode, and it looks like I can do them for years to come. Grinding, being consistent, and sticking to a schedule are all forms of striving for something. (I am a professional even without any of those.) So, nope. No, thank you. I’m not signing up for that mindset again.

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  1. I’m working with an LLM instance which has access to everything I’ve written about podcasting, and all the episodes I’ve published. It prompts me by asking me these questions. ↩︎

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@craigconstantine Wow! 2024 was one tough year. Wishing you good health and a kinder, gentler 2025. Keep fighting the good fight!

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In response to your question - has my perspective changed? YES!

The following explanation is either the biggest most elaborate deceptive declaration of resistance ever penned by woman - OR - it’s the truth.

Looking at my life as a whole and the layers of environments within which I live, the hiatus appears more like a long gestation - the correct and necessary amount of time within which to prepare before going back out on stage.

You sent us such a wonderful message @craigconstantine. So deeply grateful you are doing good and I love your observations and how you share them.

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…and today I had the perfect chance to test my new mindset.

I sat down to assemble an episode of Movers Mindset. And realized I’d recorded an entire episode, using the wrong microphone selection on my end— so it’s the microphone array built into my iMac (which is pretty good, but nothing like the real mic.)

You know what?

It didn’t bother me at all.

My first thought was how great it is that I finally got this person to join me!

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@craigconstantine really excited that your voice will be back in the mix again. The podcasting world is better for it.

Podfading due to all kinds of circumstances happen to everyone. We see it all the time. Sometimes, it is just what we needed to come back with renewed energy. Other times it makes us realize this is not what we wanted.

My general advice to all of you struggling with consistency is to not take your audience’s silence as the reason to quit. Your listeners have been burned by the 85+% podfade rate. They see it as just the reality of podcasting - “another one bites the dust.” But, when you do come back, in my experience, the relief and gratefulness is there. If you were bringing value and come back to deliver even more, you have a story they want to hear.

If you are still on the fence about whether to comeback or quit (I probably should have carried on my 80’s theme and said “should you stay or should you go”) get some outside advice from someone who knows the podcasting space and your niche. Talk about why it’s not working for you and come up with a strategy before you return. Best of luck to those returning and to those who keep on podcasting!

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