Paying attention to your processes

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There’s a loop: Discover something, reflect on it to see how it integrates with what you know, and then a decision to act (or not) upon this new knowledge.

As podcasters there’s a lot of detail-oriented process (post-production obviously, but also our guest outreach) which is the first thing you should get under control with checklists (or some sort of process.) What works best? Simply whatever works best for you. But you have to have some process.

I general, for every unit of time working on my processes— updating checklists, making notes for myself, arranging the project management systems I use, etc.—I probably spend 10-times that actually doing work. What’s challenging is that sitting down and spending a half an hour thinking about, and tweaking, one checklist feels like a waste of time in the moment. There is a balance, of course; I don’t want to be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. But generally, any time I spend on planning and process is always time well spent.

If this all feels foreign, a good place to start is to imagine two bookends on one either side of the thing you want to create. Everyone’s good at the first bookend—the start of the work. And most of us get through the creative work in the middle of making the thing. But I don’t see everyone thinking about the other bookend: The definition of done.

If you’re having trouble with some process (perhaps you don’t believe me, that everything is a process) start by doing the unusual thing: Get really clear about “what does done look like?” As soon you know what done looks like… well, it’s obvious you start at “now” and then the next step has to be towards that “definition of done.” You’ll quickly see a process to get from here to there.

What’s a fuzzy area in your podcasting that could do with more clarity around its process?

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The editing. I wish I could say it’s all the same, but each interview–each person–is different. So it feels like the process changes each time. By your definition, @craigconstantine, I’m not understanding the true process if each time the editing is “different.” Fair enough. Food for thought.

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I don’t heavily edit (as we all know) but my first thought is: Do you have a clear process for “hurdles” the episode has to “clear”—perhaps “editorial” for the basic order/assembly/deletions, then some description of the de-uhm-and-ah’ing, a final mixing step, etc. That’s a large process, with a series of smaller processes… a way to “chunk” up one’s work. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I agree, there’s no right or wrong way. Just happy to hear it’s got you noodling on it. :slight_smile:

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@craigconstantine and @ChristiCassidy - for me, it is the pieces of the process that I have fairly consistently viewed as “extra.“

These alleged pieces of “podcasting parsley” should actually be valued as another course of a larger meal, vs. their current “garnish status.” I am speaking of the post-production steps that would generate a nice audiogram or blogpost, that I could also repurpose on LinkedIn or elsewhere to pique some interest in the podcast. I have had plans to work on these components for some time, but my intermittent chipping away is not nearly as effective as it would’ve been if I had simply carved out a larger chunk of time to put everything else aside and learn the process and then simply add those steps to the checklist I use for an episode.

The question posed here is an interesting one, because I actually have these components in my workflow, but can now see that I have defined “done“ as hitting publish.

Because I am always pleased that that major step is finished, I then typically toggle back to other parts of my “project world,” and then I don’t follow up as I should on the promotion end of things. Yesterday a colleague and I discussed this dilemma (podcasticus interruptum :rofl:) and now there is a plan in place to set aside time next month to pursue the initial learning for these “extras.” In practice, I have pieced together (sporadically) some of these audiograms, images, and similar elements of posts, but there’s no true understanding yet, and no automaticity built in, and depending on other pressing matters, I end up, on the spot, deciding about the next priority of the day or week, whereas I should instead ensure that I am connecting these “extras“ into the mindset that comes before “done.“

Thanks for the post and your comments. Very helpful.

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