6 Tips for Listening to Podcasts

With yesterday's post, I wanted to make a couple more posts on listening to podcasts.

While I feel that podcasts are universally listened to by many to some degree, I've had people ask me for tips. Whether it's how and where to start, how and where to listen to podcasts, or what app(s) to use, some want to listen to podcasts but aren't sure how to go about it.

Hopefully, this post will help with any questions you have relating to podcasts. Here are __ tips for listening to podcasts.

Tip 1: Choose one, and only one, app for listening to podcasts.

This may seem like an "obvious" tip, but it's not always something that comes to mind for people who want to start listening to podcasts. It can be nice to have 2+ apps for listening to podcasts so that you don't have to be jumping around from podcast to podcast. However, having 2+ apps just for podcasts can take up space on your device that you can use to store other things. Yes, it can be tedious to jump from podcast to podcast, but most podcast apps have a "library" feature where you can find all the podcasts you have listened to or want to listen to.

Tip 2: Look at your favorite book genres to decide the podcasts you want to listen to.

Podcasts can fall into similar "genres," or at least groupings, that books fall into. And it's really easy to do a Google search of podcasts of a certain genre - i.e. "young adult podcasts" or "horror podcasts." Most podcast apps will also have hundreds of podcasts available.

Tip 3: It's okay to jump between podcasts.

Sometimes, it can be easy to think "I need to finish this podcast before I move onto another podcast." However, this is not necessary. Many podcasts are regularly getting updated, so you'll never be able to "finish" it in the true sense of the word. So once you listen to all the available episodes of a podcast, you can move onto another one. You can return to it and listen to any new episodes.

Tip 4: You don't have to listen to podcasts in only one location or setting.

It can be hard to read in any or every situation you're in with certain book formats. Podcasts are different, though. As long as you have a phone - and headphones or earphones, depending on where you are - you can listen to podcasts any and everywhere. Just as long as you're not listening to a podcast in a situation where you can be easily distracted, you're good to go.

Tip 5: Set your podcast app so that you listen to the podcast episodes from oldest to newest.

I'm not sure about other podcast apps, but I know that with Apple Podcasts, you have to go to settings and make it so that you're listening to the episodes from oldest to newest. Unless you don't mind how it's set up, I find it smoother to listen to the older episodes before the newer episodes.

Tip 6: Don't be afraid to stop listening to a podcast if you're not enjoying it.

I did take this one from DNF-ing books: if you're not enjoying a book, you can set it down and not finish it. You can do the same with podcasts: if you're not enjoying a podcast, you can stop listening to it and move on to another one.