My Exact Podcast Workflow: How I Stay Sane and Consistent

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Unedited transcript of the episode:

I have lists, templates, and reminders for almost every aspect of my podcast. This doesn’t mean that I don’t know who I’m interviewing this week, or that I can’t remember how to write my show notes.

It just means that I wrote all that stuff down so that I can be super selective of what gets permanent residents in my brain, which is a pretty exclusive list as a mom of three littles. Some of the things on that list are my children’s birthdays, memories of hiking in Glacier National Park with Scott, and every word to Fearless by Taylor Swift.  Hi, I’m Andy Smiley, your friendly podcast guide. I help you start and launch a podcast that is fun and fulfilling.

I share tips, stories from my own journey and insights from podcasters I admire. In this episode, I’m breaking down the steps of creating the tool that I use the most as a mom who podcasts, my podcast work. My podcast workout. My podcast workflow.

And just as a reminder, if you only have the capacity to implement one thing at the end of the episode, I’ll tell you what that one thing should be , so you don’t feel overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start.

Before I dive into teaching you how to create a podcast workflow, I wanna tell you what it is. So a podcast workflow is a list of the things that you need to do to create a podcast episode and in what order you do those things. It really doesn’t have to be something super elaborate or, fancy.

But this one thing is what keeps me on track and helps to make podcasting so much more doable for me as a mom who also has a podcast.

The main reason that a podcast workflow makes it so much easier for me is that it gets rid of so much decision fatigue for me. So instead of having to remember what I’m supposed to do next, I don’t even try.

I just go straight to my podcast workflow to check and see what I’m supposed to be doing on whatever week it is so I can look at it and be like, oh,, it’s week four. That means that I will be doing a final listen through of every episode and creating the thumbnail and uploading my episodes to Spotify, for creators and YouTube.

Then I don’t have to remember that. I just have to look and be like, oh, yeah, that’s what I’m doing past. Andy, set me up for success, so I don’t even have to think about it. I just have to look at that and go, oh, yeah, that’s what I’m doing. It sounds so simple. I know, but it truly has made such a big difference for me

because my brain is busy remembering other things, not remembering what I’m supposed to do on week four for my podcast.

Before I tell you about how to create your podcast workflow, I wanna tell you about my podcast Jumpstart Sessions. Have you been thinking about starting a podcast? But every time you think about actually starting questions pop up, like, what mic do I need? How do I get my show on Apple podcasts?

What if I start and then get overwhelmed? I get it. Podcasting can feel super overwhelming, but that’s exactly why I do free 30 minute podcast jumpstart sessions. It’s just you and me on a call, chatting through your questions, and figuring out what’s actually holding you back.

By the end, you’ll know exactly what to do next. Plus, I’ll send you my favorite mic recommendations, the best podcast hosting platforms, and the next two steps to get your show started. I only do a few of these calls each month, so grab yours before they’re gone. Go to the link in the show notes to book your free podcast Jumpstart session.

Let’s make this podcast happen.

So there’s actually a couple of things that I want you to keep in mind before I tell you how to create a podcast workflow. Before you create your workflow, I recommend creating at least one episode so you can know all of the things that go into creating one of your episodes.

Because the first step in creating a podcast workflow is writing all of that stuff down so that you don’t miss anything when you’re creating your podcast workflow. The other thing that I want you to keep in mind is I like to batch my podcasting tasks, so I do all of the episode writing for the month during.

One week and then , all of my recording during another week. So right now as I’m recording this, I’ve already recorded three other episodes. I just do all of my recording in one sitting so I can just stay in one mindset and truly it helps me so much because I’m not jumping from task to task. I can just stay right here in recording and be good. So that works really well for me and the way that my brain works, and that is how I’ve set up my podcast workflow.

If that doesn’t work for you, then don’t do it. Please do what works best for you.

I will say if batching sounds like something that appeals to you and something that would work really well for you, I recommend having a month’s worth of episodes uploaded to your podcast hosting platform before you launch so that you can batch create your content, your episodes every single month.

But if you don’t have an entire month, um. Your hosting platform before you start, then batching will be a little bit more tricky because you, you just need time to make sure that you get all of your stuff done. If that doesn’t make sense right now, it’ll make more sense as I’m talking through how to create your podcast workflow. After I talk you through all of the steps of creating a podcast workflow, I’ll show you what mine looks like

and I’ll also be sharing it on social media this week. So if you’re a more visual learner and you wanna see what it looks like, then you can see it either in the video or in social media this week.

The first step to creating a podcast workflow is to write down all of the things that you do to create an episode. So these include brainstorm ideas, write episodes, record episodes, write your show notes, edit your episodes, anything that you do to create an episode, write it down, I am a pen and paper girl, so I write everything down in a notebook. But if you hate writing things, then type it out. But just have, have a list somewhere that you can reference as you’re creating your podcast workflow. The second step to creating your podcast workflow is grouping together the things that seem to go together. So, for example, some people like to write their episode show notes right after they write their episode script, and that works really well for them.

So those two would be grouped together. Write script, write episode, show notes. but for me, I like to write my episode show notes

After I do the final listen through for my episode. So for me, writing, my show notes goes with the final listen through of my episode, and that’s just what works best for me. So you kind of just have to know what works best for you and group those all together.

Because this is for you. This isn’t just to look pretty. This is to help you create the best podcast episodes possible in the least amount of time. And then the third step is to make sure that everything on your list from step one gets put on a day or a week, depending on how you set up your.

Workflow. So I like to batch my podcast content, like I said before, a month at a time.  So this is what my podcast workflow looks like right there.

I give myself a week to do all of the tasks for all of the next month’s episodes.

But if, having a monthly podcast workflow is overwhelming or just not a good fit for you, you can also have a weekly podcast workflow and you can do this by just choosing. Which day you do each task. So for example, Monday could be write episode Tuesday, record episode Thursday, edit episode, Friday final.

Listen through, write your show notes and upload your episode. There’s so many different ways that you can do a podcast workflow and there’s no wrong answer. It’s just whatever works best for you.

But no matter what your podcast workflow ends up looking like,

you need to put it in a place that you can access it easily and see it often. So for me, I have it as a Google Doc on my computer, and I have it taped to the wall above my desk so that I don’t have to search through anything. It’s just right there and easy for me to access

okay, now that you have your podcast workflow, I recommend trying it out for a month or two and then as you are trying it out, notice things that maybe aren’t working as well as you thought they would. And then make the adjustments that need to be made so that your podcast workflow works the best for you.

A podcast workflow is an amazing tool. Mine has helped me cut down on decision fatigue and helps me to stay on task without feeling overwhelmed. But my one warning is to make sure that you don’t try to clinging to your podcast workflow when you need to make adjustments,

I can promise you that you’re going to have to make adjustments sometimes

because life happens and we go through different seasons of life and just seasons of the year. Like when I’m on summer break with my kids, my podcast workflow looks significantly different.

Quick story, when I decided to do my transparent episode about. FPG at the beginning of every month. I thought I could still record it with the other solo episodes, but I quickly learned that I was wrong and it needed its own week. So I had to make some adjustments to make my workflow work with that new type of episode.

And after those adjustments, everything worked great again, but I had to make those adjustments first because Whew, trying to make it work was not working, and it was so stressful. So. We have to make those adjustments.

And that’s coming from someone that has a really hard time making adjustments to systems

because I just like my structure. I like things the way they are. So if that’s hard for you, I get it. I am there with you solidarity. But I promise that making those changes really is helpful

As I’m wrapping up this episode, here’s the one thing you should implement in your podcast. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start. No matter how you end up deciding to create your podcast workflow, make sure that it is written down. Or typed and in a place that you can easily access, then you don’t have to go searching for it.

When you need a quick reminder of what you need to work on next. Will you share this episode with your friend who wants to start a podcast but she’s worried that she’s gonna get overwhelmed after she gets started.

I can help her realize that there are plenty of tools that can help her create the podcast of her dreams without burning out. In next week’s episode, I talk about the stats of April’s friendly podcast guide episodes, and how sending an email out about each of my episodes affected my podcast. Thanks for being here, and I’ll see you next week.  I, but for me, I like to write my show notes. I like to write, but for me, I like to write