10 Things You Can Get Done Effortlessly While Listening to Podcasts

If we’re friends, there’s no doubt that in quite a few of our conversations I’ll talk about what I learned in such-and-such podcast. I LOVE podcasts ever since I started listening to them when my kids were babies.

Know what I love most about podcasts? That I can get all my boring chores done in warp speed!  Not only does it pass the time, but I barely notice what I’m doing which actually makes things like sorting go more efficiently   I love to learn, and I’m an auditory learner so podcasts really fulfill that for me while allowing me to keep up with my responsibilities at the same time.

I also feel like it’s a good mental break for the afternoon while the kids are playing on their own.  Being a mom is awesome and rewarding, but I also like to take a break from the kid world to recharge.  We all know that generally sitting down with a book isn’t an option, but podcasts are totally doable!  I’m going to tell you my top ten favorite things to do while listening to podcasts down below.

How to listen

I have an iphone now, but I held off getting one for a LONG time. I had a little purple ipod that eventually went through the washer and stopped working, which I then replaced with a super cheap Mp3 player.  The MP3 player is still going strong- I stored Huckleberry Finn on it for the kids to listen to during quiet time.

I listen with earbuds pictured above, but I almost always leave one out so I can hear what’s going on around me.  This doesn’t affect the sound in podcasts since the sound plays through both ears.  If I’m running or walking I need to be aware of who else is on the trail, if the kids are with me I need to be able to hear what they’re doing… or hear if it suddenly gets too quiet ~grin~

What to listen to

The Healthy Life Summit (that I’m participating in!) is going on the week of the 24th!  It’s streaming free the week of the 24th, but you can buy it for a super discount of 75% off right now and then you’ll have all the audio files to load onto your podcast-listening-device-of-choice!  Click here to sign up to listen for free, or click here to purchase at the super discounted presale price of $49!

That’s just $1.40 per presentation.  There are an awesome lineup of speakers, I for sure can’t wait to hear them all!

Click here to read about all the speakers and sign up!

You can also search in itunes for podcasts about any of the interests you have.  I personally like politics, survival/conspiracy, traditional foods, business, financial advice, and home management. Once I have a few on my device, I just pick what to listen to as the mood strikes.

10 Things You Can Get Done While Listening

1.  Fold and put away laundry.  I always have a pile of clean laundry to fold. If my kids are underfoot, they get enlisted to put it away for me.

2.  Clean the bathroom.  Yeah, not my favorite job either, but the podcast distracts me from the uckiness of actually washing out that trashcan and giving the my-four-year-old-son-often-misses toilet a good going over.  (oh, and if you have a son that misses, enzyme based pet cleaner is fantastic of getting the stink out of the floor. bleach doesn’t work)

3.  Exercise.  I am doing the couch-to-5-K program and I’m kind of stalling on week 4, but I’m still getting out there and exercising 3 days a week!  If I don’t get out for my walk/run I go up and down my 10 front steps 25 times.  I use kettlebells too.  I’ve tried listening to music while I exercised, and all I did was count how many songs left I had to go until I was over. With podcasts, I’ll often go another mile cool ‘cool down’ to finish the podcast because it’s so interesting!

4.  File paperwork and sort mail.  I’m not sure I’d pay bills while listening, but I do tackle my desk clutter with a podcast on.

5.  Yard work. Moving and feeling the sun on you.. and picking up the dog poop, and half composted lemons that fell off the tree a while back.  Even raking leaves is a million times more interesting to me while I’m learning about nutrition at the same time. My yard is happy when I have a podcast to listen to.

6.  Walk the dog.  I’m training our dog to heel and not get distracted around other dogs and people now, so that means that I’m walking him often.

7.  Clean out the window sills and wash the inside windows and mirrors. I love it when this job is done- clean glass is the best!

8.  Edit photos. I’ll go through the piles of pictures that end up on my hard drive and delete the ones that I’m really not going to want, and edit ones of the kids or for the blog.

9.  Declutter.  I like being a little distracted while I declutter because it keeps me from getting too sentimental or think too hard about anything. I keep a pretty minimalist house because I find it easier to keep up with, and with that comes constant decluttering.  (oh, and by the way, I donate a LOT and I’ve never regretted anything I got rid of. It’s really freeing to free up square footage in your home!)

10.  Dishes. This is by far my favorite, because there are always dishes to do and it feels so good to have them done!

Now, doesn’t that sound like a fun way to be productive, learn, and get some time to yourself? 

Get something to listen to- click here to read about all the speakers (I’m speaking!) and sign up for the Healthy Life Summit!

Oh, and don’t forget to purchase at the presale price (before March 23rd at $49 rather than $199). If you know you’re going to want to learn from these speakers, it’s totally worth it to buy now so that you get all the talks in downloadable format and can listen when it’s convenient for you rather than having to listen at your computer each day.