What I Can't Do When I Listen to Podcasts

In my day to day, I talk a lot about what I do when I listen to podcasts. To me, it’s a companion medium, there to fill empty space so that I’m not alone with my thoughts. Really, who wants to be alone with their thoughts? Not anyone, ever, really. 

I do chores, fold my towels, drive to and from work, and set aside some of this time to be dedicated to my podcast listening. Every once in a while I find that some activity I thought would pair well with podcasts – doesn’t. Which was a lightbulb moment for me recently. We always talk about what we can do, trying to get people to fit podcasts into their life more effectively, increasing the hours that someone can spend giving us their attention. 

Maybe it will be beneficial to listeners to know activities that actually don’t align well with podcasting. When we’re given a new medication that could have a side effect of drowsiness, we’re not told a list of what we can do on the medication – it wouldn’t fit on the side of the bottle. Instead, we’re given the most important things we shouldn’t be doing.

So as a bit of fun, I present a list of things I can’t do when I’m listening to a podcast. This is going to be different for everyone, so let me know what you have found you can’t do when you listen to podcasts. 

Read / Write

This one might seem obvious to people, but it’s not true for everyone. I can’t read a book (obvious) but, I also can’t hold a significant text-based conversation. I find myself rewinding my podcasts if I get caught up in a chat.

It’s also a great reminder to myself that I can’t scroll through social media and have a good grasp on the podcast I’m listening to at the same time. 

Cast on a Knitting Project

If I’m telling someone that I’m listening to a podcast and knitting, it is the easy parts of knitting. I’m deep into the pattern, and probably whatever I’m doing is on autopilot. To the point, at times, I mess up on my project because I’m too focused on the project. 

Bake

This overlaps with the reading/writing section of “wow it’s obvious you can’t do that” but I would like to say, I can absolutely cook and listen to a podcast. The science of baking does not align with the magic of podcast listening for this brain, though. If I’m not paying close enough attention, I may accidentally triple the flour required in a recipe. I’m absolutely admitting to having done that at least once in my life

Play video games

This is possibly the most heartbreaking of realities, and also one that veers into “maybe” territory. I probably shouldn’t play Minecraft on survival mode when I want to listen to a podcast, but it’s the only way I find it to be fun. Plus, I really enjoy the audio design of a lot of video games – so why would I prevent myself from enjoying that for other great audio? It’s a toss up on this one, but I generally find that video games need too much of my attention for me to listen to podcasts and play at the same time. The closest I’ve ever come to success with this is Stardew Valley, but hey, to each their own.

Those are just four things I find I can’t do when I’m listening to podcasts. I hope it helps some people laugh, and also helps some people figure out where they can fit a great podcast into their life.

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