Podcasts To Listen When You Don’t Have Time

Source: Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash.

October is the month of stress for post-secondary students. You could be facing midterm exams and papers in addition to working during the long-weekend or preparing for Thanksgiving dinners with family and friends. While it seems there is never a dull moment, you barely have time to give your mind and body a break from everything. 

If you’re tired of pulling all-nighters and stretching yourself thin for all the tasks you need to complete, try this hack to manage your time and stress better. 

Developing a new habit may sound daunting, but it’s easier than you may think. My challenge for you is to listen to mini podcast episodes. Don’t worry about finding them because I have three episodes ready for you to explore. 

I know your time is valuable; that’s why these podcast episodes are brief. These short podcast episodes will help you find a balance between all your daily tasks and responsibilities.

3 MINI PODCAST EPISODES TO HELP YOU MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME 

• Optimal Living Daily: “Episode 015 // Timeboxing by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com” 
• Optimal Finance Daily: “Episode 003 // Key Question: How Much is Enough? By Leo Babauta of Zen Habits”
• The Mindful Kind: “Episode 11 // Mindfulness and Life Balance” 

Note: By the way, I included two podcast episodes from the same producer, Optimal Living Daily, because both of them taught me how to plan and manage my short and long-term goals better. The above episodes helped me organize my priorities to avoid feeling overwhelmed during stressful times at work and school. 

If you’re unsure about which podcast to start with, take a look at the quick overview I have for each of them. 

MANAGE YOU TO MANAGE TIME: Optimal Living Daily

We seem to run out of time to complete all our tasks throughout the day. We either get distracted or procrastinate the assignments we need to finish by tomorrow. Regardless of our reason for not finishing a task, we can overcome this struggle by learning how to timebox. 

In “Episode 015 // Timeboxing by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com,” Optimal Living Daily’s host Justin Malik shares blogger Steve Pavlina’s Timeboxing method. Timeboxing helps us achieve more with the time we have each day. Pavlina’s approach to managing time is to “do the best you can within the time frame” for a specific activity or task. 

Optimal Living Daily: Personal Development & Minimalism focuses on improving how we make decisions to maximize our potential in living a fulfilling life. From personal development and minimalism to finance, business, relationships, and health, Optimal Living collects the best blog posts to share tips and hacks with all their listeners. Read more to check out Optimal Finance Daily’s personal finance tip in the next section.

My Thoughts: Timeboxing helps me avoid getting distracted by other activities. Like the Pomodoro method, setting a time limit urges me to focus on one task at a time. If you already incorporate some form of timeboxing into your routine, I suggest to check out other Optimal Living Daily episodes to learn more ways to optimize your day. 

Try to incorporate this step into your day by listening to the Optimal Living Daily episode on Spotify.

MULTITASK WHILE LEARNING: Optimal Finance Daily

Learning to manage money is another stress we face every day. After completing your midterm exams and papers, you still need to manage your finances. Luckily, Optimal Finance Daily teaches us all the tricks and lessons others learned from their personal finance journeys. 

In “Episode 003 // Key Question: How Much is Enough? By Leo Babauta of Zen Habits,” Optimal Finance Daily’s host Dan Weinberg reads Leo Babauta’s approach to thinking about money. Baubata explains that he understands why we sometimes don’t feel ‘happy’ about our financial situation. His train of thought builds on the idea that we haven’t thought about how much money is enough to pay for our needs while avoiding consumerism habits. 

My Thoughts: Baubata’s blog post proposed five questions that reshapes our perspective of money. By taking a moment to think about each question, I reorganized my priorities, redefined my life and career goals, and gained a better understanding of what is ‘enough’ for me to refrain from unnecessary spending. 

Learn about the five questions to determine ‘how much is enough’ for you by listening to the Optimal Finance Daily episode on Spotify. 

KNOW WHEN TO TAKE A BREAK: The Mindful Kind

Taking a break is as important as working hard for long periods. If you are the person to get lost in your work and forget about the time, you will exhaust yourself in the long run. 

To find balance for your emotional, physical, and mental well-being, check out Rachel Kable’s podcast, The Mindful Kind. Rachel’s soothing voice puts you in a calm state as she helps you practice mindfulness by focusing on the present moment. 

In “Episode 11 // Mindfulness and Life Balance,” Rachel teaches us to find a mindfulness practice or activity to “give space for yourself.” By doing this, you take a short 10-15 minute break from the high-intensity tasks to rejuvenate your mind and body. 

Listen to Rachel’s hacks about mindfulness and self-care from The Mindful Kind episode on Spotify.

My Thoughts: After listening to this episode, I tried incorporating time to stretch for 10-15 minutes into my day. I usually sit at a desk for long periods when I work and study, which strains my lower back. 

By stretching regularly, my mind and body could finally breathe. When I have a train of thought and get lost in the moment for work and school, I take shallower breathes, which reduces the amount of oxygen I supply to myself. During my stretch breaks, I take deeper breathes that relaxes my mind and body from my high-intensive work mode. 

TAKEAWAYS

The key lesson I learned from the episodes above is that we can achieve the lifestyle we desire if we make time for it. The stories shared in Optimal Living Daily, Optimal Finance Daily, and The Mindful Kind are evidence for all of us to refer to and reflect on when we think our personal and professional development. Whether we are trying to manage stress better to feel happier or timeboxing to achieve our studying or career goals, it is possible if we try. 

If you listened and tried any of these tips, comment below to share your thoughts with others. I would love to hear how they helped you!

Source: Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash.

Jessica Lee writes to share stories worth learning about to help readers improve their lives. Jessica believes we can learn something from the stories we find anywhere in articles, books, graphic novels to film and television series. Read Jessica’s other posts about films, literature, and tips to optimize your day on https://jessicalee.ubcarts.ca/.

Works Cited:

Optimal Living Daily: “Episode 015 // Timeboxing by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com” 

Optimal Finance Daily:“Episode 003 // Key Question: How Much is Enough? By Leo Babauta of Zen Habits”

The Mindful Kind: “Episode 11 // Mindfulness and Life Balance” 

Images: 

“Music is a part of Our Life” Photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash.

“Do Something Great” Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash.