A cleaner home, a more efficient way of grocery shopping, what to say to your child when the bullies lurk, and how to manage a marriage when you can’t even find the match to at least half of the socks in your laundry heap. These are real issues. They’re as authentic as income taxes and ear wax, people. Mothers want answers. They want solutions and fresh ideas on how to build themselves, their home and their people into something better. Moms want to feel intentionally active in their pursuit to parent, work, lead, and love well. And the umpteen soccer practices, church functions, ballet classes, and dentist appointments to attend, make blog reading and diving into books about bettering kinda hard to tackle. With all the transit time to and fro, not to mention the inundated responsibilities of home, better ideas and inspirations can be hard to come by.
So how exactly does a Mom find time to invest in the artful journey of improvement and answer-seeking advice? They listen to podcasts, that’s how. And to further convince you of this efficient use of your time and ear buds, take a look at these five reasons Moms need to listen in:
1. Podcasts are time keepers.
Let’s face it, we Moms practically live in our vehicles. Transit is in our wheelhouse whether we like it or not. Podcasts make wonderful use of time alone on your commute to work or to pick up your kids from school or practice. These listen-ins come in just about any genre you can image. They’re the perfect way to invest time already allotted for one task to share with a a topic that interests you as you listen and drive.
2. Podcasts make mundane chores bearable and completable.
In a word: LAUNDRY. To add two more words: BATHROOM CLEANING. Tidying and folding is completely doable WHILE podcasting it up, Moms! I particularly love to work at a single household task for the duration of one episode. It guarantees that a specific amount of time will, in fact, be devoted to a knocking one more to-do off my ever growing checklist.
3. Podcasts create community with friends.
Friendships are HUGE. We Moms need relationships outside of our family unit for support and a good dose of laughter, too. Sharing helpful podcasts or even hilarious ones with your great gal pals gives you the opportunity to have something in common with one another aside from the thirty-one bajillion tupperware lids in your cabinet WITH NO BOTTOMS TO MATCH. Podcasts are like little TV shows for your ears. With the business of mothering, we don’t always have the time to sit down and watch those shows we all know and love on our DVR and take the time to talk about it with our good buddies. So why not share an great podcast episode with your friends or, better yet, choose a specific podcast series to listen to together in your own respective time frame?
4. Podcasts can give you perspective.
There are so many different topics about which you can listen. From mothering topics, to comedy, marriage, inspiration, and fashion categories, the choices are vast. There are some really great humans with some really great things to say in each of these fields. Podcasts led by experts or licensed professionals can provide you with helpful information on subjects near and dear to your heart. Lots of times just listening to someone else’s vibe or thought process on a matter gives me such clarity or further curiosity on a topic that I’ve been mulling over in my mind.
5. Podcasts can relax your state of being.
I am most appreciative of the small snippets of time in which I can provide myself simple joys like laughter or inspiration. Podcasts provide this very happiness feeling for me. I enjoy nabbing a quick five minute episode for encouragement just before my lunch time finishes up each work day. I also love the silly humor from stand-up comedy podcasts that leave me doubled over with giggles that are proven to release the feel good anxiety fighting endorphin, serotonin.
If you’re new to podcasting, it’s quite simple really. Just head to your app store and download an app for housing the podcasts you would like to subscribe to. I use Overcast as my listening choice on my iPhone. There is a pre-installed app on the iPhone for podcasts, too. Once you have chosen your operating system for listening, all you’ll need is your ear buds and you are officially ready to begin the journey of listening well as you take full advantage of the power of a podcast. Podcasts are a FREE way to enjoy using your time wisely. Happy hearing!
