I was listening to a podcast, which is not something I usually do (but more on that later), about meetings and how they are terrible for productivity and how they could be made better.

It was fine. And to be honest I wasn’t extremely interested in the podcast itself. I just wanted something to listen to as I walked my dog and I didn’t have any new music on my listening list, so I figured I’d quickly duck into Apple podcasts and pick something.

However, this podcast helped me realize why I never really got into podcasts. At the end of the episode the host jokingly remarked “And no, this podcast couldn’t have been an email.” and it hit me.

I don’t like listening to podcasts because they almost always would be better off being articles. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a podcast that made me think “wow, I’m glad I listened to this” I usually end up thinking “I wish I could have just skimmed the transcript and saved some time”. This meeting could have been an email? More like “this podcast could have been an article”.

In fact most of the time I get a tinge of anxiety listening to podcasts and I hear something interesting “When did they say that? Does this show have a transcript I can look at after? Are there links to everything they’re talking about?”. To make matters worse, when I do end up putting on a podcast it’s usually when my hands are preoccupied with something else (walking the dog, driving, washing dishes, etc.) so I’m not taking notes and just hoping I remember to go back and write everything down that interests me.