What Happened When I Stopped Listening To Podcasts For 7 Days

I’m in a process of taking back my attention and bringing my nervous system down to earth so that I can be more fully here. Last year I left social media and that drastically lengthened my attention span.

​Read about that here. ​

I did an experiment starting January 1st to stop listening to podcasts for 7 days. I wanted to see how this pause would impact my nervous system and attention span.

This is not an email about how pure or perfect I am. It is not written to stoke a feeling in you that you’re doing something wrong if you’re not doing this thing I’m doing.

I share this because I want to know the specific, tangible things other people are doing, why they’re doing them, and the impacts of those things.

As I write this, I just finished my 7 day experiment. (I did listen once, as I’ll share in a moment).

Why I did this pause:

I pre-ordered Cody Cook-Parrot’s book, ​The Practice Of Attention​, and as a bonus was invited to a 7-day experiment called No Signal, where we each chose something to turn down the signal of. Some folks chose a break from social media, or no screens after 8pm or a limit on checking emails. I chose podcasts.

Normally I listen a LOT. Up until last week I listened while getting ready in the morning, while cooking, while driving, while doing chores, and sometimes while going on walks. I often grabbed my earbuds during transitions in my day before even thinking about it.

I sensed that my brain was uncomfortable with silence, and with transitions. It reached for audio input. Even high quality, long-form content is input.

The parameters:

No listening to podcasts or audiobooks for 7 days. No punishment or self accusations if I slipped. Music totally allowed. I notice that when I listen to music, my focus is much softer. I don’t find myself furrowing my brow and rewinding if I missed something.

How it went:

Most of the time, I felt good with the pause. I had moments when I craved a podcast in my ears, especially while doing chores. I listened to music on a speaker, and allowed the slight boredom to be there and then pass as I cleaned and vacuumed.

I listened once, on day 6, while on a 1.5 hour drive. I was in a bad mood and felt annoyed at the experiment. I didn’t scold myself about this. Past me would have started the experiment all over again to prove I can do 7 days. Current me feels like perfection doesn’t matter at all. This experiment has been about noticing and learning.

The impact:

As I finish up the experiment, I feel grateful for the reset this allowed my nervous system.

I broke the association of grabbing my headphones as I transition between activities.

My thoughts and feelings have had room to go further. I’ve written more journal entries and jotted down lots of ideas for future writing.

I’ve read more articles with my eyeballs.

My intention now is to be in more choice about when I’m listening, and not to listen by default. I think first I’ll listen to How To Survive The End Of The World with Adrienne Maree Brown and Autumn Brown. They released ​a miniseries on their creative processes​ that I’d like to hear.

I’d also like to hear Jeff Hiller interviewed on Fresh Air.

These might be perfect companions for my next chore session or long care ride.

I want to notice when I might be using podcasts to avoid or dissociate from my feelings. My feelings mostly want to be witnessed and moved through.

Podcasts have sometimes been a way to dissociate a bit.

I am feeling the difference when my inner life has more room throughout the day, and I want to protect that.

Before I listen, I want to ask myself:

What am I noticing inside right now?

What body sensations are here?

What parts of me are asking for attention?

I don’t believe the creators of podcasts are nefariously trying to take away my ability to be in silence. I think maybe I can have both.

This experiment is different from my social media pause in that I do want to keep podcasts in my life.

The podcasts I listen to tend to feature long conversations where humor, depth and insights flow in an open ended way.

I’m a podcaster too.

In the last 8 months, Rebel Therapist Podcast has become conversations with therapists and healers about their own healing. These episodes allow the listener to breathe and take in the nuance of what the guest is sharing about their own healing process.

The hardest part of creating my podcast is choosing a 20 second snippet to tease the episode and creating the written bullet points. The conversations are real and fluid. There are no prepackaged takeaways, because they are meant to be listened to in their fullness so you can hear what resonates with you.

Maybe I’ll get rid of that 20 second teaser.