When I listen

I don’t have any particular time in the day just for listening to podcasts. Instead, I listen to them while doing chores like cooking and cleaning. That is effective for making tasks less tedious and keeps my mind engaged while doing them. I don’t mind cleaning the whole house if I have an interesting podcast interview while cleaning.

I also listen to podcasts while working out. Sometimes, I need some motivation and good music to go through challenging workouts, but most of the time, there’s some podcast running in the background. Going on long walks with no destination is another good time to listen to podcasts.

Podcasts interviews are mostly successful people telling their story and thought process. Listen to them enough, and the ideas rub off on us. It’s not solely about learning and self-development; I also enjoy listening to so many perspectives. For now, I have an excellent way to include podcasts in my life without using up extra time.

What I listen

I already mentioned some of my favourite podcasts in another post; check it out for some recommendations. They’re my favourites, but that doesn’t mean I listen to each episode they release. It’s like YouTube; we don’t watch all videos from our subscriptions. I choose a couple of episodes and download them for listening to later on. That is how I get 40% of my episodes for listening.

The other 60% comes from my search for specific topics. From time to time, I get interested in a subject and want to know it inside out. I try watching YouTube videos, reading articles, and find out good podcast episodes on that topic. Apple’s Podcast app is perfect for this since it allows searching inside the episode transcripts. Here are some topics I explored recently:

  • Digital Minimalism, Bored and Brilliant - Both are books by different authors. I was worried about my smartphone/iPad usage and wanted to hear some stories of other people experiencing that.
  • Tax Havens, Estate Planning, Trusts and Asset Protection - Just wanted to know how rich people handle their finances and life. Episodes on this were impressive, mainly because no rich person would openly talk about this. It was like going into the restricted section in a library.
  • Growing Real Estate Investments, Seller Financing and Finding Lenders - Trying to find out how people handled their RE investments, raised money and how they felt about it.
  • Angel Investing and Venture Capital - I ended up reading a couple of books on this but also enjoyed hearing opinions from Jason Calcanis, Tim Ferris, and Naval Ravikant.
  • Naval Ravikant - Sometimes, I like the person’s ideas so much that I’ll download every episode in which they appear. Naval is one of those people.

When I like some topic, podcasts are not my last stop. I look for YouTube videos, articles, Reddit comments, books, etc., everything I can lay my hands on. Podcasts are just one medium of getting that exposure.

Apps

I do all my searching on the Apple Podcasts app since it’s search allows searching for individual episodes, and it can search inside the episode transcripts. I’ve tried every paid and free app out there, and Apple seems to have the best search for my taste. For regular listening, I use PocketCast because of the clean UX. If I’m looking for episodes on a specific topic, I’ll go to Apple Podcasts. If I want to subscribe and listen to something regularly, I’ll do it in PocketCasts.

Why I Splurge On Equipment

Music, podcasts and sound quality are most important to me. I listen to a lot of audio (music, podcasts, YouTube, audiobooks) because of my lifestyle. I strongle believe in this idea - Spend your money where you spend most of your time. In my case, I spend a lot of time wearing earphones, so I splurged on them. Here’s what I got:

  • Bose QC35 (500 CAD) - It has active noise cancellation, mind-blowing sound quality and is the most comfortable pair of headphones in the market. I can wear this all day (which I do for most days) and still have no pain in the ear; they’re that comfortable.
  • AirPods Pro (330 CAD) - I bought these specifically for workouts and having a more portable sound solution. They have excellent noise cancellation, have a superb sound quality and are pocketable.

The prices are higher because they include accidental insurance. If 830 CAD can improve my entire day for at least the next two years, I’m all in for paying the price. That applies to my Piano, winter jacket, shoes and a lot more in life.