First of all, thank you for the love on day 100! I am thrilled that this series is a bright spot for others. It has been a personal bright spot doing it. I have always been pulled to regular posting when possible and the funny thing is that the pandemic has made my regular routines even more ingrained.
Plus, I have more to process, think about, and say. So this series makes sense from my end. I know it’s probably (definitely) not for everyone. But it makes me happy that there are many of you out there that are enjoying it.
ANYWAY. We are beginning surge #2 down here. (No, it’s not the number of tests increasing; that’s been pretty stable for a while; here’s a graphic that helps illustrate that:)
In fact, today I get to experience the joy of my first COVID-19 nasal swab as our health system has moved to screening asymptomatic providers on a regular basis. I am not looking forward to it.
I continue to take immense comfort in sticking to daily routines and when possible, I avoid thinking very far in advance (like even . . . 1 week). Sometimes I have to, like when planning resident events and educational activities (which — aside — has been incredibly difficult as things keep changing). But a lot of times those thoughts are optional and I can move away from them.
Marcia commented yesterday: “I have almost zero podcast time these days. The very little time I have alone I’m mostly using on audiobooks which I feel are better for me than podcasts.
Also I am THIS close to deleting all unlistened podcast episodes. I remember you used to do something like this every week.
How has your podcast listening changed, if at all? Have the downloads on your own podcast been affected much by the pandemic? I will confess I have about 7 BOBW episodes unlistened to . . . “
M – I give you FULL permission to delete those BOBW eps!! Just don’t unsubscribe 🙂 Yes, I still clear out my podcast queue weekly. Unless there’s something that’s REALLY exciting, I start fresh every Monday. Let’s face it — the episodes are just going to pile up again!
I subscribe to way more podcasts than I have time to listen to, and that is because a) podcasts are free (and I have it set up so they only download when there is active Wifi, so I’m not even wasting data) and b) I like to have an array of topics to choose from. I definitely don’t listen to every episode of most podcasts (or really, any).
I do have less podcast time now, but that’s actually been true since we moved (Jan 2019) and I lost my longish commute. I still have some. I’ll put on a pod while doing household chores (if the kids are under control) or while on walks. I get the bulk of my news from the daily Up First podcast from NPR — probably the only podcast I listen to with regularity.
SIDE NOTE: Reason #284 I have no desire to spend $ on furniture!
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Love it. The floor is lava is a classic kid game, followed by don’t-let-the-ball/balloon-touch-the-floor.
I have never been a podcast listener, but I did do audiobooks, and now I don’t (no drive anywhere!). Doing so again would require (a) purchasing headphones/earbuds (which I should probably do, but I hate things in or on my ears) and (b) giving up some of the quiet time of my walks. So that’s probably out for a while.
I will say if you ever do your planning pod, I will give it a go. Current one doesn’t appeal at all for reasons that don’t have to do with you personally. Sorry!
I am listening to way fewer podcasts these days too now that I don’t have a commute. I was taking a 45 minute daily walk but haven’t done that for many weeks now because work has been busier than ever! I should clear some of them out but there are times when I listen to a ton of podcasts, like if I’m doing a lot of kitchen prep work or working on a project like cleaning out a closet, etc. But I should probably delete the unlistened ones because the clutter drives me crazy!
I had the pleasure of getting the COVID-19 nasal swab this week as I am sick and wanted to rule out COVID, especially since our little guy is in daycare so we don’t know what we are exposed to. It is highly unpleasant and I have a pretty good tolerance for discomfort. It is fairly brief but I was shocked how high up my nasal passage they probed. There is 0 chance we could get our son tested with the nasal swab technique (he’s 2 and very strong/squirmy). But there are some clinics here who are doing the throat swab and evidence seems to be showing it’s probably as accurate? That’s unpleasant to be tested regularly but it does make sense considering what is going on in FL. I know at my OB office in Minneapolis, everyone gets tested every 2 weeks and we aren’t really a ‘hot spot’.
I must be an upholder of some sort because I can’t stand having unlistened podcast eps in my app! I also subscribe to way more than I have time to listen to so I tend to “mark as played” those that I don’t have time for. There’s also a setting to show only the most recent eps in the podcasts app on iPhone – as low as just the 1 most recent.
Marina, I’m an upholder and those unlistened podcast episodes don’t bother me one bit (until they hit 100, apparently) 🙂
I just want to say that while I subscribe to many podcasts, there are only two for which I listen to every single episode and one of those is BOBW! I would love to add Best Laid Plans as the third “must listen” pod.
I hate the podcasts piling up and am pretty brutal about deleting them, unless they are a series or story I want to listen to. I find I want more fiction these days, and am enjoying Miriam and Youssef from the BBC and RomComPod as a little light entertainment. Girl, Woman, Other is also incredible, I loved the book but the audio is a wonderful experience, but doesn’t seem to be available for download, just streaming.
I like to keep unlistened podcasts! Sometimes I’ll be on a very long roadtrip for work (although, not recently!) and I’ll need 6 hours of podcasts to fill the time. I suppose I’m an outlier in this group of upholders. 🙂
I keep unlistened to ones as well. I’m not going to mention how many, but between mine and the ones my son listens too, it’s quite a lot just waiting.
Thank you, Sarah, both for answering and for giving me permission to delete. I’m deleting in stages for now, all those from March, and then for April, and so on 🙂
I only have 92 episodes now (!!!) but I’m inspired to delete some because honestly, when am I going to have 90 hours of time to listen. That’s about 8 – 10 books’ worth of time for me.
On day 101 I was holding my breath as I looked for your post. AND HURRAH!!!!!!! your posting is such a normalcy, positive, supportive thing that shows the world is continuing these days. THANK YOU!!!!!!!
I love the idea of deleting the podcasts weekly. it seems so freeing. I also have too many that stack up, especially now with lack of commute. I find myself deleting some, but not all. That is probably wasted mental energy I could spend elsewhere. I am always reshuffling the ones I have and weighing if they are worth keeping. I was just telling my husband how I sometimes feel a bit of frenzy to consume – as in so many podcasts to catch up with, audio books, etc. It can be exhausting because I don’t really have the time when I am in this mode to really let things sink in. Deleting them feels a bit rebellious, yet also super freeing!
It does seem like COVID tests are changing super rapidly! I know about 10 people who’ve been tested in the past 2 weeks (after being involved in protests/out in community) and myself and one other had very non-invasive nasal swabs (like the flu test), one had the throat swab and one had the really high up nasal swab. Hope they move them all to something similar to the flu swab! It didn’t hurt at all and I’d love to see it available a lot more widely AND to have results faster.
I generally keep unlistened podcasts. I also subscribe to a pretty wide variety of podcasts and sometimes I appreciate being able to “binge” several episodes of a particular podcast when I’m in that particular head space. Some times I just really need a lighter topic and some times I like the episodes that require a bit more focus and I like having the options available. I have been listening to fewer podcasts since Covid/lockdown so definitely have more in my queue than normal.