033 — Just Oil the Chair

I listened to a podcast episode back on January 30, 2025, and there are 3 little words that have been bouncing around in the back of my head ever since whenever I turn on the mic to stream or record, "oil your chair".

The podcast episode was from Justin Jackson (https://justinjackson.ca) and Jeremy Enns (https://jeremyenns.com) on their Podcasting Marketing Trends Explained (https://podcastmarketingacademy.com/podcast-marketing-trends-explained) podcast. Here’s a link to the specific episode:

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-10k-timeline-how-long-it-takes-to-reach-10k-dl-ep/id1725822754?i=1000651165287
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ojnaFU34BTMzAUEaJpLB9?si=75f58475b5824473
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbT9Z-glsrM&list=PLSbtUoUeEbPIsWA2_cM91SN3HJuUnEOz9&index=16

What's wild is that when I recorded this episode I had thought that it had only been a couple weeks since I had listened to that podcast episode, but it turns out it has been almost 4 months 😬, and it took me that long to oil my chair.

This episode digs into the little things that I (we) have a tendency of putting off. Things that you know exist, and could be easily addressed, but yet the task goes uncompleted, and consumes some of the cognitive space in the back of the head, throwing off wasted cycles whenever it resurfaces, instead of using those for things that really matter.

I’ll get back to sharing some project updates in the next episode, but just wanted to share a little thought piece about procrastination, or clearing the mind.

To follow along, you can find me at https://www.ryanhefner.com, follow me on Bluesky @ryanhefner.com (https://bsky.app/profile/ryanhefner.com) and keep up with the show on https://www.allplay.fm and @allplay.fm (https://bsky.app/profile/allplay.fm).

Help yourself, while supporting the show, by trying some of the services that I use, and highly recommend:
Transistor FM (https://transistor.fm/?via=allplay)
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Episode Transcript

Ryan (00:00):
Hey, how's it going? I'm Ryan Hefner, this is the All
Play podcast. So the title ofthis episode is just oil the
chair. And it's been somethingthat's kind of been lingering in
the back of my mind for like thelast couple weeks now. I was
actually listening to a podcastby Justin Jackson and Jeremy
Enns, and it's on their podcastthe podcast marketing trends let

(00:27):
me pull up the the name of thethe podcast.
Podcast Marketing TrendsExplained. It's on their podcast
marketing trends explainpodcast. And it's an interesting
show. They basically dive intowhat goes into making a
successful podcast, some of thenumbers that are going around
within the podcast industry,they do this annual report on

(00:47):
podcasting. I mean, actually,it's kind of a bit of a humbling
experience listening to the showand having a podcast and they're
talking about how, you know, ifyour show is in the hundreds of
of plays, you know, per episodethat it how do you get it up
from there?
It's like, well, I I don't know.I've never hit a hundred. I

(01:07):
don't think on a single episodeyet. So I got I got a ways to
go, but I'm trying. And I guesspart of trying is, you know,
one, you gotta try to figure outa compelling story or thing that
gets people hooked.
But there was one thing thatJustin Jackson said during one
of the episodes that was kind ofinteresting. He said they

(01:29):
actually stopped listening to apodcast because the person had a
squeaky chair. And you knowwhat? I was like, I have a
squeaky chair. And I don't know.
I don't think he was talkingabout me, but who knows? He
could have been. But thatthought started sticking around
in my head, basically sincesince I listened to that
episode. And so I got back fromthe run, and you know what I

(01:52):
didn't do? I didn't oil thechair.
I continued to kind of, youknow, just get back to work. I
I've, you know, been working anddoing some live streaming at
night. And so sometimes when Iwould fire up that live stream
and I turn on the microphone,I'd be like, hi. I wonder if my
squeaky chair is gonna getpicked up in this microphone. Or

(02:13):
if I did a recording for thispodcast, I was like, I wonder if
I shift around in this chair, oris it gonna are people gonna
hear it?
And you know what? I I shouldhave just oiled the chair. And
you know what I ended up doing?I oiled the chair. And actually,
I think the chair needed someoil.
I mean, it's, it's no longersqueaky. It might still make a
few noises here and there, butit's not a squeaky chair

(02:34):
anymore. And actually, it kindasits better now. I think the,
the hydraulics or something inthere actually needed a little
bit of oil, so it was a goodthing there. And it got me
thinking it's like, you know,why didn't I oil the chair when
I got back from that run?
I knew that I had a squeakychair, but I didn't. And, you
know, I think we we put stuffoff like that. But it was one of

(02:55):
those things that every time Iturned on the microphone, it was
maybe kinda just like back therebeing like, yo, you got a
squeaky chair. Like, oil it. AndI didn't.
And now that I did, I I feelbetter about it. The chair is
more comfortable. But it's justinteresting to think about those
things that you you keep puttingoff. And, you know, I'm kind of

(03:16):
trying to uncomfortably putmyself out here and talk about
the projects that I'm working onand share some of these little
thoughts that come to mind. And,the last thing I need to be
doing is also kind of being selfconscious about a squeaky chair
that may or may not exposeitself during the course of a
video and be the thing thatturns someone off from
potentially listening to yourpodcast because it's hard enough

(03:40):
to get people to listen tothese.
Well, I don't know. You tell me,I don't have that many people
listen to this podcast. I wouldlike to make it better. I'm
trying to figure out how toreally have more compelling
stories or updates to share, butI'm not really sure. I'm trying
to figure it out.
So, you know, when you'reuncomfortable, the last thing
you need is like something thatyou know that could turn people

(04:02):
off to turn them off. At thesame time, you know, if a
squeaky chair is a thing that'sgonna send someone from not
listening to your podcast,there's probably other problems
with the show. And, I could becomfortable saying that I don't
think I've quite figured out myrhythm or flow for this, but I'm
trying. You know, I'm trying andif, you know, trying to have

(04:26):
good audio and less squeaks init is something that might keep
more people around listening andand hopefully engaging and and
reaching out, then then I'll Iguess that's what I should do.
Oh, there's other things that Ijust don't know if I necessarily
wanna get behind like the wholeYouTube thumbnail thing and all

(04:48):
this other kind of stuff.
So but I'm gonna say that foranother episode. But the one
thing I can say is the chairprobably needed some oil. I'm
glad I oiled it. And hopefully,this would be one less thing
that is a knock on, havingpeople listen and engage with
this podcast. So I guess if youhappen to have a squeaky chair,

(05:10):
I recommend oiling it.
It, it sits a whole lot betterand hopefully it'll keep a
listener around so that they canhear what you're trying to share
and say. So alright. Again, I'mRyan Hefner with the All Play
podcast. You can find episodesat allplay.fm, and I hope to see
you on the next one. Alright.
Have a great one. Later.