September 2, 2025 • 27 mins
Feeling like your podcast is sucking the life out of you? You're not alone. The real problem isn't that you don't have enough time—it's that you're not protecting the time you have for what truly matters.
As someone who has published over 1,500 podcast episodes and coached thousands of content creators, I've discovered that sustainable content creation comes down to three powerful time management tools. In this episode, I'm recreating my popular Podcast Movement talk to give you the exact strategies I use to avoid burnout while maintaining a prolific creation schedule.
First, I'll show you how to implement a weekly workflow that embraces reality instead of fantasy. We plan as if life won't get in the way, but it always does—dentist appointments, sick kids, work emergencies. Learn how to plan around interruptions instead of being derailed by them. You'll discover the simple calendar system my family uses to protect both personal priorities and content creation time.
Then I'll reveal my game-changing PREPM Method (Plan-Record-Edit-Publish-Market)—the only content system you'll ever need. This approach prevents the energy-draining task-switching that leaves most creators exhausted. Instead of asking your brain to be strategic, creative, technical, and promotional all at once, you'll learn how to focus on one type of energy at a time. Imagine sitting down to record and ONLY having to record—no planning, no editing, just pure creative flow.
Finally, we'll tackle the mindset shifts needed to maintain a healthy relationship with your content. Sometimes burnout isn't about your system—it's about your approach, your audience, or simply your capacity in this season of life. We'll identify what's truly draining your energy and how to address it.
Whether you have five hours a week or fifty to dedicate to your podcast, these tools will help you create consistently without resentment or exhaustion. Download my free PREPM Method Guide at crystalprofit.com/prepm and transform your relationship with content creation today. Your future self (and your audience) will thank you!
Ready to stop starting projects and never finishing them? Get the proven system that creates consistent content without the chaos. Get the PREP'M Method Now
Click the "Send Krystal a Text Message" link above to send us your questions, comments, and feedback on the show! (Pssst...we'll do giveaways in upcoming episodes so make sure you leave your name & podcast title.)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Krystal Proffitt (00:00):
So do you remember how, back in the
beginning, I told you that I'myour fake therapist?
Hi, I'm Krystal.
I'm your fake content therapist.
Well, now we are deep into oursession, right, and we're about
to get a little uncomfortableabout what's really holding you
back in your content.
Welcome to the Proffitt Podcast, where we teach you how to
(00:21):
start, launch and market yourcontent with confidence.
I'm your host, Krystal Proffitt, and I'm so excited that you're
here.
Thanks for hanging out with metoday, because if you've been
trying to figure out the worldof content creation, this is the
show that will help be yourtime-saving shortcut.
So let's get right to it, shallwe?
Well, hello there.
(00:44):
This is going to be a super funepisode, because I am trying to
recreate my talk that I did atPodcast Movement.
All right, so bear with me as Itry to remember what the heck I
even said.
So it's been almost it's beenover a week and a half since I
(01:05):
did this talk, but I was likeman, I have to relive that
moment because it was soimportant, so special, and I
want this audience to haveexactly what I did.
So I wish I could be likestanding in front of you and,
you know, have my mic in handand my clicker in the other.
(01:25):
I mean, I'm still going to showyou my slides.
So if you're watching or, sorry, listening on the audio only
version, you will get a lot outof it.
But if you want to see thevisuals, just know that they
will be on the YouTube videoinstead of just the audio only
version.
And I wanted to preface all ofthis to say that this talk was
(01:45):
really well received and it wasso much fun.
I love speaking on stage infront of real people, and so
this is probably not going to beas great as it was that day,
because I don't have the sameenergy, the same hype.
Like, I'm recording this andthere's a house full of kids,
(02:06):
there's laundry happening in thehouse, it's raining.
I'm just praying that there's abreak where I don't have a
severe thunderstorm in themiddle of this recording, so all
the things.
But this is real life, right?
This is being a creator, so I'mjust going to dive into it.
So let's get right to it.
(02:27):
Welcome to three time managementtools to avoid podcast burnout.
My name is Krystal Proffitt.
If we haven't met before, I ama content coach and strategist.
For those of y'all watchingthis.
I'm just delivering it how Idelivered it that day, so just
roll with it, okay.
Okay, we're just so.
Just roll with it, okay.
Okay, we're just gonna rollwith it.
And I'm so happy that you'rehere, because so many people
(02:49):
talk about burnout and this isprobably something that you've
experienced yourself, so let'sjust dive right in to what
burnout is and how you can avoidit.
So a few years back, I wasexperiencing having all these
things that I needed to do.
I am a busy mom and I wastrying to be a content creator,
(03:15):
be an author and have time forall these other important things
in my life.
And I actually looked at mycalendar and I was like, how am
I supposed to fit podcastinginto my calendar?
I did not have enough time topodcast.
Can anyone relate to that?
Can you relate to recording orediting right up until midnight,
(03:36):
literally the night before anepisode goes live?
Yes, exactly, we've all beenthere.
But the problem isn't that lifegets in the way.
It's that we plan like lifewon't get in the way.
So content burnout isn't aboutnot having enough time.
It's about not protecting thetime that you have for what
(03:58):
matters most.
So, after publishing over 1,500podcast episodes and working
with thousands of creators, I'veunofficially dubbed myself a
content therapist.
So we're going to do a littletherapy here today, free of
charge, of course, but I wantyou to think of me as the person
who is going to help you workon the relationships that you
(04:21):
have.
But the only relationship we'retalking about here today is the
relationship that you have withyour content.
So we're here today to give youthe tools you need to avoid
creator burnout and fall back inlove with your content, so that
that relationship feels stableagain instead of stale and
running you down.
(04:41):
So the agenda is we're going totalk first about a weekly
workflow that you can actuallystick to, even with a packed
schedule.
Then we're going to dive intomy go-to content system and it,
honestly, will be the onlycontent system you will ever
need after today.
And then, third, we're going todive into the mindset shift you
might need to make to reallyhave that healthy relationship
(05:04):
with your podcast and yourcontent, even if life is still
chaotic.
So diving into tool number one.
Tool number one is all aboutplanning for reality, not
perfection, and this is soimportant because a weekly
workflow that you can actuallystick to will be so eye-opening
for you, even if you have apacked schedule.
(05:26):
So here's what's actuallystealing your creative time.
Let's say you have this perfectplan versus the reality of life.
Maybe you plan to record yourpodcast on a Tuesday.
You're like Tuesday is the onlyday that it will work for me to
record my podcast.
But then life happens thatdentist appointment that you
(05:46):
absolutely forgot about and youcan't reschedule because it'll
take you months to get back ontheir calendar.
Or maybe you wake up and one ofyour kids is sick, or you have
a work emergency or 50 otherthousand things that could
happen.
That is just typical of being ahuman on this planet.
Well, suddenly it's Thursdayand you're stressed and you're
(06:08):
recording at 11 pm the nightbefore an episode needs to go
live and your energy is shot.
You are faking it till you makeit.
So raise your hand.
If this is something thatsounds familiar, I know y'all
are listening and nodding alongtoday.
But remember, the problem isn'tthat life gets in the way.
The problem is that we planlike life won't get in the way.
(06:31):
And I'm here to tell you guysspoiler alert life will always
get in the way of what you'retrying to accomplish.
You can have a great plan andthings just go awry and they
don't happen the way that youwant them to happen.
So I share this visual of myGoogle Calendar.
(06:52):
This was like a snapshot of oneweek in our household, of like
all the things that needed tohappen over the summer, and I
encourage you, when you look atyour calendars, to start
planning for interruptions andnot around them.
So I'm a mom of three kids.
Like I said, this is just asnapshot of our weekly calendar
(07:17):
and every single Sunday, we sitdown as a family and we look at
our Google calendar for the weekahead.
It's so simple and so powerful.
We ask the questions like whereare those potential conflicts?
Like my husband and I, like wecan't be in, you know, the same
place at the same time, withlike three different kids going
in different directions, andlike all these other things Like
(07:38):
what needs to be moved, what'sa priority, what is something
that we can skip and, for me,how can I protect that precious
time that I need to recordcontent?
So the method that I use inlooking at a weekly workflow is
look at the whole week and notjust like individual days of the
week.
(07:58):
Identify those non-negotiablecreative blocks that you
absolutely need and you can'tskip and then build in buffer
time around those tasks, likedon't give yourself 30 minutes
to do something when in realityyou know it's probably going to
take 45, maybe even 60 minutesto really accomplish what you're
trying to do.
(08:19):
So I do the same review everysingle week for my personal like
family calendar.
I do the same review everysingle week for my personal
family calendar.
I do it also for myprofessional calendar and what I
need to create.
And then I merge them alltogether because whenever you
protect your content, like youdo a family priority, it really
changes how you look at it andhow you protect that time.
(08:42):
And then people always ask meabout my tools.
So I always say that toolsshould serve you, not overwhelm
you.
And the three tools that I use?
I keep it very simple.
I use Google Calendar.
Google integrates with all thethings that I need for, again,
my personal life.
In my professional life, I canpick up my phone, look at my
(09:03):
Google Calendar and everythingis in one place and I can manage
it very easily.
And then, speaking ofmanagement, I use a project
management tool called Asana forall of my projects.
So that's where I keep all ofmy deadlines.
I track all the things that Ineed to accomplish in a week in
order to meet all the differentrequirements that my content has
(09:24):
to meet all the differentrequirements that my content has
.
And then Calendly is thescheduling tool that I always
think of it as like the boundaryprotector of my business,
because I can scheduleinterviews and know that it's
not gonna get scheduled over apersonal priority that I have,
or on a day when my kids are outof school and I don't wanna
record something, or I'mactually gonna be on vacation.
So it's very helpful, and Iknow there's probably a
(09:47):
bajillion other tools that youcan use.
I've just used Calendly foryears and I have a really good
price.
So I locked in that price along time ago and I'm just going
to keep on keeping on using thetools that I have chosen.
But the rule is choose toolsthat reduce decisions, not
create more of them for you, andthe best tool is actually the
(10:08):
one that you will useconsistently and it just works
for you.
So now that you know a fewtools to protect your time, let
me show you how to protect thatcreative energy that you have.
So there's a story that I toldabout having a client who her
podcast was such a time suck.
She actually made time to doall the things, and the issue
(10:33):
wasn't that she didn't haveenough time, it was that when
she did have time, she wasplanning, recording, editing and
doing every single thing thather content required in one day,
and she was bleeding creativeenergy, maybe not even in one
day in like one 60-minute blockthat she had.
So after implementing what I'mabout to show you, she started
(10:56):
to love recording again, becausethat's all she had to do.
All she had to do on the timethat she had was sit down and
record, and it was so freeing toher.
Imagine if, for your nextsession, all you had to do is
sit down, press, record andstart talking.
Right, that sounds like a dream.
Let me show you how this works.
So tool number two that we needto talk about is protecting
(11:19):
your creative energy by workingsmarter, not harder, and this is
the only content system you'llneed.
This method is the backbone ofhow I keep creating without
burnout, and I love this quoteby Greg McEwen.
So he wrote the bookEssentialism and he says if you
don't prioritize your life,someone else will, and this
(11:42):
really hits home for me, becausewhenever I started my podcast
in 2018, I thought that I wassupposed to be at the mercy of
my calendar.
But once I understood thatprioritizing my time was my
responsibility, I stoppedwaiting for that perfect week,
all of these interviews and allthese things, just to fall
perfectly in line.
(12:02):
I stopped waiting for that andI started creating a system that
worked for me every single week.
So how do you take control ofyour time and make it
sustainable?
That's where the PREP'M methodcomes in, and here's my little
aside for everybody listeningand watching today.
You probably already know thePREP'M method because you're
here, but if it's brand new toyou, feel free to take
(12:23):
screenshots because this is thegood stuff here.
But if it's brand new to you,feel free to take screenshots
because this is the good stuff,all right.
So if you're wondering and Iactually said this from the
stage, so you are getting likethe behind the scenes, like a
side If you're wondering whichslide to screenshot, this is it.
This is the PREP'M method.
It is your creative energyprotection system.
It's the system we use atProffitt Media for every single
(12:43):
piece of content we create, andit's the same thing that I teach
my students and clients andthat's why I want to share it
here with you today.
So PREP'M stands for Plan,record, edit, publish, and
Market.
So each letter represents adifferent type of creative
energy.
When you try to do them all atonce, you're asking your brain
(13:05):
to be strategic and creative andtechnical and promotional and
analytical all at the same time,and that's not productivity,
that's chaos and it's likely whyyou feel burnt out.
So let's dig more into the rootissue of the problem.
So task switching is killingyour momentum.
(13:26):
This is your biggest issue.
So every time you switch fromplanning to editing, to
recording, to promoting andpublishing and like do marketing
, doing all these things yourbrain needs a lot of time to
reset.
I've read studies where it cantake you up to 20 minutes to
reset and fully focus.
So if you're jumping in betweenall of these tasks, I've read
(13:46):
studies where it could take youup to 20 minutes to reset and
fully focus.
So if you're jumping in betweenall of these tasks, then you're
never actually operating at fullcapacity.
You're always in that foggylike wait, what was I doing?
Have you ever found yourselflike this?
Like you're sitting down torecord, you're like I don't need
to play anything, I'm fine.
And then you're like what was Italking about?
What was the point I was tryingto make?
Well, here's the solution.
(14:08):
The solution to avoid that isto double down on one thing.
So let's say you only have 60minutes tomorrow to work on your
content.
What if you double down and justdid a 60 minute planning
session?
So it's pure strategy andideation and it gives you the
ability to create space for yourbest ideas.
(14:32):
Or maybe you did a 60-minuterecording session and it's pure
creative flow and it allows forcreativity without any
interruptions.
Or maybe it's a 60-minuteediting session where you get
through all that pure technicalfocus and you just churn out all
these episodes.
You're just like man, I'm inthe flow, I need to keep this
(14:52):
going, and then I'll have allthis content edited for the rest
of the month.
Or maybe you just sit down andhave pure execution in a
publishing session where you canschedule all of your episodes
from now to the end of the year.
And then maybe you can do amarketing session where it's
pure promotion and engagement.
Maybe you just sit down andanswer YouTube comments because
(15:14):
you haven't had time to do it,but you know that you need to.
You're focusing thatpromotional energy for maximum
impact.
But here's the freedom formulain all of this when you know
exactly what you're supposed tobe doing and when your creative
brain is free to do what it doesbest, create right.
(15:36):
That's the beauty in all ofthis.
So here's a practical, tacticalway for you to use the PREP'M
method.
So this calendar view reallyshows how you could do this next
week.
So if you've never implementedanything like this, you can
literally start next Monday ifyou want to kick it off.
So let's say, monday is aplanning day.
(15:57):
That's where you're going tofocus on your content calendar
work, on doing research for yournext episode, maybe writing
some outlines, preppinginterview questions, maybe who
you want to interview on yourpodcast.
You're doing research and thenon Tuesday you sit down and you
record Maybe you can batch twoto four individual solo episodes
(16:18):
and then Wednesday you sit downto edit those.
You process all of that recordedcontent and then maybe on
Thursday, you schedule it out byputting you know, have the
publishing hat on, you upload itto YouTube, you upload it to
Buzzsprout, you schedule it out,you do your SEO optimization or
whatever else you need to dobefore that episode goes live.
(16:40):
And then, on a Friday, youcould sit down and think about
your marketing strategy.
You could be in Canva all day,which I love Canva, right.
You could work on promotionalgraphics.
You could create a PDF leadmagnet to help you grow your
email list.
You could do your social mediascheduling.
You could again go back andanswer all those YouTube
comments that you've kind ofneglected over time.
(17:02):
But people ask me all the timelike, Krystal, how do you get
ahead and create consistentlywhen you're batching all your
content?
How are you doing this, this,this right here?
This is how I'm doing this.
I'm using this PREP'M method inorder for me to do it, and the
beauty this is what I love aboutit.
The beauty of the PREP'M methodis that it scales to your
(17:23):
schedule.
So, whether you have five hoursa week or 50, you can adapt it
to protect your creative energy,because people will tell me,
Krystal, I don't have a ton oftime.
Well then, implement this, evenif it's only five minutes a day.
If you only had 25 minutes thisweek to work on your content,
do five minutes every day of oneof these, all right.
(17:45):
So we've covered tool numberone your weekly workflow.
Tool number two the PREP'Mmethod for keeping your content
engine running smoothly.
But the truth is is that youcan have the perfect workflow
and the best batching system inthe world and still want to quit
your podcast.
Okay, so I see you if you'relike, yeah, so I have all these
(18:05):
things figured out, but I stillfeel burned out.
Well then, this last section isfor you.
So let's talk about yourmindset.
This is tool number three.
It's all about protecting yourbandwidth and your mindset to
keep showing up withoutresenting your content or the
process.
This is how you stay in lovewith your content.
(18:26):
So do you remember how, back inthe beginning, I told you that
I'm your fake therapist?
Hi, I'm Krystal, I'm your fakecontent therapist.
Well, now we are deep into oursession, right, and we're about
to get a little uncomfortableabout what's really holding you
back in your content.
Sometimes it's you or maybe Ishould say, I should rephrase it
(18:48):
Sometimes it's your approach,maybe it's your perfectionism
that's holding your back, likeyou're spending three hours
editing a 20-minute episode andit's keeping you stuck from
moving forward.
So I want you to ask yourselfam I creating content I'm
excited to share, or content Ithink I should create, because
(19:11):
the moment you start creatingthat shoulding content and I
said said shooting that's whenyou start to burn out.
Or maybe now, like any otherrelationship, if you're not the
problem, maybe it's them.
Maybe they are the problem, andby them I mean your audience.
You're attracting those energyvampires, those listeners who
(19:33):
are only complaining ordemanding things from you, or
people who expect freeconsulting in the DMs, or they
just want free stuff from youall the time.
They're draining your energy.
And here's the hard truth Noteveryone deserves access to your
energy.
It's better to have 100 engagedlisteners who love what you do
(19:56):
than 1,000 who drain you.
And then the last one issometimes it's your capacity and
you just need a break.
Sometimes it's time for a breakand I want you to get really
honest about yourself, about howyou're prioritizing your
content.
Maybe you're pushing throughinstead of adapting, or you're
maintaining the same schedule,even though your life has
(20:17):
changed.
I said earlier, I started in2018.
It's 2025.
My life looks drasticallydifferent today than it did
seven years ago.
So I have to pivot and bob andweave to what I'm doing today
versus what I did back then, andI'm going to give this to you
with like the gentlest love.
(20:38):
So just imagine you're in myfake therapy office and you're
hugging that tight pillow andyou're saying, sometimes the
most productive thing you can dois rest, giving yourself a
break, because your podcast willstill be there when you're
ready to return with renewedenergy.
So I don't know which one ofthese applies to you today, but
(20:59):
I want to do a little practicalapplication self-assessment and
I want you to think about youdon't have to raise your hand or
say out loud oh yeah, that's me.
But I want you to think aboutyour last few episodes.
What's your biggest energydrain?
Is it your approach?
Are you excited about yourcontent?
Are you just going through themotions?
Is it your audience?
(21:20):
Are you energized or exhaustedby your listeners?
Or maybe it's your capacity?
Are you honoring the seasonthat you're in right now?
Are you fighting against it?
And then, whatever you'veidentified here today, that's
your starting point.
That's where you need to focuson course correcting or maybe
(21:41):
rebalancing in some way, becauseby being honest about what's
draining your creative energy,you don't just avoid burnout.
You create space for whatmatters.
Now I want to share a quickrecap.
Right Like the main takeawaysfrom this is value your time
just as much as you value yourcontent.
(22:01):
When you do, you don't justavoid burnout, you create space
for the work that actually movesyour podcast forward, and
that's how you fall back in lovewith your content so you can
keep creating for years to comewith your content.
So you can keep creating foryears to come.
Now, if you're watching this,listening to this, and you're a
(22:23):
regular listener of the podcastor the YouTube channel, you
probably already know this.
But I want to give a plug herefor the PREP'M Method Guide.
So we created a PDF guide.
You krystalproffitt.
com/p repm, go to prepm,p-r-e-p-m, and it's gonna go a
step deeper into how we use thisin our business.
It's exactly what I've used tocreate over 1,500 episodes
without burning out, and I wantyou to have it completely free.
(22:46):
So go to to download it.
But I wanna give you one lastpiece of advice.
This is what I give to everyonethat's in our community,
everyone everywhere, and it'sactually how we're going to end
this episode today.
Because you're going to be sofamiliar with it.
Make sure you hit that followand subscribe button wherever
(23:07):
you're watching and listeningtoday and, as always, remember,
keep it up.
We all have to start somewhere.
So do you remember how, back in the
beginning, I told you that I'myour fake therapist?
Hi, I'm Krystal.
I'm your fake content therapist.
Well, now we are deep into oursession, right, and we're about
to get a little uncomfortableabout what's really holding you
back in your content.
Welcome to the Proffitt Podcast, where we teach you how to
(00:21):
start, launch and market yourcontent with confidence.
I'm your host, Krystal Proffitt, and I'm so excited that you're
here.
Thanks for hanging out with metoday, because if you've been
trying to figure out the worldof content creation, this is the
show that will help be yourtime-saving shortcut.
So let's get right to it, shallwe?
Well, hello there.
(00:44):
This is going to be a super funepisode, because I am trying to
recreate my talk that I did atPodcast Movement.
All right, so bear with me as Itry to remember what the heck I
even said.
So it's been almost it's beenover a week and a half since I
(01:05):
did this talk, but I was likeman, I have to relive that
moment because it was soimportant, so special, and I
want this audience to haveexactly what I did.
So I wish I could be likestanding in front of you and,
you know, have my mic in handand my clicker in the other.
(01:25):
I mean, I'm still going to showyou my slides.
So if you're watching or, sorry, listening on the audio only
version, you will get a lot outof it.
But if you want to see thevisuals, just know that they
will be on the YouTube videoinstead of just the audio only
version.
And I wanted to preface all ofthis to say that this talk was
(01:45):
really well received and it wasso much fun.
I love speaking on stage infront of real people, and so
this is probably not going to beas great as it was that day,
because I don't have the sameenergy, the same hype.
Like, I'm recording this andthere's a house full of kids,
(02:06):
there's laundry happening in thehouse, it's raining.
I'm just praying that there's abreak where I don't have a
severe thunderstorm in themiddle of this recording, so all
the things.
But this is real life, right?
This is being a creator, so I'mjust going to dive into it.
So let's get right to it.
(02:27):
Welcome to three time managementtools to avoid podcast burnout.
My name is Krystal Proffitt.
If we haven't met before, I ama content coach and strategist.
For those of y'all watchingthis.
I'm just delivering it how Idelivered it that day, so just
roll with it, okay.
Okay, we're just so.
Just roll with it, okay.
Okay, we're just gonna rollwith it.
And I'm so happy that you'rehere, because so many people
(02:49):
talk about burnout and this isprobably something that you've
experienced yourself, so let'sjust dive right in to what
burnout is and how you can avoidit.
So a few years back, I wasexperiencing having all these
things that I needed to do.
I am a busy mom and I wastrying to be a content creator,
(03:15):
be an author and have time forall these other important things
in my life.
And I actually looked at mycalendar and I was like, how am
I supposed to fit podcastinginto my calendar?
I did not have enough time topodcast.
Can anyone relate to that?
Can you relate to recording orediting right up until midnight,
(03:36):
literally the night before anepisode goes live?
Yes, exactly, we've all beenthere.
But the problem isn't that lifegets in the way.
It's that we plan like lifewon't get in the way.
So content burnout isn't aboutnot having enough time.
It's about not protecting thetime that you have for what
(03:58):
matters most.
So, after publishing over 1,500podcast episodes and working
with thousands of creators, I'veunofficially dubbed myself a
content therapist.
So we're going to do a littletherapy here today, free of
charge, of course, but I wantyou to think of me as the person
who is going to help you workon the relationships that you
(04:21):
have.
But the only relationship we'retalking about here today is the
relationship that you have withyour content.
So we're here today to give youthe tools you need to avoid
creator burnout and fall back inlove with your content, so that
that relationship feels stableagain instead of stale and
running you down.
(04:41):
So the agenda is we're going totalk first about a weekly
workflow that you can actuallystick to, even with a packed
schedule.
Then we're going to dive intomy go-to content system and it,
honestly, will be the onlycontent system you will ever
need after today.
And then, third, we're going todive into the mindset shift you
might need to make to reallyhave that healthy relationship
(05:04):
with your podcast and yourcontent, even if life is still
chaotic.
So diving into tool number one.
Tool number one is all aboutplanning for reality, not
perfection, and this is soimportant because a weekly
workflow that you can actuallystick to will be so eye-opening
for you, even if you have apacked schedule.
(05:26):
So here's what's actuallystealing your creative time.
Let's say you have this perfectplan versus the reality of life.
Maybe you plan to record yourpodcast on a Tuesday.
You're like Tuesday is the onlyday that it will work for me to
record my podcast.
But then life happens thatdentist appointment that you
(05:46):
absolutely forgot about and youcan't reschedule because it'll
take you months to get back ontheir calendar.
Or maybe you wake up and one ofyour kids is sick, or you have
a work emergency or 50 otherthousand things that could
happen.
That is just typical of being ahuman on this planet.
Well, suddenly it's Thursdayand you're stressed and you're
(06:08):
recording at 11 pm the nightbefore an episode needs to go
live and your energy is shot.
You are faking it till you makeit.
So raise your hand.
If this is something thatsounds familiar, I know y'all
are listening and nodding alongtoday.
But remember, the problem isn'tthat life gets in the way.
The problem is that we planlike life won't get in the way.
(06:31):
And I'm here to tell you guysspoiler alert life will always
get in the way of what you'retrying to accomplish.
You can have a great plan andthings just go awry and they
don't happen the way that youwant them to happen.
So I share this visual of myGoogle Calendar.
(06:52):
This was like a snapshot of oneweek in our household, of like
all the things that needed tohappen over the summer, and I
encourage you, when you look atyour calendars, to start
planning for interruptions andnot around them.
So I'm a mom of three kids.
Like I said, this is just asnapshot of our weekly calendar
(07:17):
and every single Sunday, we sitdown as a family and we look at
our Google calendar for the weekahead.
It's so simple and so powerful.
We ask the questions like whereare those potential conflicts?
Like my husband and I, like wecan't be in, you know, the same
place at the same time, withlike three different kids going
in different directions, andlike all these other things Like
(07:38):
what needs to be moved, what'sa priority, what is something
that we can skip and, for me,how can I protect that precious
time that I need to recordcontent?
So the method that I use inlooking at a weekly workflow is
look at the whole week and notjust like individual days of the
week.
(07:58):
Identify those non-negotiablecreative blocks that you
absolutely need and you can'tskip and then build in buffer
time around those tasks, likedon't give yourself 30 minutes
to do something when in realityyou know it's probably going to
take 45, maybe even 60 minutesto really accomplish what you're
trying to do.
(08:19):
So I do the same review everysingle week for my personal like
family calendar.
I do the same review everysingle week for my personal
family calendar.
I do it also for myprofessional calendar and what I
need to create.
And then I merge them alltogether because whenever you
protect your content, like youdo a family priority, it really
changes how you look at it andhow you protect that time.
(08:42):
And then people always ask meabout my tools.
So I always say that toolsshould serve you, not overwhelm
you.
And the three tools that I use?
I keep it very simple.
I use Google Calendar.
Google integrates with all thethings that I need for, again,
my personal life.
In my professional life, I canpick up my phone, look at my
(09:03):
Google Calendar and everythingis in one place and I can manage
it very easily.
And then, speaking ofmanagement, I use a project
management tool called Asana forall of my projects.
So that's where I keep all ofmy deadlines.
I track all the things that Ineed to accomplish in a week in
order to meet all the differentrequirements that my content has
(09:24):
to meet all the differentrequirements that my content has
.
And then Calendly is thescheduling tool that I always
think of it as like the boundaryprotector of my business,
because I can scheduleinterviews and know that it's
not gonna get scheduled over apersonal priority that I have,
or on a day when my kids are outof school and I don't wanna
record something, or I'mactually gonna be on vacation.
So it's very helpful, and Iknow there's probably a
(09:47):
bajillion other tools that youcan use.
I've just used Calendly foryears and I have a really good
price.
So I locked in that price along time ago and I'm just going
to keep on keeping on using thetools that I have chosen.
But the rule is choose toolsthat reduce decisions, not
create more of them for you, andthe best tool is actually the
(10:08):
one that you will useconsistently and it just works
for you.
So now that you know a fewtools to protect your time, let
me show you how to protect thatcreative energy that you have.
So there's a story that I toldabout having a client who her
podcast was such a time suck.
She actually made time to doall the things, and the issue
(10:33):
wasn't that she didn't haveenough time, it was that when
she did have time, she wasplanning, recording, editing and
doing every single thing thather content required in one day,
and she was bleeding creativeenergy, maybe not even in one
day in like one 60-minute blockthat she had.
So after implementing what I'mabout to show you, she started
(10:56):
to love recording again, becausethat's all she had to do.
All she had to do on the timethat she had was sit down and
record, and it was so freeing toher.
Imagine if, for your nextsession, all you had to do is
sit down, press, record andstart talking.
Right, that sounds like a dream.
Let me show you how this works.
So tool number two that we needto talk about is protecting
(11:19):
your creative energy by workingsmarter, not harder, and this is
the only content system you'llneed.
This method is the backbone ofhow I keep creating without
burnout, and I love this quoteby Greg McEwen.
So he wrote the bookEssentialism and he says if you
don't prioritize your life,someone else will, and this
(11:42):
really hits home for me, becausewhenever I started my podcast
in 2018, I thought that I wassupposed to be at the mercy of
my calendar.
But once I understood thatprioritizing my time was my
responsibility, I stoppedwaiting for that perfect week,
all of these interviews and allthese things, just to fall
perfectly in line.
(12:02):
I stopped waiting for that andI started creating a system that
worked for me every single week.
So how do you take control ofyour time and make it
sustainable?
That's where the PREP'M methodcomes in, and here's my little
aside for everybody listeningand watching today.
You probably already know thePREP'M method because you're
here, but if it's brand new toyou, feel free to take
(12:23):
screenshots because this is thegood stuff here.
But if it's brand new to you,feel free to take screenshots
because this is the good stuff,all right.
So if you're wondering and Iactually said this from the
stage, so you are getting likethe behind the scenes, like a
side If you're wondering whichslide to screenshot, this is it.
This is the PREP'M method.
It is your creative energyprotection system.
It's the system we use atProffitt Media for every single
(12:43):
piece of content we create, andit's the same thing that I teach
my students and clients andthat's why I want to share it
here with you today.
So PREP'M stands for Plan,record, edit, publish, and
Market.
So each letter represents adifferent type of creative
energy.
When you try to do them all atonce, you're asking your brain
(13:05):
to be strategic and creative andtechnical and promotional and
analytical all at the same time,and that's not productivity,
that's chaos and it's likely whyyou feel burnt out.
So let's dig more into the rootissue of the problem.
So task switching is killingyour momentum.
(13:26):
This is your biggest issue.
So every time you switch fromplanning to editing, to
recording, to promoting andpublishing and like do marketing
, doing all these things yourbrain needs a lot of time to
reset.
I've read studies where it cantake you up to 20 minutes to
reset and fully focus.
So if you're jumping in betweenall of these tasks, I've read
(13:46):
studies where it could take youup to 20 minutes to reset and
fully focus.
So if you're jumping in betweenall of these tasks, then you're
never actually operating at fullcapacity.
You're always in that foggylike wait, what was I doing?
Have you ever found yourselflike this?
Like you're sitting down torecord, you're like I don't need
to play anything, I'm fine.
And then you're like what was Italking about?
What was the point I was tryingto make?
Well, here's the solution.
(14:08):
The solution to avoid that isto double down on one thing.
So let's say you only have 60minutes tomorrow to work on your
content.
What if you double down and justdid a 60 minute planning
session?
So it's pure strategy andideation and it gives you the
ability to create space for yourbest ideas.
(14:32):
Or maybe you did a 60-minuterecording session and it's pure
creative flow and it allows forcreativity without any
interruptions.
Or maybe it's a 60-minuteediting session where you get
through all that pure technicalfocus and you just churn out all
these episodes.
You're just like man, I'm inthe flow, I need to keep this
(14:52):
going, and then I'll have allthis content edited for the rest
of the month.
Or maybe you just sit down andhave pure execution in a
publishing session where you canschedule all of your episodes
from now to the end of the year.
And then maybe you can do amarketing session where it's
pure promotion and engagement.
Maybe you just sit down andanswer YouTube comments because
(15:14):
you haven't had time to do it,but you know that you need to.
You're focusing thatpromotional energy for maximum
impact.
But here's the freedom formulain all of this when you know
exactly what you're supposed tobe doing and when your creative
brain is free to do what it doesbest, create right.
(15:36):
That's the beauty in all ofthis.
So here's a practical, tacticalway for you to use the PREP'M
method.
So this calendar view reallyshows how you could do this next
week.
So if you've never implementedanything like this, you can
literally start next Monday ifyou want to kick it off.
So let's say, monday is aplanning day.
(15:57):
That's where you're going tofocus on your content calendar
work, on doing research for yournext episode, maybe writing
some outlines, preppinginterview questions, maybe who
you want to interview on yourpodcast.
You're doing research and thenon Tuesday you sit down and you
record Maybe you can batch twoto four individual solo episodes
(16:18):
and then Wednesday you sit downto edit those.
You process all of that recordedcontent and then maybe on
Thursday, you schedule it out byputting you know, have the
publishing hat on, you upload itto YouTube, you upload it to
Buzzsprout, you schedule it out,you do your SEO optimization or
whatever else you need to dobefore that episode goes live.
(16:40):
And then, on a Friday, youcould sit down and think about
your marketing strategy.
You could be in Canva all day,which I love Canva, right.
You could work on promotionalgraphics.
You could create a PDF leadmagnet to help you grow your
email list.
You could do your social mediascheduling.
You could again go back andanswer all those YouTube
comments that you've kind ofneglected over time.
(17:02):
But people ask me all the timelike, Krystal, how do you get
ahead and create consistentlywhen you're batching all your
content?
How are you doing this, this,this right here?
This is how I'm doing this.
I'm using this PREP'M method inorder for me to do it, and the
beauty this is what I love aboutit.
The beauty of the PREP'M methodis that it scales to your
(17:23):
schedule.
So, whether you have five hoursa week or 50, you can adapt it
to protect your creative energy,because people will tell me,
Krystal, I don't have a ton oftime.
Well then, implement this, evenif it's only five minutes a day.
If you only had 25 minutes thisweek to work on your content,
do five minutes every day of oneof these, all right.
(17:45):
So we've covered tool numberone your weekly workflow.
Tool number two the PREP'Mmethod for keeping your content
engine running smoothly.
But the truth is is that youcan have the perfect workflow
and the best batching system inthe world and still want to quit
your podcast.
Okay, so I see you if you'relike, yeah, so I have all these
(18:05):
things figured out, but I stillfeel burned out.
Well then, this last section isfor you.
So let's talk about yourmindset.
This is tool number three.
It's all about protecting yourbandwidth and your mindset to
keep showing up withoutresenting your content or the
process.
This is how you stay in lovewith your content.
(18:26):
So do you remember how, back inthe beginning, I told you that
I'm your fake therapist?
Hi, I'm Krystal, I'm your fakecontent therapist.
Well, now we are deep into oursession, right, and we're about
to get a little uncomfortableabout what's really holding you
back in your content.
Sometimes it's you or maybe Ishould say, I should rephrase it
(18:48):
Sometimes it's your approach,maybe it's your perfectionism
that's holding your back, likeyou're spending three hours
editing a 20-minute episode andit's keeping you stuck from
moving forward.
So I want you to ask yourselfam I creating content I'm
excited to share, or content Ithink I should create, because
(19:11):
the moment you start creatingthat shoulding content and I
said said shooting that's whenyou start to burn out.
Or maybe now, like any otherrelationship, if you're not the
problem, maybe it's them.
Maybe they are the problem, andby them I mean your audience.
You're attracting those energyvampires, those listeners who
(19:33):
are only complaining ordemanding things from you, or
people who expect freeconsulting in the DMs, or they
just want free stuff from youall the time.
They're draining your energy.
And here's the hard truth Noteveryone deserves access to your
energy.
It's better to have 100 engagedlisteners who love what you do
(19:56):
than 1,000 who drain you.
And then the last one issometimes it's your capacity and
you just need a break.
Sometimes it's time for a breakand I want you to get really
honest about yourself, about howyou're prioritizing your
content.
Maybe you're pushing throughinstead of adapting, or you're
maintaining the same schedule,even though your life has
(20:17):
changed.
I said earlier, I started in2018.
It's 2025.
My life looks drasticallydifferent today than it did
seven years ago.
So I have to pivot and bob andweave to what I'm doing today
versus what I did back then, andI'm going to give this to you
with like the gentlest love.
(20:38):
So just imagine you're in myfake therapy office and you're
hugging that tight pillow andyou're saying, sometimes the
most productive thing you can dois rest, giving yourself a
break, because your podcast willstill be there when you're
ready to return with renewedenergy.
So I don't know which one ofthese applies to you today, but
(20:59):
I want to do a little practicalapplication self-assessment and
I want you to think about youdon't have to raise your hand or
say out loud oh yeah, that's me.
But I want you to think aboutyour last few episodes.
What's your biggest energydrain?
Is it your approach?
Are you excited about yourcontent?
Are you just going through themotions?
Is it your audience?
(21:20):
Are you energized or exhaustedby your listeners?
Or maybe it's your capacity?
Are you honoring the seasonthat you're in right now?
Are you fighting against it?
And then, whatever you'veidentified here today, that's
your starting point.
That's where you need to focuson course correcting or maybe
(21:41):
rebalancing in some way, becauseby being honest about what's
draining your creative energy,you don't just avoid burnout.
You create space for whatmatters.
Now I want to share a quickrecap.
Right Like the main takeawaysfrom this is value your time
just as much as you value yourcontent.
(22:01):
When you do, you don't justavoid burnout, you create space
for the work that actually movesyour podcast forward, and
that's how you fall back in lovewith your content so you can
keep creating for years to comewith your content.
So you can keep creating foryears to come.
Now, if you're watching this,listening to this, and you're a
(22:23):
regular listener of the podcastor the YouTube channel, you
probably already know this.
But I want to give a plug herefor the PREP'M Method Guide.
So we created a PDF guide.
You krystalproffitt.
com/p repm, go to prepm,p-r-e-p-m, and it's gonna go a
step deeper into how we use thisin our business.
It's exactly what I've used tocreate over 1,500 episodes
without burning out, and I wantyou to have it completely free.
(22:46):
So go to to download it.
But I wanna give you one lastpiece of advice.
This is what I give to everyonethat's in our community,
everyone everywhere, and it'sactually how we're going to end
this episode today.
Because you're going to be sofamiliar with it.
Make sure you hit that followand subscribe button wherever
(23:07):
you're watching and listeningtoday and, as always, remember,
keep it up.
We all have to start somewhere.
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