What My Unexpected Podcast Break Taught Me | 107

Ever found yourself taking a podcast break you didn’t mean to?

Yeah… me too. What started as a short breather turned into a months-long podcast break I didn’t plan, and in this episode, I’m sharing the full story. 

From system gaps to bandwidth burnout, this episode unpacks why I stepped away, what’s changed, and how I’m doing things differently now.

What you’ll learn:

• What led to my unplanned podcast break
• The pressure of needing “perfect” systems (especially with ADHD)
• A key mindset shift that helped me move forward without burnout
• How I’m simplifying productivity in this new season
• What to expect from the podcast going forward

Whether you're returning from your own podcast break, juggling too much, or needing permission to pause, this episode is for you. 

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Show Notes: https://cheerstoproductivity.com/podcast/ 

Transcript

0:00

I didn't plan to step away from the podcast, but when your systems aren't built and your bandwidth is maxed out, sometimes the pause chooses you Hey, I am Lucy Reyes. Welcome to the podcast where we make productivity feel doable and aligned with practical tips to help you manage your task, streamline your systems, and stay consistent in a way that honors your energy, your faith, and your real life capacity. If that sounds like something you need, then hit subscribe and let's jump in. Oh my goodness. I am back. Cute. Mariah Carey's like high pitch, like it is time. That's how I feel right now. I'm back. I'm back. I'm back. I honestly have missed talking into a mic Yeah, I, I've just missed it. I've missed it. I've missed it so much and it is been a minute. This year has been a lot, it's been a lot of growth. It's been a lot of transformation. It's been a lot of. Hardship as well, personally and professionally. And so I didn't actually think I was going to be stepping away from the podcast for as long as I did. So today I wanna just come back with pure honesty and just share. What the heck happened, what has changed since then and what this podcast will look like moving forward. So I'm really excited if you are a long time listener, welcome back. Thank you so much for choosing to have me in your ear again. And if you're new to me, then hey, I'm Lizzie Reyes. I'm a Productivityist strategist and I love simplifying your life with simple productivity tips that are not necessarily your. Strategies that you have learned before or heard about before, like the Pomodoro technique or eat the frog or waking up at 5:00 AM that's what makes you productive or even getting dressed. I'm literally recording. Yeah, in a nice talk because I just recorded a video of. My intro, my new intro, but usually I'm just in a rioted t-shirt and I'm wearing some sweatpants. Usually I'm wearing some shorts. I don't believe that you have to get dressed. I don't believe you have to wake up 5:00 AM but if you stick around, you will learn. What I recommend for you, for us as entrepreneurs, as moms, as just busy people that are trying to manage so much and likely with some neuro diversity brains. Because like me, I have learned in the past like you're gonna half that we come from a family of ADHDers. It's not something that we knew. But as I started looking into it for my son, it came very evident like. So much started to make sense, so, so much, and so, all right, let's go ahead and jump in. I have some notes in front of me, so I want to share why I stepped away in the first place. Like my intention was to take a break. I was really wanting to hone in on YouTube and learn YouTube, and I knew that with my current bandwidth, there was no way that I could do both, at least not very well. So I've been doing podcasting and even then I wasn't quite sure with how. I felt the podcast was going at the time and it just didn't feel that right anymore, and I really wanted to dedicate the time to learn and implement YouTube, and I wanted to do it very well. So I signed up for a program. I got my systems in place, and that was the other thing. It was so hard for me to move on something when I don't have my systems. Again, A DHD, like if I don't have my systems. I can't do it. And so YouTube was brand new to me. Like, yeah, I've posted on YouTube before and I had somewhat of a process, but I've never used this strategically, so I really wanted to make it a priority. And so that's the honest, like truth of why I actually stepped away. I just wanted to focus on one thing. But I thought it was going to be a much shorter pause, and it turned out to be, I don't know, several months. And it's not all because of YouTube. Like the pause just ended up sticking around because of so many other things going on in my life and season. I just literally couldn't keep up with anything and it felt like. This year, everything changed like every single week. So I constantly felt like I was just trying to catch up with everything that I needed to do to keep my business afloat. And returning the podcast was just not part of that plan. Like there was no way I could fit that in with my energy. And so that's one thing that I really learned about myself from this season is that one. I definitely, I need systems and processes before I can start a project. And there is a downside. There is a downside. I have also recognized that I am a perfectionist when it comes to my systems, which. In a sense, it's like, yeah, that's great, and at the same time it's not, because what I found, what it, what I found I was doing was I was not even taking a step forward if I didn't have the entire system built out. So for example, for YouTube, I struggle to get. Started because I was overwhelmed and I didn't have the entire system, like from start to finish, from edit, from picking the topic, doing the keyword research all the way to publishing and repurposing. I wanted to have the entire system done before I got started, and I realized that that has actually held me back so much. So I have really been. Challenging myself to just take the next step and to build my system as I go. So as once I came to that realization, that's when I started really jumping into YouTube. I was like, you know what? I'm gonna take it one step at a time and I'm gonna build the system as I record this first video. As I work on this first video, I'm going to work on my system, and then I'll go back and refine it and tweak it. So this was one of the first times this year that I really allowed myself to start a project before having the entire system completely built. And it worked. It worked. And. I am really excited to make that my regular routine. It's definitely a change in how I'm working, but take that as a lesson for you too, because I know I have so many people in my audience who also struggle with getting their systems, and one question I get all the time is, you know, I need so many systems and I'm overwhelmed with which systems to start. And my answer is always just start with one. Start with one system. And. Also to take it a de a step further is start with one system and build it out as you go. Don't feel the pressure to have to completely have it done before you even start using it. So yeah, that is one thing that I definitely learned about myself in this season. So now I'm back. Now I'm back. And here's what you can expect. honestly, I, I missed having this space to just reflect, to talk things out, to share openly. I'm still going to be making YouTube a priority, so definitely go to the show notes to check out my YouTube, subscribe to my channel moving forward. A good majority of my podcast episodes will also be recorded as a video podcast, so they will be uploaded to YouTube and on the podcast. If it's very much tutorial visuals, then I will probably not put it on the podcast, and if it's something where I'm just doing like jumping on and doing a rant about something random and I don't want to record a video. Then I'll probably just put it on the podcast, like I'm giving myself the flexibility to do whatever feels aligned and right in the moment. I'm gonna continue on this path now that I have learned something about myself. I am also not trying to follow a strict format this time. So there was a time through my podcasting journey where I wrote out the script and then I went to notes. And then with ai, I was like, Ooh, super easy. Let me write out the script again. And I did that because. I can ramble. I'm a rambler and sometimes it's good and sometimes I, you know, a DHD brain, I go off on a whole different tangent. So it didn't, I didn't like it though. And that's when I started to be like, you know what? I need a break from the podcast. So I am coming back, not following the strict format. I do have my bullet points and I will have my notes, but I'm just gonna let myself. Speak'cause that is how I teach best, is by just thinking and talking through the main topic. So there is going to be a mix of solo episodes. I will be more intentional about bringing in some guest episodes as well. You know, probably pop in here and there with some reflections and updates, or like I said, whatever feels aligned. My faith has really been calling me this year in a much deeper way. So it's definitely going to show up in the ways that I reflect or share and process things moving forward. So there's definitely going to be a lot more of that integrated into my brand, my business, my content. So just to let you know what is coming. Like I said, I have gone through a massive growth journey this year. I definitely was like in my little turtle shell. I didn't do much outward stuff. I wasn't in many collaborations this year. I really just bunker down and worked on the back end of my systems and on myself. So. Next year, 2026, you're going to see how I am now balancing everything, and I say balancing with quotations because it's not an equal balance, but it's still a balancing act, right? How I'm keeping all of the balls up in the air, or which ones are dropping. Because let's be honest, I drop balls all the time, but I still am really productive and I want to help you do the same, and I want productivity to feel aligned. And intentional. I don't want it to feel rigid. I don't want you to feel like it's this, ugh, like I wasn't productive. Like we're gonna get into all of that in the next upcoming episodes because there's just way more evolved perspective on this, and I really, really am so excited to share all of it with you because I'm here to change the way that people view productivity. Like I am still seeing how it is. So tied to a negative connotation of the hustle, the do more, the I have to do this, or I have to produce X amount of output for it to be productive and like, no, no, we, that's not what we're doing here. So subscribe to the podcast. Follow tune in, subscribe to the podcast or YouTube, and stay tuned to the next episode because that is where I'm gonna really get started and dive into the first topic, which is going to share the biggest productivity shift that changed everything for me, and I know it can do the same for you. So, all right, friend. Thank you so much for. Sticking around and coming back and listening to this episode. I'm so excited for what's coming next, and I'll be back with another episode soon. Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast with me, Lucy Reyes.To view the full transcript and all the links mentioned in today's episode, visit cheerstoproductivity.com/podcast. And before you go up, make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you're listening so that you know once the next productive chat is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success