Hello and welcome back to Indie Author Weekly! This is the podcast for indie authors, aspiring authors, and curious bookworms who want the inside scoop, tips and motivation, and the behind-the-scenes journey of writing and self-publishing books. I’m your host, Sagan Morrow (or @Saganlives on Twitter & Instagram), and I’m an anti-hustle productivity strategist and an author of polyamorous romantic comedies.
Today I am doing an uncomfortable thing. This is not the episode I had planned.
Originally, I had multiple podcast episode ideas to record around now. Last week, I sat down to record one of them, and it wasn’t coming together. I tried several times and it just wasn’t working.
So I set it aside and went for a walk. And while I was out walking, I was thinking to myself, “Okay, Sagan, this is Indie Author WEEKLY. You need to get an episode out there. You must record an episode. You cannot skip a week.”
Whenever I’m out walking by myself, I use my own self-coaching tools on myself—the same types of coaching and guided questions I use to help my clients. So I’m out walking, and my brain is very much focused on the idea of, “I’ve gotta get back and record a podcast episode! Can’t miss a week!”
So I asked myself, “Why do I need to record an episode? Why can’t I miss a week?”
Here was my answer: “Well, it’s Indie Author Weekly. You made a commitment. You have to do this.”
“Okay,” I said to myself, “What happens if I don’t do this?”
I went back and forth for a while, coaching myself through this, and the end result was that I was putting pressure on myself to do this, when what I really need is a break.
To me, it is extremely uncomfortable to back down from a commitment. It is very uncomfortable to press the pause button. And sometimes, that’s EXACTLY what we need to do.
So, I didn’t release a new episode last week. And this episode is a couple days “later” than usual. And… I won’t be releasing another episode for a little while. That’s right: I’m taking a legitimate hiatus from Indie Author Weekly.
Like I said, this is deeply uncomfortable for my brain. And also, this is a great decision for me to make at this stage.
This is especially important because in January, I am starting a new program called Solopreneur CEO—it’s a high-touch, 6-month, one-on-one coaching & mentorship program to help solopreneurs as they grow their businesses. I always want to make sure that my paying clients are served in the best possible way. And I am also working on my current romcom, Small Town Stilettos. I want to continue making good progress on that novel. There is also a lot still going on personally as I settle into my new home, after moving to a new city and buying a new place and everything over the past few months.
And with the holiday season approaching, I’m at a precipice.
This is really interesting timing, since I just released an episode about how to know when it’s time to quit your novel, back in Episode 137 of this Indie Author Weekly podcast, and that episode touches on a very similar experience: the precipice, the turning point, where you get the opportunity to make a decision.
Now, to clarify, this is not about me quitting Indie Author Weekly! This is a pause. A little breather. Because I need to take my own coaching advice, from when I’m doing productivity & success coaching for clients—I need to adjust my own energy management. And that, for me, at this stage, means removing a project from my plate. And at this stage, Indie Author Weekly makes the most sense to be that thing.
Here’s a fun little behind-the-scenes of podcasting for you: Even though each of these episodes is usually less than 15 minutes long, it actually takes me about 2 hours each week to do this podcast. That includes planning out the episodes, writing transcripts, recording episodes, creating the show notes, uploading it to go live; all of that stuff.
At this point in my business, getting an extra 2 hours is great, but it’s not really necessary. I do about 30 hours of active work per week, on average, so that means there’s a lot of flexibility for me to add more hours if I quote-unquote “need” to. But for me, it’s about the bandwidth and capacity: I could keep doing this podcast for the next couple months, and still show up and serve my paying clients effectively. But I’d be tired. I wouldn’t make very much progress on my novel. And I definitely don’t think I’d enjoy things as much. That would reduce my energy, creativity, capacity, bandwidth… and then I’d produce lower quality content anyway, which doesn’t make any of us happy, does it? Exactly.
Sidebar: There are spots open for different ways to work with me, so if YOU want anti-hustle productivity strategy and success coaching for your own business and life, please feel free to email hello@saganmorrow.com so we can discuss your best option. End of sidebar!)
The best way for me to manage my energy is to focus on the top priorities at this stage of my business—and that’s my paying clients, finishing my novel, and taking good care of myself along the way.
This podcast is something that I can set aside, for the time being.
The reason why I’m sharing all of this with you isn’t to justify why I’m pausing the podcast—I don’t need justification for doing it. The reason why I’m sharing this is threefold:
First, I care about you! I am extremely grateful for this corner of the podcasting world, and I really appreciate that you tune in to hear Indie Author Weekly every week. To me, if I didn’t do an episode explaining what’s happening here, it would feel as though I just abruptly stood up and walked out of the room in the middle of us having a conversation together. I don’t want to do that to you. Consider this my hug to you as I go and take a nap in the other room, so you can go chat with other people for a while. I don’t want to leave you hanging!
The second reason I’m sharing this is because energy management is important. As an anti-hustle Productivity Strategist and Success Coach, I am always teaching about energy management! Energy management is the foundation of time management. It doesn’t matter how much time we have, if we’re too exhausted to make good use of that time or enjoy those extra hours. I’m constantly shifting things to accommodate for my energy levels, and that’s what we’re doing by taking a little step back from Indie Author Weekly. Practicing what I preach here.
By the way, if you want to learn more about energy management and anti-hustle productivity strategies, then you can grab my free video training on the subject at SaganMorrow.com/training — link is in the show notes.
The third reason why I’m sharing all of this with you today is that decisions of any kind can feel big or difficult to make. That doesn’t mean you can’t make them. And the big stuff to some of us might be tiny to someone else, or vice versa. We can reframe, change our perspective, and we always, always have the autonomy to make the right decision for our own projects. I hope that while you’re listening to this, that it’s helping you realize that you can do the uncomfortable thing, too. You can make a decision that supports what you need, at this stage of your creative projects.
Now, if, on the other hand, you are thinking to yourself, “Why is Sagan making such a big deal about this? Podcasters take breaks all the time. This isn’t difficult or uncomfortable or a big decision to make,” well, if that’s what you’re thinking, then I want you to keep this exact moment in mind for the next time you are doing something uncomfortable. Because that big or scary thing to you—whatever it may be—is tiny and insignificant and not a big deal at all to someone else. That means it is doable. And you are capable. I want you to remember that. It’s not as big or scary or uncomfortable as you think it is. You are more capable to do the uncomfortable thing than you might realize.
I don’t know when I’ll be back with new episodes for you—and honestly, not having a planned time for this hiatus feels really uncomfortable, too. I’m guessing February? But I am doing the extremely uncomfortable-for-me thing, and I am not committing to a particular date. And hey, maybe by the time I return, I’ll have art on the walls of my new condo and we won’t have an echo in future podcast episodes! I’ve been recording recent episodes on the floor of my closet as a sound buffer, but today I expect it’ll be a bit more echoey because I’m recording this at my office desk. Doing what we can around here for that energy management!
I want to invite you to do the uncomfortable thing in your own life or business. Maybe, for you, that means letting go of a project, or pausing a project. Or maybe, for you, it means taking action and finally DOING the project you’ve been dreaming about. Spoiler alert—that’s usually the uncomfortable thing for most people!
Commit to doing one uncomfortable thing, one scary thing, every week, until the next episode of our Indie Author Weekly podcast is released. See what happens. See how your life changes, or see the aligned progress you’re able to make as a result. I’m going to do this. And I want to invite you to do the same.
And again, definitely reach out to me, hello@saganmorrow.com, if you want support while you do the uncomfortable thing. I’d love to coach you through it. I’m here for you. You are not alone.
Regardless of whether you want coaching, I still want you to email me to let me know about your own books you’re working on, or tell me what you enjoy about the Indie Author Weekly podcast, and what you want to see more of in the future. I’d really love to stay connected with you. You can also connect with me on Twitter or Instagram—my handle is @Saganlives. Reach out on either Twitter or Instagram, let me know you’re a podcast listener, and we can stay connected there!
All right. That, my friend, is a wrap for today’s episode of Indie Author Weekly. As always, you can access the show notes for this episode, including all links and additional resources, at SaganMorrow.com/podcast.
Thank you so much for tuning in. Please take 2 minutes to rate and review Indie Author Weekly on Apple Podcasts—I really appreciate your support.
This is not goodbye—it’s simply, “see you later.”
Until next time, this is Sagan Morrow, signing off the Indie Author Weekly podcast.