Has anyone become addicted to listening to podcasts?

[FDRx7]

This is something I've been realizing is a struggle for me. I am working on it with my therapist, but I am trying to find the root of why I do this. 

All day, I will have podcasts running in the background. I have some that I really like and will listen to more attentively. However, there are others that I just let run while I'm doing other things, and I'm not even really listening that closely. I will even do it during work when I'm not in a meeting until it gets to the point where I truly can't concentrate. Then I will shut it off for a time. This is not a consistent pattern, as other times I'll listen to background music (like Brain.FM which helps). Only in the past week have I really tried working in complete silences for small periods of time (usually 30min - 1hr). Even right now, I'm "listening" to a podcast in the background. I even go to bed with a podcast playing by my bedside or in my ears (if my wife is home so I don't disturb her). 

I've been cutting out a lot of things in my life and going to therapy to improve my mindset, habits, etc. One of the things I'm dealing with is brain fog. It's not the only factor, but I feel this must be contributing to it. A lack of silence cannot be good for my brain. I think I'm afraid of silence or being alone? I do this especially when my wife is working, and I am home. 

Recently, with the help of my therapist, I have been creating longer periods of silence where I will listen to nothing and just concentrate on what I'm doing. At night especially though, it tends to be difficult to not listen to something. 

Has anyone experienced this? I'm having a hard time finding resources online because everything always speaks to how wonderful podcasts are, but almost never addresses the possibility of listening too much. It's a similar problem I ran into years ago with YouTube addiction (now there seems to be more resources on this one, but still isn't quite widely recognized). 

[GrainSiloEnthusiast]

Yes, I have dealt with this before. Too much of any good thing becomes bad.

At night I recommend trading podcasts for white noise, and during the day I recommend only listening to those podcasts you're truly invested in.

Set a specific time when you're allowed to listen, such as when doing work, it's not about time duration but about a specific activity. Whatever activity you can think of where podcasts distract you the least, that's a good time for it.

For me I listen to things when I'm drawing or cleaning my house. Otherwise I generally prefer silence actually, but that's because I have sensory issues. I tend to listen to music in the car or on the bus, which is also an acceptable time for me to listen to a podcast.

A time it's not acceptable is when I'm interacting with others, especially my partner and/or daughter. Connections to other people triumph all things. So unless I'm listening with that person and that's the specific activity we're doing, that's a time I absolutely do not listen to podcasts.

It's good that you're working through this with a therapist! And since you've found you can't find any resources online about this issue, I encourage you to be the first 😉

[FDRx7]

Thank you! I appreciate your suggestions. I think I will add this to my journal as an item to continue working on and maybe then can provide some assistance to others after I come out on the other side.