Decluttering Your Feed Reader
source: DRB62
This post was first published in June of this year, but it’s a a timeless topic and one that I’ve been thinking about lately as my own feed reader has started to overflow.
This is a scary post for a blogger to write. After all, you might get to the end of it and think, “Hmm, Organizing Your Way kind of falls into that second category. I’m going to unsubscribe now and simplify my life.” Let’s hope not, but I think it’s an important enough topic that I’ll take that chance (which is not to say I haven’t had second thoughts!).
But seriously, how many blogs do you currently subscribe to by email or in your feed reader? For some of you, it may only be a handful – and if Organizing Your Way is among them, thank you for considering what I have to say worth your time! (For more about feed readers, Abraham Piper from 22words has a great post called “What is RSS?“)
However, it’s easy to get caught up in the community aspect of blogging and feel like you have to keep up with everything going on everywhere all the time. Maybe you don’t really like what this popular blogger has to say, but they’re popular, so you feel like you should like them, and so you stay subscribed to their blog.
Or maybe you’re afraid that the next post will be like the one that attracted you to subscribe in the first place, and you’ll miss it. Never mind the fact that the last 99 posts were on a completely different subject and don’t happen to interest you.
Or maybe you’re so caught up in the blogosphere that you spend hours and hours zoned in front of your reader, and you spend your time adding blogs, rather than culling them, so that you’re never left without something to read.
Reevaluating and Decluttering Your Feed Reader
I want to encourage you to take a step back and think about which blogs you excitedly click on when you see they have a new post. Those are obviously keepers – blogs that encourage and teach and inspire you, that make you feel like someone else understands what you’re going through or that remind you how precious life is.
But what about those blogs that you only read when everything else has been read? What about the ones that give you just the slightest feeling of dread when you see that they have new posts adding to that ominous unread post count at the top of your reader?
I am going to go so far as to encourage you to listen to that feeling of dread and unsubscribe. Life is too busy and too fleeting to spend time reading stuff that you really don’t appreciate simply out of habit. If you’re worried about running out of things to read, grab a book and keep it next to your computer. Next time your post count is zero, crack open the book instead. If you’re worried about missing something important, let me assure you that you won’t. If it’s big enough news, you’ll hear about it somewhere else.
How many blogs do you subscribe to? Do you declutter your subscriptions, or is visiting your feed reader something you dread because it’s gotten to be so overwhelming?
Oh Mandi, did you sneak a peek at my feed reader? Did you read my mind? Because this is exactly what’s been on my mind lately. I just opened my feed reader and sensed that feeling of dread.
It’s silly, really. I have 131 subscriptions, and I probably read less than 10 on any given regularity.
I’m off to whittle it down by half. Thanks for the kick in the pants.
Tsh’s last blog post…A Surefire Way to Get Rich Quick
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I use google reader and organize into folders. Reader lets you assign a feed into more than one folder, so I have them categorized by subject category and also ‘how often I read category’ Does that make any sense?
For example – OYW appears in my folder labeled ‘1′ and also ‘organizing’ The ‘1′ folder is the blogs I read every day. I keep this folder pared down to 10 or less. Folder ‘2′ is blogs I want to catch up with on the weekends, etc etc
Now if I’m in the mood for organizing info (looking for some inspiration perhaps) I go to the organizing folder and there I can see all my favorite blogs that deal with organizing even though I might not read them every day, or even every week. They are right there waiting for me when I need them.
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Gosh I just went and checked and I have 204 subscriptions…yikes! About every six months or so I go in and do a good clean out and I’m definitely due. Not that I don’t love every single one of them but I just don’t have the time to read them all unfortunately. I spend way too much time reading my feed reader each day. Paring down is so hard to do because I really do enjoy them all and it’s so tough to decide which ones to let go of. I must be strong. Wish me luck!
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Love this blog for reasons like this post. You are courageous and help us get/stay organized in so many ways! I’m not overwhelmed with RSS but will heed your advice as I can see it easily go that way in the future. This blog is at the top of my list.
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I’m following 61 blogs, and there are 2 more I sneak a peek at every now and then (but don’t subscribe to). I was just thinking I might need to pare it back a bit, since sometimes I just skip right over posts that show up in my reader – a sure sign that I’ve found better things to do!
Thanks for the tips and encouragement!
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Really good point – I’ve been finding tons of new blogs on twitter and really have to evaluate if I want them in my rss feed. I have them in a subfolder on my outlook – and you are so right – some of them I think yeah!! and some are like, oh well, guess I’ll read it. So I’ve been removing the ones that don’t get me all worked up. There’s only so much time in a day to read them.
I have to say, though, that twitter has made me not subscribe to as many blogs because many of the people I like, I follow on twitter. They post their new blog posts (as you just did) and I go read it.
As a segue from that – I suspect this will affect subscription rates on rss if more people think like I do. What I do find, though, is when I click on a twitter link to read a post, I am more likely to comment on it – like I did here. When I read it in my outlook/rss feed, I often don’t feel like clicking again and working my way to the comments section. So a trade off for bloggers who are all eagerly awaiting ME to read them.
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i think this is a great topic and great points. I have 226 in my google reader. i have 11 categories including an “essential reading” one. beyond those 11 categories is the vast land of blogs that i get to when i want or can…
I usually prioritize and read essential (my favourites – 36 blogs who range in frequency from daily posting to 1 a week or less), then organizing and then preschoolers/kids related ones and then see how much time i have.
i unsubscribe when i notice that a blog is consistently left in my reader unread even when i clear all the other blogs. also if i notice that for a week or more i have quickly passed through their posts and got nothing from them. I have re-subscribed to a few that redeemed themselves over time LOL (our paths kept crossing and i noticed an improvement IMO).
my strategy for new finds is this: i bookmark them in a folder (not in my reader) as newest blogs and when i have down time and nothing to do i will browse these blogs to see if they are feed worthy. i don’t automatically subscribe every time i find an interesting blog. i tend to rush to do so with ones that are so good that i end up spending a whoel evening readingtheir archives – a sure fire winner in that case
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Thank you so much! I really needed that post. I was starting to feel overwhelmed. Your blog is definitely worthwhile to me. I always get something good out of it. Keep it up!
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Great topic! I recently did a big purge and I don’t know how many I cleared out!! A lot of them were “EVERYONE is reading so & so so I should to” and I dreaded when I opened the reader to see hundreds of new posts.
So I now have 31 feeds in my reader. And some of these are very infrequent or weekly posters. So I get real excited when I see a new post!
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I win the prize so far. I have 306 blogs in my google reader. About 80 of those are friends and family that I know in real life. Then I have blogs that are crafty, school related, photography, organizing, etc. I really need to go through and be brutal because my computer time is getting out of hand and I get frustrated because I don’t get other things done in the evening.
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I’m at 109 subscriptions and this is after a recent purge. In all honestly, once I discovered OYW I un-subscribed to several organizing blogs that weren’t meeting my needs.
My “sense of dread” group comes from the too many home decor and everyday life with lots of photos blogs I subscribe to. They offer great eye candy, but they don’t often leave me with anything. Should I just add these to my delicious bookmarks?
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Thanks for giving us permission to say “no thank you” to the many many blogs that were interesting once or twice that we subscribed to in order to wait for another interesting post. We call it “blog chasing” – the subscribing to blogs because another blog you read recommended it. It’s a never ending circle.
I just finished decluttering my Google Reader. From the 189 blogs I subscribed to, I am down to a manageable 76 blogs. I also set up a folder for “trial blogs” – those I want to follow for awhile to see if it is worth my time.
And yes, Organizing Your Way stayed on the list.
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[...] Decluttering Your Feed Reader :: Organizing Your Way [...]
Can I just tell you that as I was brushing my teeth tonight and scanning through my Google Reader, I deleted a blog. I had to explain to my husband that I have a terrible habit of following blogs whose purpose is to collect crafty bits from the web, clicking on a blog from that page, and then following the new blog just because of one post. When really I should just continue to trust that the one blog will bring to me the things i am interested it and I can look at that one post. you read my mind!
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i also wanted to add that in an effort to manage my list, I created a Must Read folder…those are the ones I, well must read everyday, they truly interest me and I love them. Then the rest are ones that I can stand to let pile up for say a rainy day or a night when I can’t sleep. I can just zip through them, looking for key things to pop out. Or once my Must Read folder is empty, just mark everything else as read and start over if it gets too overwhelming!
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Can I just say, you’re awesome. I needed that, seriously. There are a handful of blogs on my reader I need to retire. no offense to them, just I need some time back, and yes, I do dread looking at my reader and seeing that there are 40 (or more) posts to read. I found you through Simple Mom’s weekend links. Thanks!!!
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Just deleted 60+ blogs from Reader (although there were quite a few who were not being updated anyway). Thanks!
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Mandi, love this post. I have 49 subscriptions and could still delete about 3 – 5 more.
I feel exactly the same as you do and in fact, wrote about it here some time ago
http://organisingtips.blogspot.com/2007/09/decluttering-is-not-four-letter-word.html
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Hi Mandi!
It’s so nice to “meet” you…I’m so excited to have found your blog through Simple Mom. I look forward to reading your posts…especially today’s, “Decluttering Your Feed Reader”. I need it! I keep adding & removing stuff on my Google page/reader and your post will help me hone it down to the essentials.
Heather
Heather Allard’s last blog post…The Mogul Mom Features…Laura Hamrick of OnTray
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I’ll admit I don’t subscribe to your blog – I got here from SimpleMom. I wanted to thank you for this post, though. I’ve known I needed to do it for a while but had been putting it off.
Today I cut my feeds from 75 to 42 with the goal of never having more than 50. I put 13 of the ones I kept in an “On Probation” folder so I can track whether they post anything interesting or relevant in the near future. If not, they’re going too! I also set a cap on two of the folders that tend to get out of control (Food/Cooking and Household) so they don’t completely take over.
It feels freeing already and I really hope by the end of this week I’ll be able to tell the difference and not feel “behind” like I usually do.
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OH, Mandi! I just deleted my ENTIRE FEED READER. It was just too much. I didn’t have the heart to cull anyone out. So, I just deleted them all. I know, that doesn’t even make sense. But now I’m sloooowly adding them back. Right now I think I only have 13. And I have managed to keep them under control! LOL!
But I agree w/all the previous comments about having a MUST READ folder. That’s how mine was organized a READEVERYDAYANDUSUALLYCOMMENT folder.
oh amanda’s last blog post…Too. Tired. To. Post.
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I was literally just thinking about how I needed to clear some things out of my Reader, and then I saw the link on Simple Mom to your post.
I have been guilty, as Lori wrote about above, of keeping a subscription to a site just because “everyone else reads them.” So, I have been deleting some of those that I tended to not enjoy.
I need to go through and clean out some more. I just checked and I apparently “only” have 90 in my Reader, but many of them publish every day.
Angie @ Many Little Blessings’s last blog post…Many Little Links {June 14, 2009}
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What a great post! I’m a little afraid to go check to see how many I have. I unsubscribed to one that hadn’t updated in over a month and I felt bad about that. It’s definitely not to be overlooked in the decluttering/simplifying department. Thanks for the reminder.
PS~Erin’s last blog post…Monday Meal Planning
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Oh, and I had to add that I just started “following” you, so I actually added to my list after reading this. Ha!
PS~Erin’s last blog post…Monday Meal Planning
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Great post – I do this every so often and I definitely think it’s time again. I’m at 159 subscriptions right now and my goal is to get it under 100. Just like one of the other commentors mentioned, I tend to follow more links from Twitter these days.
I am a fairly recent subscriber here and have really enjoyed your posts. Thanks for having the guts to suggest we all pare down anyway!
Trish @ Another Piece of the Puzzle’s last blog post…Too Cluttered to Think Straight
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I only just started getting excited about my “reader” at the beginning of this week and already have over 600 unread posts so have begun to worry about the reader clutter as it was. I feel almost overwhelmed when I combine that with Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and all the other social networking sites one is almost societally pressured to participate in just in case one falls “out of the loop” somehow. I will say this though,I have read a couple of your posts so far and every word you have typed has either reinforced something for me or has been a new perspective that I have been delighted to find. For that reason, I will not be decluttering you because my gut gets that nice tingly good feeling when I see I am about to read something from this blog. For the rest, yes, the honeymoon with my reader is over, there are some blogs that lie in there like dirty socks on my bedroom floor and I intend to treat them accordingly – thanks for being supportive about it!
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[...] that post quite helpful, so I urge you to check it out. Another pair of posts I recently found were Decluttering Your Feedreader and Organizing Your Feedreader from Organizing Your [...]
OK, you are a new find… I was searching for organizing blogs that have CommentLuv enabled.
Well, honestly! There are so many organizing blogs out there that if I am going to be reading them, I might as well be getting my links out, too… right!?
But, I must say… I am SO glad I found you! I did have an org blog that I considered a Fave… it has since gotten to be less so. They don’t post as often as before and many times the posts are simply re-posts of their older ones.
Kelli´s last blog ..Freebie Friday, December 4, 2009
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I do it differently. I don’t use a feedreader, I just link to the blogs I read from my own blog, and then when I have the time / energy / desire I scroll through them. When I don’t, I don’t.
Works for me
chaotic kitten´s last blog ..Drawer
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Mandi, I was just looking at my feed reader and thought, “Wow, there’s just too many too read.” But there is something I enjoy about each of them. It’s time to face the truth and delete some. Don’t worry, I will not be deleting yours. I enjoy your site so much I put it on my blogroll.
P.S. I hope you had a great vacation but I’m looking forward to some new posts from you. I especially enjoy your vlogs. Have a great day!
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Mandi,
I just discovered your site via simple mom. And I admit to have having way too many blogs in my feeder. I’ve been culling out the ones that either are never updated, or are just posting ads or requests for ads. I like the efficiency of a central location to go to, but like everything it’s gotten cluttered. Now I’m adding yours to the feeder while I cull others!
Emily´s last blog ..where I’ve been
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