So here’s a question for you because I am always curious about how readers organize their reading and their time. We all read books but I know, if you are reading this, you also spend time on the interwebs and you probably spend time reading blogs but I also know you spend time reading other things online too. At least I am assuming you do because I know I do. I’m not talking about news, but longer stuff. Let’s call it long-from internet writing whether it is a long book review essay at the Los Angeles Review of Books (if you don’t read LARB by the way you are missing out I actually tend to like them better than NYRB because they have more variety and are less pretentious and know the world does not revolve around New York or Los Angeles) or maybe an article at Slate or The New Yorker or Bicycle Magazine or any number of the many places you like to visit on your internet rounds.
I’m going to bet that you are also like me in that you often find interesting long-form writing but gosh darn, just don’t have the time or brain power when you come upon it to read it right then and there. So you save it for later.
First question: Where/How do you save your read laters?
Since I am asking you, I will reciprocate and tell you that if something comes up in my feed reader (Feedly) I will save it for later there. I have a Mac and use the Safari browser that has a handy “read it later” feature where it will save articles in the browser but not as bookmarks. It’s hard to explain, but it is a useful feature for anything I come across through channels other than my feed reader. I have tried other methods like Delicious and Reddit but those are so out-of-sight, out-of-mind that I forget about them. Plus, no offense, but I really don’t care about the social aspects of those sites — what everyone else is reading, nor am I particularly interested in sharing what I am reading (or saving for later as the case may be).
Inevitably, the number of items I save for later pile up because I never have enough time later to catch up with them all. Just like books piling up on my reading table, I think I have more time and opportunity to read everything I want to read than I actually do.
Second question: What do you do with all your saved for later reading when you realize that later is not going to come?
Sometimes I might unsave an article or two but most of the time when I scan my lists I still want to read what I have saved so I end up hardly ever deleting anything unless I actually read it which, as I mentioned, is not as often as I expect. And then of course the saved things end up becoming a big, unwieldy mess. When that happens I am tempted to just delete it all and start fresh but then I see all kinds of things I still want to read and, well, you can guess what happens then, or doesn’t happen is more like it.
Eventually, like now, I start to feel overwhelmed by it all and I hold extensive debates with myself over what I should do. Before I allow myself to get sucked into another one of my pointless internal debates, I thought I would ask you my two questions. So lay it on me, share your wisdom. How do you manage it all? Or maybe, like me, you don’t, and that’s okay too. I’ll be happy to know that I have company.
I’ve had some success using Pocket to save articles I want to read. It’s a nice reading experience on the phone, and at one time I was taking my phone to the lunchroom at work and reading an article or two while I ate. But at my new job, I have my own office (bliss!) and no lunchroom, so I’m more likely to noodle around on the computer while eating lunch. And for some reason, I find it hard to focus on long-form articles on the desktop. I end up skimming rather than reading. I’ve just about decided that I’m OK with that. I can’t intensely read everything, and accepting it might just be the way to go.
LikeLike
Teresa, Pocket sounds useful and I wish I could actually read on my phone but the type is too small for my old eyes and I don’t always have my reading glasses with me. Congratulations on your own office! I had a job once that gave me an office with a door and a window and it was so lovely.
LikeLike
I love Pocket. I use it all the time. It is my top loved app along with Cozi.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t save anything. I either read it then, or let it go by. There’s too much going on to stop.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Jeanne, ooh I wish I had your fortitude!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do too!
LikeLike
I’ve been really into the fact that you can save things to read later on facebook. If I see someone on there I’ll save it to read later. However, I usually just leave a window up on my device until I get to it. I also sometimes organize things people want me to read via my email. It’s not a perfect system.
LikeLike
Love, heh, I’ve tried leaving windows open and then there they still are weeks later. At least at that point it easier to just chuck it all. 🙂
LikeLike
I use a Mozilla Firefox add-on called ScrapBook. This can save whole pages. I don’t just find this useful for articles that I want to read. It is useful saving search results for example train timetables etc. It saves you the trouble of having to re-do a search in Google or any other site.
LikeLike
Ed, nice. I used to use Firefox all the time but I loaded it up with so many add-ons it got soo slow so I ditched it. You tempt me though!
LikeLike
I save articles for later read and unfortunately and I know this is not helping but if later becomes too much of a mammoth then I prioritize and make the difficult choice of deciding of what i really want to read and what I can survive without reading. Its not easy because there is so much in the world to read and learn, but getting stressed about it also does not help!
LikeLike
cirtnecce, you are right, getting stressed about it doesn’t help. I should just be ruthless and go through everything and let it go. But not easy for the same reasons you cite!
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of the time management rules I learned about paper, was to touch things *once*. Read it there and then and file it or throw it out, OR put it in a tray to read This Week or This Month, OR throw it out. Go through the file for This Week weekly and either read it or throw it out. Do the same with This Month monthly though you may perhaps move some things into This Week. Be ruthless. It’s your time you’re getting back when you do this.
If you apply this rule to online stuff, you will soon stop hoarding. Because really, that’s what you’re doing, and you’re giving yourself an unnecessary time-consuming management task trying to keep it in order, and you’re giving yourself a guilt trip as well.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Lisa you are a brilliant woman! I will give that a try and try really hard to stick to it until it becomes second nature. You may have just saved me a lot of time and agony! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, Lisa – I learnt all that in management training too but I seem constitutionally unable to practise it. I know when I hoard I’m creating work for myself. I admire people who can be ruthless about paper.
From this you’ll realise that I’m pretty chaotic Stefanie – some things I print and file in folders or put in a tray, some I leave open on a window (for weeks sometimes, like you do), some I email to myself and keep the emails in a folder, and I have Pocket. Every now and then I go through these various places and delete to throw them out, but nowhere near as frequently as I should.
LikeLike
You make me feel so much better whisperinggums! I imagined you as being a supremely organized person and far from being disappointed in discovering otherwise I am thrilled 🙂 I have been attempting to be ruthless since this post and I got little pangs now and then but I ended the week with fewer things saved for later than I ever have and some of my previous saved deleted because I knew I was never going to get around to them. So over all it feels good but oh, was it ever hard to do!
LikeLike
Oh no, don’t torn over a new leaf and leave me behind!
Except, a couple of days ago I did throw out some piles of reading notes from the late 1990s to early 2000s. That did feel good, though I have had them on a chair tucked under a table for months building up the courage. All that work! So glad I returned to marginalia 10 or so years ago! Solves that problem.
LikeLike
I wouldn’t worry too much. Past attempts indicate my new-found determination will have disappeared completely in a month or two 😉 The funny thing is that I only do this with digital stuff. When it comes to paper it does not hang around for long because I can see it. But digital clutter is another thing entirely!
LikeLike
Now you’ve disappointed me! I’m not biased – digital and paper have equal rights in my house 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I made a bold decision last month, Stefanie. There were 144 saved links in my Facebook page, and I realised I wouldn’t be able to read all of it. So, I deleted everything, and decided that I will not save links anymore. If I want to read, I’ll read right away, or I will let it go. With a heavy heart, of course. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Deepika, I think I am going to have to do something drastic like that and then just start fresh and use Lisa’s method and stick to it. I don;t even remember everything I have saved so one it is deleted I can’t even say I will miss it. Love the Phantom Tollbooth quote!
LikeLiked by 1 person
And, because of the abundance of information we find these days, I am reminded of this quote from ‘The Phantom Tollbooth’. “You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and not get wet.” But, because of the abundance, we ARE getting wet, I suppose. 😉
LikeLike
This is a really good question.
I seem to be so pressed for time lately.
I usually do not save things for later. Instead I have two dedicated time periods per day when I read whatever I want to online. With that, there us never enough time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly my plan. Sometimes I do find myself going a bit over the allotted time though…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brian Joseph, ah, that is a very disciplined approach! Perhaps between your method an Lisa’s I can come up with a routine that actually works!
LikeLike
I don’t save things to read. I’ve gotten good at scanning, so I scan and move on. My focus is really almost completely on books. I don’t even subscribe to magazines that require actual reading, like The New Yorker, which I love, but it takes away from time for reading books. I manage to stay fairly up to date with current events through osmosis, news bits on the Internet, or via my husband’s reading of the newspaper.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Joan, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t just scan things and let that go. I suppose I could be more selective, that would probably make a difference!
LikeLike
I use the Firebox browser, brilliant design. I save all my to read later in the browser’s side bar. In addition, those that I wish to save I put in a topical folder in the sidebar. For example, those on the Holocaust go in the Holocaust folder, those on Suicide go in the Suicide folder. I have about ten such topical folders, also as I say, in the sidebar. Further, I read ever to read later, don’t put any aside–there is plenty of time to read all my to read later, if not the day they are saved, the following day. Very cool.
LikeLike
Richard, you are so organized! Safari’s read later is a sidebar thing very like your Firefox one I think. I should check and see if I can create folders, I’ve not thought to do that before. That would be useful.
LikeLike
If I don’t read it right then and there, I move on. I don’t save anything. Unless…sometimes I actually print out an article. I know, very old school. It doesn’t happen often and usually happens when I’m reading an article concerned with something I really mean to do: shop for that item, cook that meal, take that trip, make that repair.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grad, oh you are so good! I can;t imagine not saving things to read later but maybe I just need to be more selective about what I save. That and more realistic!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been guilty of leaving dozens of tabs open to read later, but I’m refining. Those articles I really want to read, I do it then. On the occasion that I want to read word for word and can’t do it just then or want to have as reference/re-read, it’s easy to zap to my email {a different problem, yes}. I write off-line mostly and usually have my travelers notebook with me and jot down a few lines, or my thoughts, which are really what I want to capture. There are few articles that have such in-depth information as to need to save the source for the future that I just have started letting it go. I’m streamlining, and with that minimalistic thought process, I don’t dwell on the stuff I’ve missed. Rather, I focus on the stuff I’m doing that matters. Thanks!
LikeLike
bikurgurl, oh yes, streamlining that is what I ant to do! I will have to try and follow your lead as well as others who say if they don’t read it then and there then they let it go. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am a work in progress….and as long as I progress, I’m giving myself grace. You’re fantastic — thank you for sharing your vulnerability; clinging to things – open tabs, books, whatever – is so very common, but it feels so good to let it go! You’ve recognized you want to change and that’s the first step!
LikeLike
heh, aren’t we all a work in progress in one way or another? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m like Jeanne, I either read it then or not at all. There is no point in saving something. I will never go back to it and knowing that adds to a burden of guilt about my reading that is heavy enough already.
LikeLike
Alex, I must work to be more like you. I went through my feed reader yesterday and deleted a lot of stuff and it felt really good. Must try to keep from replacing everything I got rid of!
LikeLike
Ah, good question and I need to read the comments (which ha, must save for later….). Lately I am not very good at keeping up with any online reading (as I am sure my dearth of comments can attest–good intentions and plans to catch up….). When I AM on top of things I will save things in Feedly, but to be honest I am never very good about going back and catching up–save for blog posts. I get a lot of newsletters in my email inbox which I leave there to read at a later date–which sometimes never comes. I want to save them in perpetuity for, ahem, later reference but I have as yet found no way to do so in an organized manner. So what it normally comes down to is deleting all those saved items and promising myself from Here on Out, I am going to Keep Up. Sure…. If I just had more time! 😉
LikeLike
Danielle, I get a lot of newsletters via email too and have my email send them to a newsletter folder that I haven’t looked at in months. I think I should probably take a few minutes an unsubscribe since obviously I don’t look at them. I usually do what you do, delete everything and them promise myself from here on out… ha! I am trying to reform this time 🙂
LikeLike
My usual method is leaving a bajillion tabs open on my laptop, which is horribly inefficient. I’ve just started using Pocket and I like that for general articles (things that I’d find in, say, Smithsonian or WashPost). I use Evernote for book- or writing-related articles.
LikeLike
Carolyn, I have thought of using Evernote but I am afraid I would clutter it up like everything else! Several people have mentioned Pocket, I will have to look into that 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have an infallible method. Infallible in the sense I can be sure once I have saved the item using this method that a) I will not find it again or b) will forget I saved it and c) never get to read it. This method consists of leaving items in my in box so long they are in danger of becoming fossilised and adding them to a rather large list of bookmarks.
I would not recommend this method to you Stephanie!
Emboldened by your question I’m going to find an approach which is more practical. My thought is to use Evernote. Every time i see something I can’t read right then, I copy the link into an Evernote note. That way I can see it on various devices so if I have 10 mins in the coffee shop I can access the links.
LikeLiked by 1 person
BookerTalk, your infallible method sounds eerily close to my own! 😉 I think from everyone’s comments I am going to attempt to go minimalist and if I can’t read it right then either forget about it or give myself a week and then delete it after that. We’ll see how well that works!
LikeLike
Lisa’s advice to touch something once is one I’ve heard many times over. wish I could just follow it for longer than a week
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve heard that advice too and tried it at work once and didn’t last a day! With personal stuff though it might be easier…
LikeLike
in the kind of work I do where I have to send lots of draft articles, speeches etc for review you often get 5 different responses which need to wait in the email in box until everything is in so I can make the updates. I could of course just leave them unopened but it helps to know if there is one reviewer who is very negative in which case I might need to start again
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too, Karen. Every time I touch a piece of paper, I remember that advice and I still touch it again and decide to leave it to touch another time. Why or why can’t I just decide, read or process it, and move on?
LikeLike
Most of my long-form reading is the New Yorker, which I read in print. But for other things: I save things privately on pinboard.in with a “to-read” tag, but I’m not very good at going back to them and reading them, though it does sometimes happen when I have downtime and am sitting at my computer. Sometimes by the time I come back to something, I’m no longer that interested in it, in which case I skim it and then delete, or sometimes I do actually read it. I’m thinking of trying out Pocket, though, as I keep hearing good things about it, and I might enjoy reading things on my phone more than on my computer in some cases. (E.g. mostly I read books on my commute to work via subway, but I usually stand on the subway and sometimes whatever I’m reading is unwieldy or the train’s too crowded for me to hold a book, but I could comfortably read something on my phone.)
LikeLike
Heather, it sounds like you use pinboard like I use my save for later in Safari! I looked over what I had saved the other day and I found stuff from a couple years ago! Ack! I am determined to go through it all this weekend and be merciless. Unfortunately my eyes are too old and I can’t read on my phone without my reading glasses which are a pain to take on and off when I am on public transit so I carry a Kobo but it doesn’t have internet (on purpose). If we both keep trying we will eventually get it all figured out! 🙂
LikeLike
I just don’t. I know that’s not helpful, and actually it’s not a recommendation because I do feel intellectually the poorer for it. But I realised that I have time either to read books or to read articles and posts about books, but not really both, and I have so many books that I still want to read.
Having said that, I do have a very long list of bookmarks to blogs I don’t really read any more, but can’t quite big good bye to because every so often I like to pop back and see how they are. So perhaps I have the worst of all possible worlds: lots of clutter and nothing to show for it.
The bath used to be my place of choice for reading essays and articles from the LRB, but that was on paper so no help. On Saturdays or Sundays I’d have a bath – whether I needed it or not, ho ho, and make a good inroad, but even then things used to pile up. There’s just too much information out there!
LikeLike
Helen, there is too much information out there for sure! So it seems like I should consider taking a long bath once a week…hmm, not a bad idea 😉
LikeLike
I use Feedly and keep items unread if I want to read them later. I read most stuff on Feedly on a lagged basis; the number of days is capped by Feedly at 30, but I try to keep my lag at about 20 days (you will note how long my comment follows your post), and then that gives me 10 or so days to read anything I’m saving.
If I don’t make it, I occasionally open tabs and leave them up, or email something to myself – but the latter only sometimes results in me actually reading something.
LikeLike