Fewer Folders Means You Get More Out of Reader

I follow over 600 feeds.  That’s 20,600 posts per month, according to my stats. 

A lot of posts.  And I feel completely comfortable that I’ve read all that I need to, on a consistent basis, in about the order I need to read it.  I am constantly adding feeds willy-nilly to my reader, yet I’ve been able to DECREASE the the feeds that I actually see.

Nearly every post I read has some value to me at this point.  The secret has been very, very few categories.   For a long time I had a ton of categories in my reader.  I had “real estate – best” “mortage-best” and “personal development,” and a plethora of other categories, with the theory that I could batch read when I was ready to read each one.  I got very little out of Reader at that point because I was spending time reading stuff that wasn’t targeted at me, and stuff that was a good try but not great quality.

SO, I changed the way I do it.  I have a total of 4 categories, and that’s it. 

A List:  This is the stuff that I read 100% of, first, and before I read anything else.  I’ve got about 35 feeds, total in my A-List.  Right now “The Art Of Manliness” is about to get demoted to my “B” List.  I try to comment on as much as I can in my “A” list because I’ve decided either the content OR the people are extremely valuable.  Sometimes stuff gets swapped out between the “A” list and the “B” list.  Generally the “A” list has very specific information that  could help me be better TODAY. 

B-List: Oh, having a spot here is important.  Most of the feeds I read are in the B list.  I get through my b-list daily; it’s got stuff I’m interested in (like my brother’s blog), and also more of the fluff (like stuff about the Cubs).  If you maintain 2-3 blogs, you’re probably going to wind up in my B list.  Most of my friends personal blogs are here.  The idea is to be less newsy, and more pure pleasure reading.

Newly Added: Everything goes in my newly added blog for a little while.  Anything new gets dragged into this folder.  I see this sorta when I have time, often on Saturday mornings or during my weekly reviews.  I look at it all when I have time, and make a decision on if I’m keeping it.  Generally, if I add something, I get rid of something else…and everything that gets gotten rid of goes to the….

C-List:  I was tired of adding and deleting the same feeds.  So I made a “C” list.  This is my ghetto.  Once a feed prove that it’s either (A) negative or (B) doesn’t have a lot of new and novel value to me, I throw it in my C-list to be lost for all time.  Open reader, mark all C-list items as read.  I don’t have to run the risk of re-adding things; i can add what I want, and if it was in my C-list it will be ‘marked as read.’  If I notice it gets rid of something in “newly added” i might take a closer look. 

I’ve also made a “me” list to make sure my stuff is showing up correctly as I blog, and I can see comments, etc, as they come in.  That’s kind of an exception and I just scan it all once and go from there.

Still–fewer boxes means that I’m always getting better stuff.

How are you using reader?

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