So, um…
Remember the day where I went all revolutionary bad-ass and deleted my Google Reader in one fell swoop?
Yeah, THAT day.
I know that a lot of you expressed interest in knowing how this has worked out for me. Well, it has been exactly three months since I deleted it and I am officially waving the white flag of surrender.
Here’s why.
When I deleted, it was something that I thought about doing for a long time, but when I actually did it, it was very spur of the moment. I felt liberated, free, happy, excited and nauseated all at the same time. I really had no idea how it was going to go or work or influence my blogging life.
There were some very good things about it. I was able to refocus on my family, my life away from the internet, my music and performing, reading real books, etc.
However, it also hasn’t been working out so well in other areas. Some people manage very well and better without a reader but I am finding that with me, it just isn’t the case.
Without my reader as a gentle reminder I have been lost. I basically lost my brain when I deleted my reader. It was seriously like I took an eraser to a white board. Please know it wasn’t personal, I swear. It’s just the way my poor brain (and pregnant brain at that) works.
I FORGOT THAT POST SECRET EXISTED FOR PETE’S SAKE!
Seriously…it has been pretty bad.
It has also really contributed to my self-imposed isolation on the internet. As my last post explained there have been other BIG reasons for me withdrawing from the blogosphere, but the absence of a reader hasn’t helped.
I am not a great “Self-starter”. I don’t give myself structure very well. I always function better if I have someone or something keeping me on track. If left to my own devices I would make a dent on my sofa by not moving my ass from it except for trips to and from the fridge to get Diet Coke and Ben & Jerry’s and possibly the occasional movement to change the dead batteries in the remote.
Not having my reader to remind me and guide me has been a bit like me sitting in a rowboat with no oars. I miss the feeling of involvement.
So? I have decided to start a reader again, only I will start slow and small because I know that I don’t edit things well once they are on the list.
There has to be a happy medium between having hundreds and hundreds of blogs in my reader and becoming an internet recluse. I mean, I know that I am an “ALL OR NOTHING” kind of person, but it was (and is) getting really getting ridiculous.
I know I am the eleventyhundredth person to say it about blogging, but I think it comes down to balance. I will cop to not doing balance well, but it’s something I will always keep trying to achieve.
I’ll letcha know how it goes.
Filed under: 
The reader has been on my mind lately. I’m thinking categories.
Oh, yes. That is part of my requirements for reinstating. I thought about it before but my subscriptions were so numerous that it was WAAAAY too overwhelming to face.
I don’t use a reader. I like the tactile click and hands on. It works better for me.
My bookmarks were getting out of hand, though-so a few weeks ago, I went through and organized the blogs. The thirty or so that are either daily or weekly reads are in two folders on my bookmark toolbar. The rest are sorted elsewhere.
It’s hard to keep up without some sort of system. I wish you luck in keeping on top of the new, improved reader! :)
I definitely make use of the categories feature. But one of them is “parenting” and that’s the one with all of the feeds in it, so my categories aren’t doing me a whole hell of a lot of good.
I went through and deleted certain feeds. There were some bloggers I wasn’t connecting with anymore and one who pissed me off. It’s daunting when the number of posts hits the triple digits but who needs a clean house?
I have a rule–if i am not interested after a week or two, I unsubscribe from that blog. Then, if I get behind, I “mark all as read” and start over. Sometimes real life if just more important.
It seemed ironic to me that just after I published a post that centered heavily on my need to purge my reader and narrow my internet footprint, your post popped up in my new fresh and clean, decluttered reader, right where I could see it because it was no longer lost in the ridiculous noise of the “feed”-ing frenzy my reader had become.
Just thought I’d share that. :)
Hope it works better this time. Awhile back I sorted my feeder into two categories: daily reads and if I have time.
Here’s what I just realized about my reader. I have almost 300 – in categories. The search feature in my reader kicks google’s beehind whenever I need to find something. My starred items are my best of. I couldn’t do well without it either.
I do what Karen does. And mine is in categories too.
In regards to balance, I am having one of those vinyl clings made that says….
The days are long, but the years are short.
It’s a quote by Gretchen Rubin and it keeps me focused on what is important. I am going to put it right about my computer monitor.
P.S. My hubby said I can’t go to BlogHer09. :(
I’m constantly, constantly, constantly struggling to find balance.
It sounds like you are getting it all figured out – balance, starting small, only reading blogs that truly interest you. I’m still in the “I want everyone to like me so why don’t they comment on my blog?” phase. Hopefully I’ll be where you are in a couple of years.
What is this balance you speak of? Can I buy it on Amazon.com?
;-)
I would spend even more time in the blog world if I didn’t have my reader.
I categorize a lot in my reader. It helps immensely. I’m getting close to 150 subs and couldn’t handle them without the organization.
Balance? What’s that? I’ve tried categories. I’ve tried reader and no reader. (Have to have the reader!) Now I put my daily reads on my reader. I organize the others in bookmark folders of Twice a Week, Once a Week, etc. It has helped lessen the guilt of not getting to everything everyday. Depending on my real life, some weeks I think it’s working great and some weeks I still find it overwhelming. Also … I comment way less than I use to. It makes me feel like a bitch, but honestly, I’m doing the best I can!
I’ve totally thought of deleting mine as well, but for the reason you’ve mentioned, I have not done it. I’ve just clicked the “MARK ALL AS READ” button a lot. It’s just as liberating!
I’d be happy to send you a list of a hundred or so worth reading, just to help build up the list you know.
Good luck. I took the plunge and became self-hosted (gosh, what a nightmare it’s been!), so if I DO make the cut, make sure to add the right website. But that’s being awfully presumptuous of me.
I took last weekend off from blogging – more or less. I posted, yes. Blog365, you know. But I decided to spend time at the easel and not on the
time-soakcomputer.I felt lost and I was not able to concentrate on my painting. I did not produce anything I was happy with.
Meh.
Balance, I guess – because the withdrawals are hell.
I like to think of deleting a feed reader as akin to deleting the phone book out of my cell phone and recommitting everyone’s number to memory. Why would I do that when it’s so much more convenient to let my phone do the remembering for me?
Same with blogs. I don’t remember to check people’s sites all by myself. Bookmarking is a pretty good solution too, but to save time it’s better if I can know when a site has been updated.
I see readers as major boons, yo.
When I started feeling overwhelmed, I went to reading the blogs of those who commented on my site. Tit for tat, ya know? And when I get around to it, I read up on the ones that don’t comment but I still love. Honestly, I didn’t feel so overwhelmed after that because I got rid of all the guilt of not reciprocating.
I shouldn’t even be asking this, because it will just show how ignorant I am on the subject but… What exactly is Google Reader?
Pregnancy brain is no joke. I am speaking from experience.
I would be like you without my reader. It was down yesterday and I didn’t know what to do or where to start.
“Mark All As Read” has become my new friend.
As have categories. You can do it!
I have yet to do categories, but I’m thinking now that I need to.
WElcome back :-)
I am horribly random too – and those readers save my ass all the time!
Good luck!
I have zero system in place…I still click away and find myself someplace wonderful and then never go back. I am terrible:-)
Funny, I forgot about Post Secret when I STARTED using Reader.
I would be lost without my reader. I have them organized into the stuff I want to read if it is new(like your blog) and stuff that I can get to eventually. And when things get a tad out of hand I can always click the mark all as read.
good Luck!
I deleted my reader months ago. It has taken me that long to re-organize into folders. I am happy now. Very happy.
Re: being a self starter – you’re not the only one, babe. I also can ass-dent the couch with the best of them.
I agree about the categories. I have mine according to topic – or at least how I think of them – plus a “1st” and “2nd” folder which are the blogs I simply must read the moment they are updated. Also a “friends and family” category for people I actually know. And every now and then I just have to hit “mark all as read” to save my sanity.
I haven’t read you in a couple of days but after reading your life lesson #4 I felt compelled to tell you that I am an avid reader of your blog and I love you!!!!
I love, love, love you!
Again…love ya
Nonz
….At the risk of sounding like a newb…. What’s a Google Reader? I’m sure I could google it, but how much easier would it be for me to ask you guys, who could likely explain it in terms that I would be so much more likely to understand?! :)
Anyway – if it helps you stay organized, or connected, or whatever, best of luck to you. I hope it works. But, by all means, keep with the offline stuff as well!
Here is a great explanation about Google Reader. (I don’t want to somehow screw it up as it took me a long time to understand RSS feeds.)
http://www.google.com/help/faq_reader.html#about
Screw the haters, honey.
Blog for you, for your family, to keep your voice, to remember.
*mwah*
You know you’re loved. That’s all that matters.
When I did use a reader I totally rocked the categories. They are little organizational miracles, those categories.
lately my reader has been kicking my hiney. i have so much to do that i just keep skimming the posts and marking them read. i haven’t had time to even comment much. it’s crazy around here!
I agree about categories or folders, they make it so much easier! I go through every few weeks and delete things – it’s really hard, but as I find new things I really like, some of the older stuff that I know I just skim has to go. It’s hard, but necessary. Good luck!
When my unread entries in Google Reader reach 1,000 I give myself a delete without guilt pass. The bloggers I really love are all out there on other forms of social media, and seem to understand that sometimes it’s just too much to stay on top of everything.
I don’t feel guilty anymore. I read when I can, which isn’t very often, and I blog even less frequently. And find it all very, very liberating, but YMMV.
Know that it’s fine to step away for chunks of time. You may lose some readers, but the ones who you’ve connected with are still going to be around.
Here via Plain Jane Mom/Erika, btw.
Jeremy is an all or nothing kind of guy. It’s hard to deal with that as a spouse, so I can relate to Jon!
I’ve been using technorati for a couple years now, and its just gettin on my nerves. The site is ALWAYS having problems, apparently 2/3 of my favorites on there haven’t installed their ping thingymabobber correctly, b/c it NEVER updates when they post, and I am getting mad at it all the time.
It refuses to aknowledge that I have been linked to several more times than it shows (yes, I am a loser who has all the sudden decided I care about that).
But daaaang, I have a lot of favorites, and I don’t want to have to try and transfer them elsewhere. Plus, it is really important to me to go the actual blog, so I like to be able to click through.
Yay for me and my annoyingly long comments! You’d think that after reading your blog for what? Two and a half years now? That I could contain myself…
Categories really help me. And I finally ended up dividing up the blogs in my reader and creating a category for each day. On Monday, I only need to read the new posts in my ‘Monday’ folder, etc. It means I’m always about a week behind in any particular blog, but not having the pressure of having to read every new post on every blog in there EVERY day does help.
Ugh, it is always about balance isn’t it. Sigh.
Good luck!
I try to keep the number of blogs in my reader reasonably low. I also “mark all as read” every couple of days and don’t feel bad if there are some things that I get to less often as a result.
Girl, same thing here! I deleted mine based upon the strength and the challenge of your deleting yours. I thought about it, then just did it. But…I definitely miss it. I cannot keep up with the people I want to, because I forget to visit! Also, I was going to do a blogroll, but I can hardly even do my dishes from start to finish! I went back to my Reader also… I just could not organize without it.
T.