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Have you heard? I've started a separate blog,
The Sugar Sharks, all about our life with Type I Diabetes.
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Saturday, October 18, 2008

Using a Reader to Simplify my Life

I held out against using a feed reader for a long time. I didn't really "get it". I spent time each time I got online blog hopping, checking each of my favorites for updates. Sure, it took a while, and often there was nothing new to read, but I didn't think much of it.

One day, not so long ago. I stumbled across a post where someone was singing the praises of their Google Feed Reader. It sounded much easier to navigate than one I'd experimented with a while back, so I clicked over and tried it. I was hooked in about .00056 seconds. It's SO easy to use, and it saves me SO much time!


Now, I see my feed reader right from my iGoogle home page. I can glance at it any time I'm online, and quickly decide if I have a few minutes to spend blog reading, or, if it's more important that I proceed with whatever else I came online for- ordering a new ink cartridge, for example. Once in the reader, I can scroll through all my favorite blogs on one page if I wish, skimming through all the new posts and only pausing to read those I choose. Or, I can click on the title of each individual blog and read just posts from that blog, still all in one place, on one page.

This tool has cut way down on the time I spend online, which is great as I am so easily tempted to waste a majority of my day online. Have you ever sat down "just for a minute" at the computer, and before you know it, two hours have gone by? I have, more times than I can count. I'm trying to rid myself of that habit and be more productive.

Using a feed reader has definitely helped to simplify my life, leaving me more time for the more important things that I need to focus on. Share your own tips and tricks for simplifying things over at Keeper of the Home. (And be sure to read Stephanie's great post on a cluttered heart.)

P.S. If you want to subscribe to my blog in your own feedreader, it's easy- just click that handy button over there on the top of the right column. You can also "follow me" using Blogger's tool by scrolling down a bit in my left sidebar.

6 comments:

  1. I’ve used Google Reader for about 10 months and felt much as you do when I discovered it initially. The danger with a ‘reader’ is trying to follow too many blogs because it’s easy to get bogged down. That said, I don’t know what I’d do w/o mine … even if it currently contains more than 500 unread posts and I may never really ‘catch up’ ;--)
    Hugs and blessings,

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  2. I love my feed reader! It saves me so much time. There are so many good blogs out there I could never keep up!

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  3. I love Google Reader as well!

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  4. Everyone now seems to be using Google Reader. I have had my Bloglines account for a while, and I just don't want to switch everything over. I'm subscribed to your feed!

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  5. I also love using a feed reader (I use Bloglines). It really does save me time, even though I also put it off for quite a while! Thanks for joining Living Simply Saturday!

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