Tuesday, August 6, 2013

how i organize the blogs i like to read.



This morning I'm sipping New England Coffee Chocolate Cappuccino blend out of the above-pictured mug, as well as catching up on my YouTube subscriptions & blog reading list, & I thought I'd share a little bit about how I organize the blogs I like to read. 

I know lots of people like to use subscription services like Bloglovin', RSS feeds, & formerly Google Reader, to keep up with all of their reads, but I tend to get overwhelmed when those numbers of to read content get too high. Blog reading then starts to feel like a job, & an un-enjoyable one at that. 

So, what's the solution? How do you organize the blogs you want to read, in a way that is not overwhelming, but still conducive to staying up-to-date with their content? Well, I simply use the tabs feature on my toolbar. As I look up at our toolbar right now, we have many items spanning across its entirety: banking sites, YouTube, Pinterest & Polyvore plug-ins, etc... but I also have two drop-down tabs the purpose of which is to collect blogs that have piqued my interest. 

The first tab is labeled get to know, & a blog is added to this category if I'm clicking around the Internet & see something that catches my attention. Sometimes I bookmark blogs due to their layout alone. Sometimes I bookmark blogs due to a written passage that really spoke to me. Sometimes I bookmark a blog simply because a blogger I admire mentioned them. I would share with you my get to know blogs, but right now - even after my little organizing spree yesterday - there are simply too many. 

The second tab is labeled daily, & a blog is added to this category after I've spent significant time clicking through to them via my get to know tab. As the name implies, this means that I will click through to their site & catch up with their content each day. Since I recently (read: yesterday) re-organized my tabs, that means that I have some new blogs in my daily rotation, & out of sheer dorky excitement, I thought I'd share them with you all today. Here they are...


Of course, these aren't the only blogs I enjoy each day. My tried & true favorites list can be found right here. I add blogs to the R E A D tab on my blog after I've read & read & read & love & love & loved them daily. They are the cream of the crop, in my opinion. And by that, I mean that they each inspire me, in their own very unique way. 

How do you organize your blog reading list? Do you use Bloglovin' or something similar? Or do you have a system more like mine? I'm ever searching for ways to improve the organization of the online content I enjoy, so please do share.

17 comments:

siddathornton said...

oh man - I HATE how Bloglovin' always makes me feel like I'm drowning in unread posts! stupid pressure. I do use bloglovin', but I take advantage of being able to group blogs into different categories, kind of like your tabs. I have one for "daily reads" and one for "weekly reads" - they're both categories I try to stay up to date on but the "daily reads" are generally for bloggers I know well so I want to try to read as regularly as I can but I will read a whole week's worth of posts in one sitting for the weekly ones. (Unfortunately, I'm so behind that I'm doing that for all the blogs right now!) Then I also have a category called "mag reads" that are the less personal / more business lifestyle blogs, and I don't keep up with them but I want them saved somewhere in case I want to dive in when I have a free hour.
yikes, what a system!

siddathornton said...

I love this post because I'm been struggling with this too. I use bloglovin' but lately I dread even going on there because I just feel so overwhelmed. I'm definitely going to try your technique Lauren for everyday blogs I want to keep up with and then use Betsy's idea for groups as well on bloglovin' and see if that helps.

siddathornton said...

I have Feedly setup up similarly. Although my "get to know" folder is always overflowing with blogs. My problem is following too many blogs, but I can't help it! haha.

siddathornton said...

I use blogloin, but I haven't put any effort into organizing it - but I think I will, because like Betsy says, I HATE how it makes me feel like I'm being overrun with unread posts.

siddathornton said...

Good idea, Lauren! I tend to just go through the recently written blogs on blogger.

siddathornton said...

OH MY!!!!!!! WHY ARE THERE THREE GINORMOUS PICTURES OF ME?!?!? lol!
I promise it's nothing selfish! I don't know what happened!
Manda from Eat Cake

siddathornton said...

I need to organize mine!! It has become a chore some days to read them if I've skipped a day or if everyone decides to post at the same time.

siddathornton said...

Thanks so much for including me in your favorites! I love hearing about how people organize anything in their lives. This is helpful!

siddathornton said...

That is a really good idea! I get overwhelmed by the Bloglovin' list, which is really not that bad, but it'd be nice to focus on fewer (less is more approach) and really invest in some of the awesome blogs out there. Thanks for the tips and inspo! :)

siddathornton said...

absolutely! i'm finally coming into my own with organizing these things, so i thought i'd share in case others need some inspiration on organizing their reading. it's already made my life so much easier!

siddathornton said...

i love reading about organization, too! i find it helps so much to hear how others do things - it's inspiring to me!

siddathornton said...

exactly. and it shouldn't feel like a chore to sit down & enjoy your favorite blogs! this system has helped me so much.

siddathornton said...

hahaha! blogger does weird things sometimes ;)


i used to do the same thing as you - just go through my blogger subscriptions - but then i started to notice that i was missing out on some of my favorite bloggers' posts because they were getting buried as i subscribed to more & more blogs.

siddathornton said...

me too - it can be so overwhelming! i bet if you get a system in place that works for you, you'll feel a lot more in control & better about it.

siddathornton said...

i'm the same way. i don't hesitate to add blogs to my 'get to know' list, which means it's a million miles long... but i love having it there for days when i'm caught up on all my favorites & am craving new material.

siddathornton said...

i love that you have a list for 'weekly' - i may look into adding a list like that into my rotation. i also need to add a 'mag' list for myself also - i've always struggled with how to group those particular blogs. thanks for sharing your system!

siddathornton said...

i hope this post helped you out a bit! i struggle with organizing, so it always feels like an accomplishment when i figure out a system for myself, so i had to share!

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