Feels good to achieve the elusive inbox zero milestone.
I would say RSS is harder to manager than email. For emails, I read and act on them, archive them or delete them altogether. RSS articles tend to stick around longer, to the extend that I would leave them in the inbox rather than deleting them (even though I know the chances of me going back to them is extremely slim).
Cognitively, they have taken a toll on my reading well-being. The focus was to get to the end of the unread count, or at least reduce them to a manageable figure.
It dilutes the reading experience.
Knowing this, I put off the idea of finding time and read through the articles in an unhurried setting. It makes sense, for skimming through things makes understanding shallow. Eventually, instead of having a dedicated time slot for catching up with the articles, I took breaks in between work and read. A more digestible method instead of gobbling up the words. Reading RSS is no longer a dread – it’s a ritual I actually look forward to during the day.
I have since unsubscribed to blogs I didn’t read. Brain Pickings is one such website – it’s one of the best sites in curating works of history, literature and creative personnel. But it’s also lengthy and updated frequently. At the end of the day, I just don’t have the time and brain cells left to absorb the fantastic writing.
On the other hand, I have also discovered and subscribe to new blogs. I love the diversity in style and content. Through these pictures and words, we are better informed of the trends of our interests.
And what better way to read them than the RSS. Now, RSS-zero is not a dream, but a reality.