Due to its flexibility, Readwise Reader can be a bit difficult to pick up as a new user. If you are anything like me, you will likely hoover up a lot of interesting digital content for later consumption. How do you manage it?
Readwise Reader is a read-later application that allows you to tag digital content for later consumption. I say digital content because it isn’t limited to web articles but can also be used with YouTube videos, Tweets, PDFs, and EPUB e-books.
It is a companion application of Readwise I have done reviews of both Readwise and Reader. A Readwise subscription is required to access both applications. I have linked to the pricing page for the latest pricing information.
Readwise Reader Library configuration
Readwise offers a range of possible Library configurations, and it is worth considering which setup will work best for you. You might even want to experiment to find the best one. As I regularly state in my content about Personal Knowledge Management, others can give you guidance, but you have to figure out what works best for you.
The three possible library configurations for Reader are.
- Shortlisted new documents are saved for later and can then be promoted to the shortlist to prioritise consumption. Once consumed, they can be archived.
- Triage all new items are brought into the inbox, at which point you can triage to either later or archive
- Classic has a later and archive section and is designed to have a similar workflow to other read-later applications, such as Instapaper and Pocket.
My current setup
Just to enforce the point of experimenting, I initially chose the triage process, as it fits in with the concept of inboxes in David Allen’s Get Things Done framework, which is the basis of much of my productivity system.
However, I started to feel overwhelmed when I experienced the modern-day phenomenon of Information overload. I then watched an interview with Readwise’s co-founder, Daniel Doyon, on YouTube, in which he explained why he uses the Shortlist workflow in Reader.
He argued that you should use the Later box in the reader as a bookshelf containing all the books you could read, and the shortlist is all the books you are determined to read. I only try to shortlist content that I think I must read for future writing or research or that has really resonated with me for some reason. Anything else that looks interesting goes into later.
Readwise Reader feed
Readwise reader feed allows you to receive notifications of new content from bloggers and online content publishers. It can also process email newsletters, either by subscribing to the user’s provided email address or forwarding an email.
It is worth setting up a subscription with sites from which you regularly read content. As the Readwise feeder isn’t part of my library, I treat it like an inbox. Anything which looks interesting I add to my library on the later shelf. Anything that appears to be relevant to my writing or has intrigued me will go through to my shortlist. I then mark the feed as being read. This helps me to keep my feed manageable
Conclusion
You should now be able to get started with Readwise Reader and make an informed decision on your starting setup.
You can discover how Readwise Reader fits in with the rest of my Productivity and Knowledge Management System.