If you're looking for an alternative to skim headlines please give Skim.Me (http://skim.me) a try. We're a startup releasing another version soon to help you keep up at a glance.
If you're looking for an alternative to skim headlines please give Skim.Me (http://skim.me) a try (what a great name ha). We're a startup releasing another version soon to help you keep up at a glance.
We've been working on something at Skim.Me (http://skim.me) for almost two years now as a replacement for Reader and/or iGoogle. We're still figuring it out but would love anyone looking for a replacement to signup for the next release.
"We can’t stop because the brain has no built-in braking system."
This is why we're building what we call a productivity reader at Skim.Me (http://skim.me).
Some people who can't (or think they can't) control themselves digitally have a need for an experience that nudges them towards a healthier, more sustainable relationship with their technology. Skim.Me gives you options to time your sessions and discourages you from spending time in our web app if there's not much content to batch process when you visit. Some other interesting things we're thinking about with aggregate browsing time per day, goal setting, prioritizing/filtering content in certain situations, and more.
Starting to release slowly to small groups in our closed beta (~2,500 signups) in a few weeks. Love to get feedback from some people here who might have a need for our product.
Respect the move and it just might work. If it doesn't, then might want to try building a relationship with a TC human being before the coverage ask. Probably a higher probability use of your time. Maybe you already have it though and this is part of the push.
Integration is the hard part but it's the next step in the evolution away from widget based dashboards to better designed experiences that display that info. I think the experience should be multi-tiered - from quick glances to deeper functionality for repetitive actions. You might just want to track some things but you should also be able to do X or Y without going to another destination.
How about image based streams? May be too Pinterest-esque for you but moves more towards a different paradigm. Check us out at http://skim.me when we release first version in a few weeks.
Great post, Scott. Here are some things I do to build off your main points:
Stop Checking Email in the Morning - Batch email checking into something you do two or three times per day at certain times.
Don't make Guilt Piles - If you do make them, keep them out of site and accumulate them for a long plane ride, car trip, or vacation.
If it's important, Schedule It. - Again, I schedule my email and my browsing .I actually roughly schedule my whole day. Happy to send to anyone just email me at wu at skim dot me.
Let go of Psychic Weight - This is a hard one but the key to overcoming digital overconsumption and information overload is to recognize you'll never be able to get through it all.
Schedule Work Sprints - I have two one and a half to two hour slots of real productivity per day. Sometimes I get to three.
Stop Beating Yourself Up - Constant struggle
I'm somewhat new to this productivity thing but got into it after recognizing that my web browsing was becoming addictive and unproductive. It was producing "the guilt and self-loathing" you mentioned if I couldn't keep up with it. It ultimately led me to build Skim.Me. We're making your daily online browsing routines more productive. Not just tools or a platform but really an entire user experience that wants to move content consumption away from addictive page views and time spent towards a disciplined approach to building better, sustainable habits.
We automatically onboard you using our plugin, aggregate from your favorite sites/apps (not just news & social) across devices, and help you browse in timed batches through the day without showing you how many unread or unchecked you have. Hope some people check it out when we launch (http://skim.me). v1 in three weeks.
Great post on something that affects me. Partially why I'm creating Skim.Me (http://skim.me). You tell us how much time you have and we curate your routine in one feed. All the content in one ecosystem. Not just news and social but all applicable verticals in the future. For those that are ok giving up their browsing history for us to analyze. Probably not everyone.
Interested to read all the remedies to figure out how this can be prevented. I'm a first-time founder starting to display some of these symptoms - the main one for me being this feeling in my stomach every time I wake up in the morning. A feeling of I'm not doing enough to move the ball forward combined with a a feeling of there's too much to do, I don't even know where to start. Sometimes it results in me laying there for another half hour, not wanting to face anything. Finally, I'll get up and face it.
This post also helps us non-technical types when interacting with technical co-founders and the engineering team. I realize my partner is definitely a starter and not a finisher!