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Ask HN: How do you manage to go through so much of good content posted on HN?

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Ask HN: How do you manage to go through so much of good content posted on HN?

#1
A lot of good content is posted on HN. However, I am unable to read/watch most of it. I do use Pocket to store articles for future reading. But the list gets big too quickly and I find it overwhelming to finish all of it.

Any specific technique or tool you use to manage all this content?

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage to go through so much of good content posted on HN?

#2
I don't have a technique to manage all this content. I've been working on the opposite. Here are some disconnected thoughts.

First, realize you don't need (or can't) known everything. There's too much content out there. You'll get overloaded and burn out.

Not everything is useful to you. Sure, it's always good to read about things outside one's bubble to get new insights, but that will occur naturally if you're a curious person. Fight that urge.

After trying to minimize the amount of things that go into your to-read bucket, you'll notice you still have too much to read. Filter again and be okay with missing something. When you actually have an issue in front of you, you'll know how to find the solution. No need to cram everything into your brain.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage to go through so much of good content posted on HN?

#3
I mainly read the comments, rarely the articles themselves. (That's not to say that I don't read articles in general — I do, but I mostly find them via Twitter.) Usually, I'm much more interested in what the community has to say about a given topic or issue than I am about the object-level news.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage to go through so much of good content posted on HN?

#4
post #2

I don't have a technique to manage all this content. I've been working on the opposite. Here are some disconnected thoughts. First, realize you don't need (or can't) known everything. There's too much content out there. You'll get overloaded and burn out. Not everything is useful to you. Sure, it's always good to read about things outside one's bubble to get new insights, but that will occur naturally if you're a cur…

> Filter again and be okay with missing something.

Yes, this is key. You just have to accept that there is vastly more interesting material in the world than you can ever possibly digest. Then be very discerning about what you pick.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage to go through so much of good content posted on HN?

#6
Any specific technique or tool you use to manage all this content?

I am medically handicapped. I spend a lot of time convalescing. HN helps minimize the degree to which I go stir crazy while doing so.

I don't recommend it as a method.

I know from long experience that the assumption is that those doing a lot of X are overachievers to be emulated and their perceived accomplishments to be aspired to. Such perceptions aren't necessarily accurate.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage to go through so much of good content posted on HN?

#7
I also use Pocket - each evening I go through my RSS reader (HN is included) and click what looks interesting, I skim the article (10 secs) and if it indeed looks interesting/useful/valuable I save it to Pocket and I add a label. Labels help me to revisit Pocket in a more systematic way and I also re-filter Pocket from time to time.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage to go through so much of good content posted on HN?

#10
Ignore most of it!

In the grand scheme of things, most of the 'good' content really is not that good. It might be interesting - or more interesting that what you should be working on, but a year from now most of it will be irrelevant.

You can save a lot of time by ignoring it.

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