google reader

Ah yes...resolutions. Tis that time of year.

In my Top 5 for 2008 is "Get Organized" - which of course comes in many forms, but let's start with email.

In an effort to be more efficient, I've unsubscribed from every work-related newsletter with an RSS feed. The solution? Google Reader (thanks Eric!)

If you're like me you open email as soon as the little notifier pops up and get totally distracted from what you're doing to read the latest from ClickZ or DMN or AdAge or whatever. Or you leave it unread and it quickly ends up below the fold in Outlook as your Unread Mail ticker soars. Maybe you tried turning off notifications or closing Outlook altogether but then you miss out on time-sensitive stuff -- and flagging leaves you with an Inbox full of red flags and well, that just causes unnecessary anxiety.

Google Reader is an RSS feed aggregator that lets the user decide what to read and when to read it. Blogs, newsletters, real estate listings...anything with RSS. The coolest features revolve around sharing - besides your basic email a friend function, any article can be flagged as Shared, which adds it to the Readers of your friends (kinda like Your Network on de.licio.us). There's also the Add To Blog feature that widgetizes any article to embed as you please.

Did I mention the Blackberry app? (Speaking of which, if you don't have Google Maps for Blackberry launch up that Berry browser, go to mobile.google.com, and install right now. Instant GPS!) Reader is part of Google's suite of mobile apps that work with most any phone or Berry.

Now, if only certain people at work had RSS feeds and I could unsubscribe from their emails...