When I open Google Reader first thing in the morning, there are a few blogs that I always read, if they’ve posted any new articles. Most of those I read within Google Reader, and occasionally click the link to go to the blog, to read the comments or find the end of a partial feed’s article.
Mark Them
Then I click the All Items link, skim through the articles in List view, and add a star to any items that look interesting. This keeps me from spending a couple of hours reading blogs, when I should be getting down to work.
Read Them
Later in the day I view the list of Starred items, and click on an item to skim through it.
After reading an article (or the first couple of sentences), I usually remove the star, but leave a few marked so I can go back to them.
This helps me when I don’t have enough time to read a really long or complex article, or return to articles where I’ve left a comment.
Review Them
If you’re really obsessive compulsive, you can use the Trends feature to analyze the stars you’ve added. To me, it’s slightly interesting, but not too useful.
I use the Read page when trimming my feed list, since it gives me a good idea of what I’ve found useful over the past few months, and what’s been clogging up the feed list.
How Do You Use Google Reader?
- Do you use Starred items in Google Reader?
- Trends?
- Any of the other features?