Ask any of my real life friends and they’ll tell you, I’m loyal to the end. My friends are my friends forever no matter what. But sometimes this loyalty thing gets carried over to other areas of my life and becomes completely out of hand.
Take my TV viewing habits for instance. Someone so should have helped me wean off 90210 long before the end, but no, each week there I was waiting for it to come on…..week after week. It just didn’t matter that it was bad, nope, because I started watching it in the beginning I had to see it to the end. It’s weird I know! I’m still watching Regis and Kelly after 16 straight years because they just won’t go off the air. I do love them…..but somehow I’m convinced the world would just fall apart if I was to even miss ONE show. I could never walk away…NEVER. Believe me, I’m very careful about not starting a new series that comes on…..it would be the death of me. I guess that’s why the reality shows work for me….they have an END and they leave me, I don’t have to leave them. Stop laughing!
So all this to help you understand my predicament with Bloglines. I need help….in the worst way! Trying to keep up with 241 blogs is killing me (did you catch that, 241!!!) but I don’t know how to walk away. I don’t know how to say goodbye to one blog never mind 100. With everything else, I love to purge, I live to purge but purging people???? Yikes, it’s just feels so wrong and yet these people have never even met me!
Seriously I need help. What’s a girl to do? How does anyone keep their Bloglines down to less than 100?
Do tell me, please…..I’ll be your friend forever.
Jenny says
I try to keep mine down to 50. It used to be 30 but there is just too much good reading out there. Today I went through and edited about 15 so I would be back down to 50. I keep only the blogs that I consistantly enjoy reading or ones that I return to for craft ideas or recipes etc. If all I do is a quick scan of the blog than those are the ones that are first to go. I find it tough too but if you miss the blog you can always add it back later. It doesn’t have to be permanent.
Jenny says
You better stay faithful to some of us locals!!LOL
I guess you could set up your favorite folder so that you have a Mon, Tues, Wed…etc folder within and seperate the blogs and place them into certain days of the week and only on these days you read these blogs…am I getting too complicated???? So instead of reading 260 blogs a day you could read 52 different blogs every day for 5 days of the week.(weekends would be blog free days…or free for all days!LOL)
Did you get all that?? Cuz I sure didn’t…
Jana (sidetrack'd) says
I attempt to keep my list culled, because life with a 10 month old only allows for a certain amount of blog-reading time. I agree with Jenny, I only keep blogs that I consistently read and enjoy in my feed reader. I also have a couple tagged in del.icio.us that I can get back to for recipes or crafts. Usually, if I notice that posts tend to pile up on one feed all the time I will delete it b/c I’m obviously not enjoying it as much as others.
Anyway, just my $.02. Good luck, and don’t feel bad about purging!
Debi says
241?!! Whoa. How do you do it, girl?
Unfortunately, I’m useless for advice, because I so get what you mean about the “purging people” thing. But I thought Jenny’s idea of dividing them up into days of the week was a pretty good one. You’d still stay caught up with everyone, just a little less often. I mean, how often does anyone have anything so earth shattering to say that it can’t wait a few days, right?
Terri @ In His Hands says
Maybe you can rotate them? ;0) So, file the ones that you read daily into a DAILY file and then group the others–maybe by genre into a couple different files and rotate those. So, you have your daily and then one week you read group 1, the next group 2.
Am I complicating things? lol
Beth/Mom2TwoVikings says
I’m at 35 and holding at this point…and I’m barely keeping up. Wish I had some advice but I don’t. LOL Maybe use the same kind of PROCESS as you do for cleaning…why exactly are you holding on to all these folks? LOL
Kelli in the Mirror says
I have 100 in my feeder, and usually what I do is go by priorities. I read family and ones that really make me laugh first, then I do the ones that only have one new post, to get them “out of the way”, and then go in order. I have about 200 unread posts right now, but some of them are 20 posts from the same blog and I’ll be able to catch up more quickly that way.
I also delete every once in awhile if I find that there are 30 new posts and I don’t feel like going over to read them.
Mrs. L says
Remember me mentioning good, better & best? I think this can apply to this. There are lots of great blogs out there, but personally, I want to spend limited time on the computer, especially with the nice weather.
Maybe ask yourself a few questions: Is this blog helpful to me? Is it positive, uplifting? Can I really relate to this person? I would agree that’s too many blogs. Would you have 241 close friends in real life? Imagine what you can do with all that extra time…
Mrs. L 🙂
Mrs. L says
BTW, I have 12 blogs that I read. My rule is: If I can’t keep up daily, then it’s too much.
Best wishes…
The Cheerio Queen says
I would just read the ones you read daily and then once a week sit down witha cup of coffee and read the others. Oh and as for the 90210 thing don’t feel bad…lol I watched it faithfully through college and then quit watching because I got busy…with life. lol then recently I watched dancing with the stars and saw Ian Ziering on there and started watching 90210 again on the soap channel…more nostalgic lol! *blushing*
Angie says
Wow! 241?!?
I think I have maybe 50 – 60 or so. It’s not too bad, except maybe that some people post many, many small postings every day.
Good luck!!!
Jamie says
I keep my prolific bloggers in my everyday folder, and the less prolific in the weekend folder. I’ve decided that Vista has helped, since I can open the whole folder at once.
Christine says
I’m in the process of writing a post on blogging myself. I can’t keep mine down and I can’t keep up with everyone! How’s that for a bad combination! I’m with you in this dilemma!
Leni says
I’m no help. What I did was put them in favorites instead of on my blog (there’s a few, but not many) and then lost all my favorites! lol
I’m still lamenting the lady from Australia that was switching servers and somehow got lost in cyberspace. I never saw her again, and I really liked her blog! Amy, where are you???? LOL!
Marcia says
Hi Laura
I loved your question so much that I blogged about it here
http://organisingtips.blogspot.com/2007/06/3-ways-to-keep-your-blog-reading-under.html
My word – 241 blogs. When do you feed the kids? 🙂
Let me know how many you get down to. BTW, did you read my e-clutter article? Too many feeds is definitely e-clutter.
Okay, I’ll stop – have a nice weekend.
GiBee says
I stopped using bloglines a long, long time ago. It would drive me nuts to keep seeing updates, after updates, after updates.
Now, I have all my regular favs bookmarked within a folder, and within THAT folder, I have one that says regular favs, new favs, cooking, old (because while I may not read them regularly, I pop in from time to time).
For the most part, my rule is NO BLOGGING on the weekends (unless something absolutely delicious occurs that MUST be blogged about). During the week, I try to read my absolute favorites on a daily basis, then I look at the other ones about once or twice a week.
Its not as complicated as it looks now that I’ve typed it all out!
momrn2 says
I was in the same dilema and sorted into folders as some readers have already mentioned. I have a daily folder, a then folders for the days of the week.
I also started purging slowly (like only 3-5 at a time. It seemed less radical that way.) instead of all at once. If someone hadn’t posted for quite some time I would take them out first. Then went from there.
Also, the nice thing about the folders is that not everyone posts everyday. This made it much more manageable as well. I don’t have to hold to the folder thing if I have extra time I can go ahead and read them all. But, it also mentally gives me an excuse to pass for the moment if time just doesn’t allow.
Only having 10 new posts in any given folder vs. 50 is mentally relieving.
I don’t know if I was much of any help but that’s what I found worked best for me and my schedule.
Dawn says
I am fairly new to this whole blogging thing, but I found that I was getting overwhelmed with reading blogs. I now use Bloglines and it has helped me a lot. I only read about 35 blogs, but I do keep adding new ones so I don’t know where I’ll set a limit. I go to Bloglines once in the morning and read the updates and I’m not allowed to check blogs again that day. One thing along the lines of your 90210 story, if I find a blog I like, I have to go back and read every post from the beginning or I feel like I’m missing out on something. That’s what takes up most of my time on the computer. I never knew blogs could be so addicting.
Pattie says
Oh how I miss Kelly, Brandon, Dylan and David. I was so sad when that show ended….like tears!! Anyway, I know what you mean about the bloglines. I think I still have under 100 but I can’t keep up. It already takes me about 2 hours a day to get in all my internet fixes for the day!! By the way, you are in my bloglines!! Good luck!
Susanne says
Oh my word Laura. How do you do it? I feel overwhelmed at 80.
But like has been mentioned, catagorize it. I do a folder for Daily Must Reads (the ones I now consider friends), For An Extra Minute (those that are interesting to me or I really enjoy and don’t want to miss), Once a Week (those I enjoy but don’t feel I have to stop by everyday, that I can catch up on in one sitting), Read Only’s (ones I enjoy reading but don’t neccesarily comment on) and an Occasional Check folder (for those who don’t post often). The once a week’s and read only’s I do just that. Once a week or so when I have extra time, I sit with a nice cup of coffee and just go through those and if I’ve missed posts on those, I just let them go and read the most current ones.
Lori - Queen of Dirty Laundry says
Well, you’ve already gotten lots of good advice, but I’ll go ahead and chime in, too.
At one time I used the daily/days of the week folder method. What doesn’t work well with that system, is I’m not crazy about commenting on a week-old post.
Now I have sort of a hybrid between Google Reader and my favorites folder. I have…let me check…okay, 51 subscriptions in Google Reader. Pretty manageable unless I get really busy. Then I just have to zap ’em.
I also still have folders in Favorites, like Organizing, Cottage/Antique, and Good Extras. Those, I just go browse through when I have some extra time. But they’re not always staring me in the face.
Hope this helps. Be sure and let us know what you decide to do!
Munchkin Land says
241?! You’re a crazy woman!! While I was on maternity leave, I was only able to get on the computer twice a week; so I divided my list in half and only visited once a week. But then again, I don’t have nearly that number to visit… Good luck!!
Jennifer, Snapshot says
Susanne’s system sounds good for bloglines. I do what Gibee does. I have just never liked the bloglines thing. I have only a handful that I read daily, and others that I catch every week or every few days, and a few that I will check in when I have some extra time. I keep them in favorites folders.
It’s hard, but we have to be able to balance everything–you know, including life!
Thea says
I have 22 and I don’t even comment on all of those. I do read them all daily, though.
You know how “they” say to put stuff you are indecisive about getting rid of into a box in the basement for a month? After a month, if you haven’t used it, toss it. You could do the same for your list. If there are ones on the list you haven’t read in xx # of days, unsubscribe!
And you know how good it feels once you start purging, right? It’ll get easier the more you get rid of!
Marcia says
I’m back because I’m so interested in the comments 🙂
Great advice – I like Thea’s suggestion of the box in the basement for blogs. Great idea
ChupieandJ'smama says
There are so many wonderful blogs, I’ve had to prioritize. I blog line some and add some to my computer under “favorites” so I can just check them when I have the time. It does get time consuming. 241! Wow, you do have a lot of reads.
Shelly says
well, I say if they bore you once, give them a break… bore you twice, everyone has an off week, but by the third visit if you don’t get a chuckle or a tear or at least bob your head in agreement? You can dump them. B/C we all understand and we all blog just to blog, so let’s not worry about keeping everyone happy! But — don’t dump meeeeeeeee
Jill says
I just skimmed through the comments and those are great suggestions. You know you could go through them all and pick the ones you think you might get rid of and put them in a folder labeled, “To Purge” or “Possible Get Rid Of”. Take those off your bloglines and don’t check them for like 2 weeks or a month. See how you do without them. And at the end of the month, check those sites and see if you really feel like you miss it. Then you’ll know, and it will be temporary before it is gone forever.
It just doesn’t seem like a good steward of your time to read 241 of them. But if you have an evening where that is how you want to relax, then check the less frequent ones at that time.
Hope that helps.
The Chatty Housewife- says
I have high speed. I arrange my bookmarks to have several folders with 10 blogs each. I click on the folder and choose “open all in tabs” and then browse each one quickly to see if they have updates.
Oh wait, I think that was the very exact opposite type of help you needed. Sigh.
It’s a lost cause. At least that way they would be ORGANIZED right?!
Sandra says
Good grief 241…..I’m down to 55 and the way I did it is to keep just the ones that I REALLY visit everyday and comment on or that comment on mine etc.
I know it’s easy to get lost and have a ton but do you really comment on every single one of them and do they comment on yours???? If not, then purge them…that’s what I did!
But you better NOT delete mine LOL
Hugs,
?Sandra
kittyhox says
Okay. First of all, don’t be tempted to click over my blog. That’s how you got into this situation.
Like you, I hate clutter! You have to be pretty heartless sometimes, when you get rid of junk, er, I mean treasures. Right? But it’s always worth it because you enjoy what is left so much more!
I have set a number for myself (12). These are the blogs I read daily. My most favorite bloggers, who post frequently. I keep them in a special bookmark folder.
Then I have another folder for everyone who comments on my blog or people who I enjoy reading, but post infrequently. I check in with them when I have more time, about once a week.
Then I have a third folder with everyone else. All the people who left some hilarious comment on a blog I read. People on other people’s blogrolls, etc. I try to read these once a week.
But I do let people go sometimes. I figure I’ll run into them again when they leave another funny comment or someone shares a link to a particularly good post.
Finally, I think the best way to avoid adding new people is to stop reading the comments of other people’s blogs!
Everything in moderation. I sometimes go so far as to set a timer or at least keep an eye on the clock. Otherwise two hours can go by and I’m still sitting there, reading blogs.
But I would encourage you to let go of at least half. Go through them and if you don’t feel like you NEED to read this blog, if you don’t LOVE it, remove it from your list. You’ll be back some other time, but you don’t have to be a regular!
Honey says
This will probably sound extreme, but it worked for me! I had bookmarked all my favorites, and my computer crashed. I lost them all. Now I only regularly visit the places that I really missed and could remember how to find my way back to them somehow. If you delete all your bloglines, you will know which ones you are missing. Maybe have your husband save the list for you on paper, and only give you the links when you go to him telling him how much you miss that one. 😉
Honey says
One more great idea similar to something I once heard you share! Once you have purged, you are allowed to add new blogs. But at the same time, another must go.
Scary isn’t it? 🙂
Anonymous says
interestingly enough one way to purge blogs is to switch readers – I finally switched over to Google Reader and in the process currently have only 45 subscriptions at the moment (and thats counting both my personal and my professional reading!) One thing I found was it helped me weed out a few I realized I wasn’t ever reading, and also weeded out those that were practically abandoned…
I also gave in to abandoning some of my knitting blogs I used to read, because the fact is I don’t knit much these days – so I’m down to the Yarn Harlot and Crazy Aunt Purl for knitting blogs because I love them both too much to give up even if I don’t knit, LOL!
I also have a few blogs that I’ve kept bookmarked and go visit and read when I want to, rather than reading on a regular basis as well… thats one thing you could do with those that you decide not to read regularly – keep a bookmarks folder with them, and every once in a while pick one and go read A FEW entries (not get caught back up)
Gretchen says
Hmmm…I have no advice for you. However, you being the Org Genius that you are, I’m sure you’ll come up with a solution. Remember: if it doesn’t bring joy, it’s not worth it. Don’t allow blogging to be a chore. Blessings!
mamabright says
oh, Laura…
I can really understand your dilemma…because I’m concerned that this will happen to me…and I know I don’t have time to keep up with that many feeds…
I’ve only been reading blogs for a few weeks…and have about 80 feeds in my bloglines already…so…here’s what I’m doing…I have sorted my blog feeds into various topical folders…
the blogs that I enjoy reading daily…that I get something out of regularly…are in my “favs” folder…and I have a “like” folder where I place blogs that I don’t like quite as much and don’t check as frequently…
as I come across a new blog that looks interesting…I put it in my “new” folder…and check it as I have time…after reading the blog for awhile…then I decide if I want to keep it and move it to my “favs” or “like” folders…or delete it…
I have a “memes” folder for the feeds of the memes I like…and only have to check them occasionally…other folders I have to help my blog feeds not be so overwhelming…are…topical blogs that don’t need to be read daily…like “health” and “home” and “challenges”, etc…
and…I definitely don’t comment on every blog…I only comment when a post really moves me or I feel like I may have something to contribute…
I hope some of the many ideas your readers have posted will help you…
blessings, amy 🙂
Tsoniki says
I don’t use bloglines though I have a LOT of blogs that I follow too. I use Sage, a firefox plugin, that allows me to have folders. There are certain blogs that I make sure to read and others that I just check in on from time to time.
Other then just deleting when the feeling hits me, I can’t do it! LOL I hope someone gives you some good tips.
Ariane Benefit says
Hi Laura,
I feel your pain! Like Gibee, I stopped using a blog reader a while back. I work full-time out of my office, besides writing my own blog and it was too distracting. I could not keep up.
Like you I added pretty much every blog I liked – which is a lot. So now I only use Feedblitz which sends me one email a day with all the latest posts. I can quickly scan the email if I have time or if I don’t, I just have to pass for that day.
Thanks for the great topic…it was so interesting to learn how others manage this daunting task!
Ariane
Jen says
Okay I read all the responses. I agree with Sandra. Go to the ones you really ENJOY. The ones you get something out of. Then comment there. I had to purge mine too. I havent been posting lately because of the move and it’s been stressful.Some people check on me some dont. But its okay. It’s the internet…..read the ones you really really enjoy and like. Then delete the others…you can do it gal!
Michelle says
yep i too agree with Jen and Sandra..stick with your favorites..
i have my favorites ;-)that i read everyday…at least once..
MorningSong says
I have about 10 I read daily and I made folders of other blogs I may check when I can – one’s that catch my eye. For instance, I have a Monday Meal Plan folder and save favs there for future Mondays. That helps me go to the ones I love and I usually check them on Monday. If they really catch my eye I add them to my daily read. I have other folders and do the same. Right now I do the monday menu, tackle it tues and wordless wed. So my blog world isn’t quite as enormous as yours. I think go with what you enjoy and skim down from there. You are the organizing queen!! YOU CAN DO IT!! As my daughter would say, (and usually in the wrong context) “I trust you”. :o)
MorningSong says
By the way – I feel your loyalty pain!! hehe I have issues being loyal to a fault at times.
Jessica Duquette says
Hey, Laura, great post! Just wanted to copy you on a comment I made on Ariane Benefit’s Neat Living Blog:
I have the magic solution (and by the way, I am TOTALLY with you on using Feedblitz to get the emails for my blog feeds in my inbox!).
When you come across a blog that you like that doesn’t have one of those Feedblitz sign up thingies (why doesn’t EVERYONE???), all you have to do it go here:
http://feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?AddFeed
and add the URL of the blog and voila! You get your normal Feedblitz email. BTW, I got this tidbit straight from the gorgeous Phil, the owner and founder of Feedblitz.
You can make your own “blog reader” of sorts by creating a folder (I use Outlook) and then making a message rule so that the feedblitz emails go straight to that folder.
That’s what I do and it works for me. I am just as picky about which blogs I read as which files to keep in my file cabinet!
hugs,
Jessica from It’s Not About Your Stuff.
PS Laura, it seems like you came upon a solution that works for you! Cool. There is no one solution for anyone, that’s why we have so many options, I guess.