A Simple News Flow using FastMail

I used to enjoy Google Reader long ago. During my 1 hour train ride to Boston, I had ample time to read everything in in my reader. Articles I didn’t care for, I’d swipe. I’d star some on occasion. This worked well then, but today, I’m a really busy dad with lots of things going on.

I recently found a new flow that works for my life today.

Today, I have a new FastMail rule. When I sign up for a newsletter (often a daily or semi-daily brief), I use a specific email (morningbrew@somethingrandom.com). I then create a rule in FastMail to send it to a special folder.

The magic part is this: the folder clears out every 24 hours with the exception of pinned items. What goes in, goes poof by the next day.

If I can read something, I will and move on. If I find it interesting, I’ll pin it for later (and later send notes to Obsidian). This keeps the folder light. Previous attempts at this meant I’d open the folder and be greeted with dozens of unread newsletters. Too much to see, read and parse.

Such a simple concept is helping me stay on top of topics in our fast-paced world and not feel lost when I have some time to catch up. If you have other thoughts or flows, reach out.