Three Apps & Web Tools To Help You Consume With Intention

The internet is a wonderful place. There is so much out there for us to consume, learn from, and engage with. From blogs, to websites, to social media and YouTube, the possibilities are endless. Things can start to feel a little overwhelming after a while though, and the noise of everything online can sometimes be just a little too much. After making the decision recently to Be More Intentional With What I Consume, I’ve been on the lookout for the perfect apps and web tools to help me along the way.

I’ve since found the perfect three part system that allows me to stay engaged with the websites and resources that I love while intentionally consuming exactly what I want to each day. If curating intentional feeds is something you’re interested in too, I couldn’t recommend the following three apps and web tools more.

TweetDeck

I can't believe it's taken me so long to use TweetDeck as it's a great way to really make the most out of Twitter. Twitter is a great place to connect with others, keep up to date, and stay informed yet sometimes our feed can move so fast that we can like we're not actually engaging with what it is really want to be consuming. This is where TweetDeck comes in, as it's a great way to really make Twitter work for you.

Described as live column screening, you can break down your feed into specific columns and place them in order of importance. My biggest piece of advice would be to create a Twitter list of the people you really want to keep up to date with and have that as your first feed, and that way you only have to engage with your full feed as and when you want to and you won't miss out on the updates and insights you really want to keep up with. You can create columns for the specific hashtags you're interested in, which means instead of just feeling like a free-for-all of information and noise, you can actually curate your Twitter feeds in a way that works for you.

Feedly

For a long time, Bloglovin has been my RSS feed reader of choice and I will without a doubt still be using it for a long time to come. Bloglovin is more than just an RSS feed reader though, it's a community full of blogs and is a great place to stumble across new reads and discover new and up and coming blogs. The problem is that I can start to be distracted away from the content and creators that I really want to give my time and focus to so I've been exploring moving over to a brand new RSS feed reader.

Feedly came highly recommended and it's perfect if you're looking for a minimal interface that just lets the content take centre stage. I can keep up with the specific blogs, websites, and resources that I want to and give them my full focus without being distracted along the way. If you're starting to feel overwhelmed by the amount of blogs and websites you follow, I really recommend setting up a separate RSS feed reader for the specific websites you really want to engage with. This way you can still keep up with your larger list of blogs that you follow, but you still have the option to narrow in on the specific websites that you really, really, love.

Pocket

This one is perfect for anyone who wants to get extra focused and intentional with the content and articles they consume. Pocket is a great way to curate posts and articles from around the web to read and digest and it's perfect for if you find yourself just reading the first thing in your RSS feed instead of making time for the content that you really want to consume. I like to collect things the day before to read the following morning over breakfast, this way I start my day off in a really positive and inspired frame of mind.

The best thing about all of these apps? They're free, easy to use, and Feedly and Pocket also have awesome iOS apps to go alongside them.

How about you? Are you intentional with what you consume? Do you have any other recommendations for apps and web tools?

Image source Yvonne Rock & Ultralinx

Jen is a 22 year old freelance writer living in Manchester. The co-founder and editor of ALO, she edits our Beauty, Lifestyle and Culture & Entertainment sections. You can usually find her lost in a good book or listening to her favourite songs on repeat. She also runs Jennypurr, a creative online resource for bloggers & creatives.