Why today’s “retirement” of Google Reader is a great thing

Several months back I was unsurprised to hear of the mercy killing of Google Reader, the easy to use blog following tool that millions used to keep up with their favorite sites. Today the service is officially retired and I think it’s a necessary and welcome change.

In the beginning, using Google Reader was great! No more checking your favorite blogs day after day while bored at work to find out who has a new post – they get delivered to you automatically. Of course, the interface didn’t easily support graphics and since some of our favorite posts had original drawings or photography that was a bummer. And let’s not mention that videos and gifs didn’t work either.

So when Google Reader was “retired” it seemed like a hassle for loyal users to migrate to a new service, but I believe it’s one of the best things that can happen to an avid blog follower and here’s why…

While systems are great, there has to be something that breaks you out of the routines to re-evaluate what works for you.

And I hope that’s what happened with Google Reader. Instead of seeing the long list of blogs and posts that you decided to read at one time, this is a chance to ask yourself if this habit is still serving you.

It’s the same process that professional organizers go through when they hold up an item covered in dust and grime and ask the owner “do you still need this?”

But somehow it’s harder to see with digital items that still clutter up your attention, focus and inbox. It’s something we cover in Conquering Email Chaos (which is still free!) because it’s all too easy to get signed up for every offer in the world.

Personally, I shut down my own Google Reader subscription nearly 3 years ago for very similar reasons. Instead of spending my energy on the news (which was nearly all negative and full of things I couldn’t change) and reading content from others about projects I couldn’t hope to emulate – I had a shift.

Over the course of a few weeks, with the support of a good friend, I systematically tuned down all of those influences. The negative nightly news: gone. Blogs full of complaining and whining: erased from my bookmarks. Those e-zines and newsletters full of yucky sales, guilt trips and little value: unsubscribed.

Even the radio was not safe, I now routinely turn it off when the commercials come on and instead listen just once or twice a week for new tunes that I buy and listen on my own devices.

Of course not everything was eliminated and slowly my favorite resources and sites have crept back into my schedule. But only the favorites. Only that which adds tremendous value to my life and work and doesn’t feel like a burden.

One friend of mine described getting her favorite newsletter each week. She knew it was delivered at 9pm every Wednesday so she would send her husband out to hang with his friends, pour a glass of wine, get comfortable on the couch, shut off her phone and wait impatiently for 9pm to devour the newsletter.

While I don’t have that level of dedication with my subscriptions, that’s the feeling you want – that you can’t wait to read it whether that’s once a week, daily or every month. When was the last time you got that excited about reading a blog or newsletter? Isn’t it time you change things up?

Sometimes it takes a big shift, like your favorite blog reader going under to shake things up a little. Instead, take a look today at some of the ways that you’re in a rut and accepting things that don’t support your goals. When in doubt, start with email, because clearing that out will lower your stress every day.