The Beauty of Web Clips and Save for Later
There is a comfort in knowing that we can use web clippers and app integrated save or bookmark features to make sure we can revisit content that is bombarding us at every turn. Knowing we can save things for later lets us feel like we have some control over the crazy amount of information available to us all day long.
This is how I have begun to feel recently, and I realized that changing over to a new niche – even though it is one I am FAR more knowledgable on, has sneakily kick-started a bad habit I have.
Saving web clips without being intentional…. and in a million places.
But… isn’t knowledge management… WHAT YOU DO?!?!?!?
Yep, but that doesn’t mean I always stick to my systems, even though I regret the outcome every time.
The Snowball of Information Capture
Let me paint you a picture…..
It started so innocently, so small.
I began using a new G-Suite account. This put all my systems in a bit of overwhelm because it also meant deciding to migrate finally from OneDrive to Google Drive and moving everything over from my previous Google account as an Android user.
“Not too bad, I’ll get it set up the same as before and never really notice the change.”
👆🏽 This was the first lie I told myself.
But while I work on switching things over on my phone, I can just save this here for now….
At this point the boulder was perched happily at the top of the hill, it just needed a little push to come racing down the hillside
I should have been good – set things up right away.
But Not-Now-Mandy, my procrastinating, self-sabotaging ADHD self, didn’t think that sounded fun, so instead, I started all new social media accounts, and naturally also start finding loads of new information that I just HAVE TO save.
To make it even better for Future Amanda, I also started using Chrome with the new account on both my phone and laptop with no set-up, so my usual routines and integrations are now completely derailed.
Before I knew it I had saves and bookmarks EVERYWHERE.
- This podcast show notes page which I want to reference in an upcoming article
- 85 articles that I might come back to read later
- 200 YouTube videos to watch later
- A few random Pinterest boards that should really be in my personal account, not hidden boards
- 50 Notion Templates that I want to try
But with every save, I knew it would only take a little work to get it in the right place in my systems….tomorrow.
“THEN, I’ll have so much great information to learn from and review”
Right?!?
Are You Ready to Join the WCA
(a.k.a Web Clippers Anonymous)
with Me?
Sound familiar?
Have your saves spread so far past Pinterest and your notes inbox that you might never find that really great idea ever again?
If so, I’m here to tell you we can get through this, together.
One step at a time we will learn to say no to saving information we don’t need eeevvveeerywhere.
So, how do we stop accumulating and start culling the amount of information we have saved?
Step 1: Stop letting FOMO make your save decisions
Let’s face it, chances are if you don’t save that article, there will be another with mostly the same information popping up not far behind it. But it is easy to fall into the fear of missing out on some important point.
Instead, challenge yourself to be intentional with what you are saving.
Ask yourself:
- What if I never see this again?
- Why does this resonate with me?
- What interests, life area, or resource does this apply to?
Step 2: Decide on a system to manage web clips as you save them
This doesn’t have to be fancy. I kept a running list of “web clips” in a physical bullet journal for 2 years with great success. The secret to the system is simply…. consistency!
I now have an inbox system set up in Notion to send all my web clips to, as well as a dedicated filing system for full-page swipe files to reference as needed (this makes up a large majority of my saves). When I use it properly, it makes it very easy to keep up with, and helps Future Amanda not have to feel this terrible information overwhelm the next time she needs to find that article…
No matter what system you decide on, make sure you are getting everything into one place so that you can easily review what you are saving. Personally, I like to do this once a week.
When I schedule the time to do this along with my Weekly Review process, it takes me only a few minutes to decide between whether to file, discard, or move to a read/review this weekend pile. It takes far less time to find things when I need them. It also gives me the chance to slow down and really have the time to process the information.
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This was a great read Amanda! FOMO is definitely something that I have when I bookmark/save links. And oftentimes I barely even look back at them again. I think a good takeaway is for me to have a system that allows me to keep track of the things that I bookmark. Also gonna be a part of the WCA ahaha.
Yes! We can be the founding members 😂!
At least half of my saves get deleted without ever reading now…. but changing my process to look at saved content as an inbox that had to be emptied before I could add more was a game changer for me.