Idea: Read Your Email Newsletters Like a Weekly Magazine
I was listening to episode 361 of Cal Newport’s Deep Questions podcast recently. A listener asked: “How can I get round to reading all the email newsletters I’m subscribed to?”.
Cal recommended curating newsletters from writers you admire, treating them as a magazine tailored to your interests, then reading them periodically. I do something very similar.
Here’s my process:
When a newsletter arrives in my inbox, I move it to a subfolder called EMAIL NEWSLETTERS. I do this manually (drag and drop on desktop or a slow swipe on mobile), which gives me a few seconds to ask myself: do I still want to be subscribed?
Then, every Sunday, I make time to read them all in one sitting. This is a recurring task in Todoist and part of my weekly review.
I take the curation element seriously, too, by unsubscribing regularly.
It’s a small routine that helps me stay informed and inspired, without getting overwhelmed.
What’s your approach to reading email newsletters?
