As someone who reads and writes a fair amount online, I’m always looking to optimize my information flows. Particularly getting articles from one service to another can be tricky.
I found a set of tools and workflows that I’m quite happy with for the time being, so I thought I’d share them.
Feedback, tipps for improvements etc are always welcome!
### Input
I like to read primarily on [Pocket](http://getpocket.com/), particularly [Pocket for Android](http://getpocket.com/apps/android/) on my Nexus tablet. So that’s where I want my “to read” items to go.
From my browser, I send articles via the [Chrome plugin](http://getpocket.com/chrome/) that sends the links directly. Sometimes I tag them, sometimes I don’t, so far that hasn’t been super important for me.
To get links into Pocket from Twitter, I use this [IFTTT recipe](https://ifttt.com/recipes/81834) that sends the content linked from my Twitter faves and sends it over. In other words, I can fave a tweet, and the article linked in that tweet gets sent over straight away. Extremely comfortable particularly when skimming Twitter on the phone.
Pocket offers [plugins](http://getpocket.com/apps/) for all major browsers and platforms.
### Throughput
When reading in Pocket – mostly on the tablet, even though the mobile and Mac apps are also pretty decent – I can get through a lot of info in relatively little time. If I want to save something for later, I add some tags within Pocket and fave the article there. This triggers two processes…
### Output
One, [this IFTTT script](https://ifttt.com/recipes/81835) takes faved articles and bookmarks them for me on Pinboard, including tags, so I have the post archived for future reference.
Two, the WordPress plugin WP Pocket [WP Stacker](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-stacker) lets me auto-generate drafts of link lists based on my Pocket faves. With some minimum editing I can get to the reading lists you’ve encountered on my blog.
Once these steps are set up, it’s very convenient and allows me to get through lots of material with a bare minimum of friction. Of course, you’ll want to adapt and tweak to match the tools your personal workflows. But thanks to more and more useful APIs and an ever-growing library of IFTTT recipes, it’s easier than ever to plug these services into one another.
Enjoy!
