Why I started using Instapaper

• Overview:
  • The reason I started using Instapaper
  • Main Function of Instapaper
  • Instapaper is subscription based
  • Will go more in depth in future posts

At some point in the middle of 2020, with quarantine in full affect, I was getting bored and frustrated with the way I was using my time. I was battling with these two ideas: “Hey it’s quarantine I should rest as I will never get this time back” and “Hey it’s quarantine I should work on some projects as I will never get this time back”. And quite frankly the latter was winning the battle.

Like for many of us, the pandemic really through off my summer plans, where I was going to volunteer in some dental clinics and get some shadowing hours. However with that off the table, I was now in the middle of July doing nothing but watching anime, scrolling through social media, and indulging in mind-altering activities. This whole experience was quite unfulfilling as I felt I “wasting my life away” and doing activities to just pass the time. That is when I felt I had to come up with a solution and get out of this slump.

But trying to fix everything as once is trying to clean your room all at once which can get pretty overwhelming. So the first problem I tackled was trying to replace my social media consumption with another fulfilling alternative. That is when I stumbled upon Ali Abdaal’s video on Instapaper and the power of read it later apps. Currently when we have awkward downtime, such as waiting for our bread to toast, sitting on the toilet, or waiting for your coffee, our first inclination is to go on social media. This makes sense as social media gives us that instant dopamine hit that our minds so desperately crave in this day and age. With social media, we can keep ourselves entertained for hours on end scrolling within infinity pools. However during these moments on social media, the time goes by and we don’t even know it. Then at the end of the day, by looking at our screen time we may have used Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, etc. for 2-3, and for some people, 5 hours. At the end of the many of us feel that we have done nothing, because using social media is unfulfilling. But what if we use these awkward minutes to read an article about something we are interested in, or something we want to learn about. That is when Instapaper comes into play. So what is Instapaper? Instapaper is an app in which you can save articles to read later. This means whenever you’re surfing the web, and want to read an article but don’t have time, you can just save it later and read it when you have the time. Instapaper also converts the article in this beautiful minimalist view in which there are no adds and just text, so you won’t get distracted by pop up ads or other items on the actual website.

Now whenever you find yourself in those awkward moments and have some downtime, instead of viewing social media you can read one of the articles that you saved on Instapaper. You don’t have to finish this article during this downtime but you can finish it throughout the day or whenever you want to. The idea is to slowly replace your social media screen time with your Instapaper screen time, and converting social media consumption with low-effort learning (I shall explore this idea further during a late date), which, using the idea of compound interest, can enable you to learn so much more throughout the year.

This is how I started using Instapaper, in future blog posts I will go more in depth to help you convert from social media to Instapaper, and how I use Instapaper in general!

This will also help you in cultivating a longer attention span!

Keep in Mind: Instapaper is a subscription based app, costing $2.99/month or $29.99/year. There a free service available, but the Premium is definitely worth it. https://www.instapaper.com/premium