4 tools a nomophobe with serious FOMO uses

This isn't about productivity in terms of to-do lists, or consolidating thoughts - it's about keeping on top of content you're interested in.

I'm a self-confessed nomophobe - actually, it goes beyond that I'd say.

This is what nomophobia is...

My go-to anecdote on this is that I dropped my phone (at this point, I was on a Nokia 530 - one of those Windows phones) and whilst the screen was being repaired, I was phone-less for the first time in about 5 years. Five years I'd spent with a phone either on my person or within relative reach.

And it was seriously weird.

Anyway - back to my point. Nomophobia encompasses the sensation that you're lost without your phone. I'd argue I have a serious case of FOMO. What if I miss something? It's not quite anxiety, but I just like knowing... stuff. Think of Johnny Number 5

The crux of this blog is this; how does a nomophobe with serious FOMO keep on top of things? I'm going to share 4 "tools" I use to do this.

1. Tweetdeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com)

Tweetdeck is awesome. Simply awesome. If you can stand Twitter, and want to take it to one level further, check out Tweetdeck. I stumbled upon it when I was looking for a way to auto-refresh the native Twitter page - This is so much more elegant.

a) It's realtime. The latest tweets are at the start, it auto-updates.
b) All your streams. At once. You can view your "Home" stream, you can track hashtags (for instance, during the Tableau Conference in Austin, I was tracking the #Data16 tag and had it as a column)
c) And with streams, come lists. Come scheduled posts. Comes multi-account management. And it works so so so nicely.

The final feature which I like, is scheduled posting, a feature I mentioned above. Being able to stagger posts, re-post at "convenient" times for different time zones is really powerful when attempting to maintain an online presence.
Of course, Twitter isn't for everyone. But I like it, and Tweetdeck is my saviour for this.

2. Feedly (http://www.feedly.com)

For ages, I had no idea what RSS meant. And about a week or so after I found out, Google Reader (largely heralded as the best RSS feed manager around)

However, I soon found Feedly. There are two things I like about Feedly. First, is the - you guessed it - feeds. The fact you can great groups of websites/blogs to keep on top of is great. For me, being able to segment economics/financial thought, contemporary tech, as well as data viz and football analytics is priceless. During my placement year, much of the walk was spent catching up on feeds - not so much when I cycled into work though.

It's also great for integration & sharing - I rarely use the auto-completed tweet, but it's a nice way to tweet the articles you've read and are interesting. It's not perfect of course - some articles you will have to click through to the website after a sneak preview, while other you'll be able to read the full text of.

It's a great tool for curating content you know you regularly read.
Which brings me to number three...

3. Pocket (http://getpocket.com)

Pocket is a great quick, easy way to save content to 'read later' - As long as you keep syncing with your phone, you'll be able to read most of the content offline. I use it to tag posts I want to read, which I don't have time to - It fits nicely with Feedly, as if you're on your computer and you see a blog post which you might miss (due to whatever reason), Pocket is really nice for getting back to stuff you want to read.

The best bit, and for me how I use it the most?

Twitter likes.
There's a simple IFTTT "applet" (they don't call them recipes anymore...)

This does what it says on the tin. And it's superb - How many times have you scrolled through Twitter and liked something as a "I will read you later" action, and not been able to either find it, or simply forgotten?

This takes a step for making that not happen. It's handy!

4. Flipboard (https://flipboard.com/)

Let's put it this way - Apple liked Flipboard so much, they created the "News" app. Which is remarkably similar to Flipboard.
Flipboard is fantastic.

I've used it since the days I had an iPod Touch - You feed it topics that you're interested, and every morning, it populates new content from each of these. And, you guessed it, you flip through stories.

I largely use this to keep on top of the wider "real life" stories. This is what I flip through in the mornings while having breakfast.


Conclusions
Mobile has changed the way we consume content - indeed, it's helped us curate our content to stuff that we believe in, so we feel empowered.
Of course, your feed of content and data is as good as the funnel you create.

Am I missing any? What are apps or website which you use to keep on top of things?