Pocket

Pocket is a service previously known as Read It Later, allowing users to store, share and discover web bookmarks, rather than keeping them privately in a browser. It can be used as a list of articles/blog posts/etc to read, or websites to check out. Pretty much any web content can be saved to Pocket.

What can I beemind with the Pocket integration?

Archiving pages that you've saved to Pocket (as a proxy for having read or at least checked those items). Each item you archive counts as +1 for the goal.

Since Pocket allows you to save any kind of page, the sky's the limit here as long as your goal is to read something you're finding online. You could set up a Pocket account to bookmark scientific papers you want to read, archiving them once read, and beemind your research! You can also use it to keep up with reading friends' blogs, fascinating long-form essays you find, or the things you quickly bookmark to prevent yourself from getting distracted during work hours. You can even beemind reading your way through all your bookmarked fanfiction from AO3, crochet patterns you want to check out, Etsy items you want to consider buying...

Does deleting an item from the list count as +1, or only archiving?

Archiving only! Deleting doesn't count because Beeminder is looking at how many archived items you have, rather than the number of items you have in your queue in total. Deleting an article thus goes undocumented (at least by Beeminder), and won't count for your goal.

Can I derail because I add more bookmarks than I archive?

No need to worry! We're only tracking the items you archive, so adding more items doesn't affect your goal. If you're trying to reduce your backlog but find you're adding a lot of new items, you might need to increase your rate to keep up!

Do you only track articles, or do you track any content I save to Pocket?

Anything you save to Pocket and then archive will count!

Can I only count archived articles with certain tags?

Right now, no, but if that's something you're interested in, then let us know! We have no idea if it's possible, but if it's something people would be keen to see, it'll be worth us taking a look.

Pocket sample goal setup

  1. Head to create a new goal.
  2. Click the Pocket icon to start a new goal using Pocket data.

    Pocket icon, a red semi-circle with a white arrow on it

  3. The first thing to do is to choose the number of articles per day you want to commit to archiving.

    Then, if you want to delay your goal's start a few days (maybe you're traveling this weekend), be sure to tick the "Start this goal with extra leeway" box. Enter the number of days you want to delay and press Continue.

    Beeminder + Pocket: "Commit to read/archive" followed by a stepper/number entry box where you can enter the number of articles you want to read per day. Below, it says "Every article you archive counts for +1", and then there's a box to select to "Start this goal with extra leeway".
  4. If you've never connected Beeminder to Pocket before, you'll need to authorize Beeminder to access your Pocket information. Click on Connect to Pocket and you'll automatically be taken to Pocket. Click on "Authorize" to give us read-only access to your Pocket account, and you'll be re-directed back to Beeminder to finish creating your goal.
    Pocket page where you can click "Authorize" to give Beeminder access to your information. It warns that Beeminder can retrieve items from your list, but that we cannot see your password, add items to your list, or modify items in your list.
  5. Give your goal a brief name. If you want, you can also write a short description with more information.

    Shows the "Give your goal a name" page, with "duolingofrench" entered in the first box, showing how it creates the goal's URL. Below there's a box with the description entered, saying "50 points per day in Duolingo!"
  6. Finally, choose your initial pledge. This is the amount you will pay the first time you derail on the goal. After derailing, the pledge will increase by default — use the dropdown below to control how high it goes by selecting the cap. In the example below, I have chosen to start at a $5 pledge, which will increase each time I derail, until it reaches $270 — the pledge cap. (To read more about pledges and payments, check out some FAQs!)

    If you want to start out with a sort of trial period, you can choose to start the goal at $0. If you do that, the pledge will automatically increase to $5 after seven days. If you derail before that, it will also increase to $5.

    Screenshot of the "Starting Stakes" screen. The text says "Your pledge will increase each time you derail until you reach your pledge cap (which you can adjust below)", with a demonstration below showing the pledge progression: 5, 10, 30, 90... to the pledge cap, which currently shows $270. Below, a checkbox button allows you to choose to "Hold the pledge at $0 for 7 days while I get my feet wet"
  7. Step through the preview and payment confirmation screens, and that's it! I'll need to archive 3 points in the next 4 days to avoid paying Beeminder my first $5.

    Example goal showing that shanaqui has to archive +3 articles or derail in 4 days and pay $5


Keywords: autodata integrations, backlogs of articles to read, productivity kind of, reading

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