I built a Chrome extension that puts your saved articles on your calendar
By Zara Zhang
Summary
## Key takeaways - **Five saves auto-book a 30-minute block**: Every five articles you save to read-later triggers the extension to create a 30-minute Google Calendar event with all the links in the description. [00:05], [00:27] - **Unfinished items roll into the next batch**: When a reading block ends, a pop-up asks what you finished, and anything left over is carried into the next batch so nothing falls through the cracks. [00:44], [00:49] - **Blocks only land in clash-free calendar slots**: The extension only schedules reading blocks in open windows on your calendar, avoiding any clashes with your existing meetings. [00:49] - **Read later means read never; timed reads work**: Zara's core insight: 'Read later usually means read never, but read Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. actually works' because it's a real commitment. [01:09] - **Fixes the save-versus-read mood mismatch**: The extension solves the gap between when you're in the mood to save something and when you actually want to do deep reading, by attaching a specific time to the intention. [01:14], [01:24] - **Open source, local-only, five-minute setup**: It's open source on GitHub, requires no account or server, keeps everything on your machine, and connects to Google Calendar through a one-time 5-minute Google Cloud Console setup. [01:36], [01:41]
Topics Covered
- Read later usually means read never
Full Transcript
I built a Chrome extension that turns your read-later list into dedicated reading blocks on your calendar. Every
five articles you save, it books a 30-minute reading block on your Google calendar, links included. Let me show you how reading block works. Here I have a few pieces of long-form content open like this YouTube video. I'm interested,
but I don't have time to watch it now.
I'm going to click the reading block icon to save it. Let me do the same to this blog post, this X article, this article, and this product I want to try out later. So now that I have five
out later. So now that I have five articles saved, it will trigger the system to create an event on my Google calendar. Here it is, a reading block
calendar. Here it is, a reading block with every link to the content in the description. Now I have dedicated time
description. Now I have dedicated time to sit down and actually go through them one by one. When the block ends, I'll get a quick pop-up asking what I finished. Anything that I didn't finish
finished. Anything that I didn't finish gets rolled into the next batch, so nothing falls through the cracks. It
only picks slots that don't clash with my existing meetings. And if you right-click on the extension and go into settings, you can customize when you want to do your deep reading, like which days and what time. I picked weekdays
2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. You can also
2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. You can also customize the length of each calendar event, how many articles per block, etc. Here's the thinking behind it. Read
later usually means read never, but read Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. actually works
because it's a real time that you'll sit down and do it. When I save something, I'm really in the mood to read it. And
when I finally want to do deep work, my stuff is scattered everywhere and it's overwhelming. Reading block fixes that
overwhelming. Reading block fixes that mismatch. It attaches a time to the
mismatch. It attaches a time to the intention. You can use the same trick on
intention. You can use the same trick on your to-do list, too. It's open source on my GitHub. Download it, fork it, modify to fit your own workflow. No
account, no server, everything stays on your machine. Connecting it to Google
your machine. Connecting it to Google Calendar is one-time 5-minute setup.
Just a bit of clicking in Google Cloud Console with every step in the setup guide. Check out the link below.
guide. Check out the link below.
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