The worst part is that I was still finding genuinely interesting things online. Articles, blog posts, Reddit threads, newsletters, long-form essays, and videos were constantly getting buried under the noise.
That’s what pushed me toward an unexpectedly simple solution: I started building my own feed inside NotebookLM. I used it to organize everything in one place, and it finally changed the way I consume information online.
I paired NotebookLM with YouTube and learned faster than I ever did with note-taking apps
This unlikely duo upgraded my learning routine
I replaced endless tabs with this NotebookLM workflow
Before I started using NotebookLM regularly, my browsing habits were a mess.
I constantly had dozens of tabs open on my computer and phone because I was afraid of losing something interesting before I had time to read it. Articles, YouTube videos, research papers, and random links would pile up faster than I could keep up with them.
Most of those tabs stayed open for days before I either forgot about them entirely or closed them all out of frustration.
Now, whenever I find an article or video I want to revisit, I add the link to NotebookLM. I have separate notebooks for news, productivity ideas, long-form essays, writing research, and hobbies I want to follow more closely.
NotebookLM became my personal reading hub
Sometimes I don’t even know what I want to read. If I feel like learning something deeper, I’ll ask NotebookLM to recommend the most insightful or informative articles from my saved sources. On other days, I ask for something lighter, funnier, or easier to read when I don’t want dense content.
For example, I’ll ask NotebookLM:
Suggest a few articles that are lighthearted and easy to read.
It pulls from the sources I already saved and suggests specific articles, videos, or posts that fit that mood. Sometimes it finds articles I had completely forgotten about after saving them weeks earlier.
What I also like is that NotebookLM cites the sources directly in its responses. If something sounds interesting, I can click the original article, website, or YouTube video and read or watch the full content instead of relying on summaries.
Audio Overviews changed everything
I can turn saved sources into podcast-style discussions that are much easier to consume casually. I’ll often listen while walking, cleaning, or doing chores away from my desk.
What surprised me most is that the conversations usually feel much easier to follow than reading articles across multiple tabs. NotebookLM combines related sources into a single audio discussion, making it easier to grasp the broader context.
I also noticed it changed my relationship with “keeping up” online. Previously, I constantly felt behind because there was always more content waiting. Now, I can save articles throughout the week and later generate an overview that helps me absorb the important parts far more efficiently.
Audio Overviews can take a little while to process, depending on the number of sources. I’ll often prepare them earlier on my computer and access them later from my phone whenever I’m away from my desk.
Mind Maps helped me connect ideas
One feature I ended up using far more than I expected in NotebookLM is the built-in Mind Maps.
Normally, when I read dozens of articles or watch multiple videos about the same topic, everything eventually starts blending. I remember fragments of ideas, but not always how they connect. Mind Maps made it much easier to visualize.
After adding sources to a notebook, I can generate a visual map that breaks topics into related concepts, subtopics, and recurring themes. Instead of rereading long articles repeatedly, I can see how different ideas connect across multiple sources.
I found this useful for larger topics where information usually gets scattered across dozens of tabs and videos.
Sometimes I even use Mind Maps as a starting point to decide what I want to read next. If one branch looks particularly interesting, I’ll go back and read the original articles or watch the videos connected to that topic instead of searching for new recommendations.
I asked NotebookLM to help me hack my reading list — here’s what worked
How I keep up with everything I read
I stopped relying on algorithmic feeds
After using NotebookLM for a while, I realized the biggest change was that I started building a system around things I wanted to read, watch, revisit, and understand better. Articles stopped disappearing into endless tabs, saved links became useful again, and keeping up with information no longer felt tied to endlessly refreshing feeds.
Features like Audio Overviews and Mind Maps made that process even easier by helping me engage with information more intentionally.
I still use YouTube, Reddit, and other social platforms normally. But now they feel more like places where I discover interesting things rather than the main system controlling how I consume information every day.
