This app just radically changed my commute to work
But it can be hard to find the time.
Then one of my colleagues tipped me off to an app called Pocket, and it totally changed my life.
The app, which is available for iPhone and Android, is perfect for anyone who commutes via mass transit, like I do, and wants some intellectual stimulation on the ride.
Pocket is an app that allows you to save articles online to your phone, so they can be read at a later time. Pocket is especially useful for subway riders, as it doesn't require phone service to work.
See an interesting article online but don't have the time to read it right then? Save the article (using your handy Pocket chrome extension) and read it later, like say, on your commute.
It transformed my commute - until I realized I wasn't stumbling upon great articles often enough. I had run through my saved articles by week two of using the app. That's when I discovered Longform.org.
Longform.org is a website that aggregates and curates longform articles from all over the web and many different print publications. The articles are always interesting and well-written, and the archives are extensive.
When I went on Longform for the first time, I spent a half an hour scouring the site's links, finding and saving over 40 articles on topics ranging from Kanye West to The Shaggs and professional dumpster diving to drug empires in Maine, from publications like the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Medium, Texas Monthly, and Wired. You can see my current list here.
Now I have a plethora of interesting articles waiting for me to read at any moment and I add more all the time. My commute will never be the same.