2018 is two weeks in and most of the world is back at work after the holiday season (or for some of us, still at work!) Getting back into the swing of things can be a challenge for the best of us. Luckily we live in an age of digital wonders, and there are extensions you can add right in your browser to make your life more productive, reduce distractions and help you stay on track.
First up, if you don’t already use Google Chrome as your default browser you may want to install it now.
Now visit the Chrome app store here as this is where you will find most of these apps.
7 Chrome extensions to help you stay focused
StayFocusd
The online world is filled with distractions. StayFocusd helps you stay productive by allotting a specific time to distracting websites. When the time’s up, the website becomes inaccessible. You can set it up with your own preferences.
It also makes it very hard to cheat the system by making you complete boring tasks if you want to disable the extension.
Timer
Sometimes all we need is a reminder to change tasks. Timer is a simple app that lets you set a timer, with alarm and desk top notifications. Only want to spend half an hour on something? Now you can make sure you don’t go over time. It can also be a handy way to figure out how much time you spend on different tasks.
For those who just want to track where the time went without having to click “go”, try Be Limiteless.
OneTab
We’re all guilty of sitting with too many tabs open in Google. OneTab sorts all the opened tabs into a list so you can keep “tabs” on them all in one place. OneTab also saves memory (and helps your machine to work faster) because it takes the open websites down while you don’t have the page open.
Auto Text Expander
This is a great tool if you do a lot of work online and you don’t always have the time (or inclination) to type out long tracts of text. This customizable app lets you create custom shortcuts to expand and replace text while you type.
Simply create shortcuts and abbreviations for commonly used phrases/sentences and quickly use them when you need to.
Save to Pocket
If you find something online that you really want to read, but don’t want to let it become your next distraction, save it for later. Just use Save to Pocket and it will automatically be saved across all of your devices. Saved articles can also be accessed later while offline. Save to Pocket can also help you find other interesting articles based on what you’ve already saved.
Momentum
Momentum is a new tab replacement app that will show you your to-dos in an inspiring way. Get inspired with a daily photo and quote, set your daily focus, and track your to-dos. Eliminate distractions and beat procrastination with a reminder of your focus for the day on every new tab.
Noisli
Last but not least, we are big believers in using headphones in the work place (if your line of work allows) to help team members to focus. But what to listen to? Noisly lets you customize your white noise experience to create an audio environment that’s designed to help you concentrate.
