Web browsing can be a double-edged sword. It can expedite research on one side and facilitate procrastination at the same time.
With tricks like searching website content after entering search terms on the address bar, Google Chrome is one great catalyst and tool in terms of postponing work. Fortunately, many Chrome extensions are available to help nip this bad habit in the bud.
1. RescueTime:
RescueTime is an extension that traces the websites your most visited sites. In addition, it creates eye-opening infographics to inform your future browsing decisions. Also, RescueTime provides tips on how to reclaim lost hours while being careful not to lay a guilt trip for wasted time. Another great about this extension is that RescueTime block the most distracting sites.
2. StayFocusd:
Another extension to combat the nasty routine of opening Chrome tabs for pleasure is StayFocusd. It works by limiting the length of time you can browse a site and blocking you from the said site the allowed time runs its course.
StayFocusd gives you the choice and scope of blocking. You can block an entire website to a subdomain or a page, even a specific content on the page. It prevents you from haunting, for example, a forum where there is a flame war or a site which has a trifling impact on the real world.
3. Procrastinator:
Procrastinator lives to its name. This extension one-ups the competition by giving you the choice to disable websites for a block of time for a certain amount of time. This extension is recommended to those who like to browse sites for “just a sec /moment ” during work but end up taking an hour instead.
4. Strict Pomodoro:
Many people might have not yet known but the Pomodoro Technique is one of the most effective methods of time management known to humankind. Now, it comes with a Chrome extension, which stays true to the original technique: dividing a day’s work into 25-minute intervals and 5-minute breaks in between.
Strict Pomodoro further hooks you to a 25-minute sprint by letting you nominate a fixed number of sites to browse. Otherwise, the default settings have already blocked reputedly attention-getting sites.
5. Blockr:
Work first before play. Sticking to this aphorism, Blockr compels you to reach work goals before regaining access to the web. “Regain” is the operative word, wherein Blockr disables browsing in Chrome until you attain your aims. Blockr only allows a specific length of surfing time, which dwindles as the importance of the task heightens. Best of all, Blockr lets you know how much time you waste/rightfully spend on a site.
6. Productivity Owl:
Woot, woot! This owl peers at you from the bottom of the page to ensure that a five-second research on anything or topic does not transmute into a five-hour skimming through back issues of X-Men or online scantalation of other media. Then again, you can “tame” this owl by specifying an amount of time to browse certain pages.
Post-script:
As you may know, Chrome is not God’s only gift to Internet surfers. There’s also Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer, among others. These sites are still in the game and a force to contend with. Besides, it’s easy to disable Chrome and hop on to any of them. The best Chrome extension could only do so much, and the choice is ultimately yours to carry out a task to the end.
