A Chrome Setup for Work
Bookmark bar
For my work account, I simply have two folders. Sites I use more often are stored in the Home folder and sites I want to quickly store are moved to the Read Later folder. I try to avoid dragging anything to the main bar because those sites will distract me in the future. That is the main reason for the Read Later folder.
Extension bar
This is how the extension bar normally looks. It shows all the extensions you have installed. Even the ones you don’t need to access regularly.
So what you can you drag the end of the search bar to the right so that you only see the extensions you do visit on a regular basis.
Extensions
The goal for my extensions is to remove the unwanted distractions and gain insight into how I spend my time to see where I can improve.
Get Cold Turkey.com
- Blocks sites and apps
- A game-changer for me
- Because you set out a schedule and once a block starts you can’t disable the blocker
- This is something I need or else I just disable the blocker once I get distracted
Block Site — Website Blocker for Chrome
- I used this extension before Cold Turkey
- Is too easily disabled
- Still use it for sites I don’t really care about, which I always block on my work account. Sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Reddit.
Rescuetime.com
- Logs time in the background
- Show productivity meter
- Doesn’t require anything after initial setup
Momentum
- Shows when you open a new tab
- Before I used Panda or Muz.li which are really fun but also really distracting
- Shows just enough. Especially like the goal of the day feature. Which enables anchor tasks.
DF Tube (Distraction Free for YouTube™)
- Blocks out specific parts of Youtube
- Really showed me how certain parts hooked me
- For me it is the recommended section on the homepage
- And the relevant video’s sidebar on a video page
- It started noticing myself clicking on these video’s without really wanting to watch them. My hand just moved without thinking about it. Which is really weird to notice.
Toggl.com
- Used for recording time
- Helps staying active and mindful of what you are working on
- Gives useful insights into what you are actually doing (doesn’t just show Chrome or Medium.com)
- Does require some work
- Still experimenting with this extension
This article is part of my 168 series
Each week has 168 hours. I have the ability to choose to make the most out of these hours. However, I often regret how I spend my time. How can I give more to those things I value and less to those I don’t?
