18 Firefox and Chrome Plugins that will Increase Your Productivity
RescueTime
See how best you are spending your time. RescueTime for Firefox provides real-time charts and graphics. It shows how you spend your time on your browser. It also rates both productive and distracting websites differently.
OneTab
Merge all the tabs you have opened into one creating less distraction. This ensures that your battery isn’t drained faster if you are using a laptop. What One Tab accomplishes so well is its ability to reduce tab clutter if you open many tabs.
StartHQ
StartHQ replaces your new tabs making it easier to launch your favorite websites faster. The StartHQ dashboard makes it easier to explore cloud services like Dropbox and Gmail. It is similar to the default New Tab page, but with the added ability of discovering great web services. The extension also allows you to check and pin out services your friends are using.
Pocket lets you save any video or article with just a single click to your cloud-based pocket. The add-on allows you to read or access the saved materials later from any web browser or on iOS and Android apps. It will even
Adblock Plus
Block all scripts that support online advertisements. It lets you remove annoying ads that appear on the Facebook sidebar and on websites you visit. With this extension, you’ll never have to watch another ad on your browser again.
FoxyProxy
Switch an internet connection across different proxy servers depending on URL patterns. This will improve your security and allow you to access geographically-restricted content. FoxyProxy will also increase the speed at which your web pages load.
Disconnect
Enhance your privacy by encrypting your Firefox data. It also disables tracking by many popular websites. Disconnect also improves the speed at which web pages load by about 27%.
Hootsuite Hootlet
With Hootsuite Hootlet, you can you share web pages and videos on social media. You can post to multiple accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can also view geo-located social media message searches on Yelp and Google Maps. It also tracks analytics in Hootsuite’s social media dashboard.
LeechBlock
Firefox|Chrome
When you need to get some work done, LeechBlock will keep you off distracting websites. It is flexible allowing you to lock sites between fixed time periods or after a time limit. A detailed dialog box will appear where you will set what sites to block and when. This will make you more productive as a freelancer.
LastPass
LastPass allows you to use unique passwords generated by LastPass. With them, you can access all your other passcodes for any website on Firefox web browser. It is a free add-on but if you’d like to sync all your passwords with iOS and Android devices, it will cost you $1 per month.
StayFocusd
Firefox|Chrome
StayFocused is a great Chrome extension that will help limit the time wasted online. It allows you to add certain sites to StayFocused then lets you browse them for a limited amount of time. With the Nuclear Option you can also limit access to other websites and just browse a few.
Awesome Screenshot
With this Chrome add-on you can capture screen shots of the site that you are currently browsing. You can capture a certain area, a whole page or the entire window. Awesome Screenshot also comes with annotation features including an instant upload feature. Or you can store your screenshot for 3 days after which it will generate a link allowing you to share it with anybody.
Popchrom
Firefox|Chrome
If normally use the same phrases online, it may be helpful to create abbreviations. These will act as shortcuts for your text without having to type them again. Popchrom allows you to avoid repetitive phrases or words when using your web browser. It will shorten and replace them with a pre-defined phrase.
Session Buddy
Opening many tabs at once can always be distracting. Session Buddy will make your tabs easier to manage. It will save all the open tabs and then restore them later. This will improve Chrome’s performance speeding up your work.
Strict Pomodoro
The more undisciplined a mind you have the harder it is for you to work. Strict Pomodoro is a time management add-on that will block distracting sites as you try to get a job done. It only allows you to access them during break periods. Thus, you can fully concentrate on what you are doing.
Checker Plus for Gmail
Firefox|Chrome
Checker Plus is a great Chrome extension if you have a Gmail account. Like every other mail checker, it will display your new emails and allow you to read and delete them. You don’t even have to open the Gmail website. Checker Plus will also display a pop-up window when a new email comes in with the basic details of the email. So you can decide whether to read it immediately or not.
These Online Firefox and Chrome add-ons can help make most of the time you spend in front of the computer.
What’s your favorite plugin/addon ?
