There are so many ways to procrastinate, and so many tricks to boost willpower and stay productive at the workplace. Browser add-ons seem to be one of the easiest ways to reclaim your focus and quit distractions. We have listed productivity Chrome extensions that improve your focus and concentration, block distractions, help you manage your email communication, and remind you of important to-dos.
1. Personal Blocklist
It’s sometimes hard to google something and stay concentrated when suggested search results contain distracting information. This extension helps you prevent distractions by eliminating certain domains from the search results. Specify domains and hosts that you’d prefer to block and search information in a distraction-free environment.
2. Mindful Browsing
An add-on for those who can’t resist the temptations of the unlimited Internet and spend their time on social media and image boards, although later regret that. In this extension you can create a list of time-wasting websites, and the app will kindly remind you of that when you’ll be visiting them. It won’t treat you like a nanny: the developer emphasizes that the extension doesn’t block anything or tracks what you’re doing on the Internet. It just helps you develop a good habit of not wasting your time on getting the information you don’t really need.
3. Comments to Cats
Tired of hateful and pointless comments? Easily get distracted by something that someone wrote under the post you are reading? This extension finds comments on popular websites and replaces them with pictures of cute cats, creating a safe and calm environment. Maybe it won’t be that helpful if you’re not a cat person, but meow! — it’s still much better than scrolling through all those emotional, harmful or commercial entries. And you always can reload the page with comments if you want to read them.
4. Taco
Taco is an app and Chrome extension that collects your tasks and to-dos from other apps and services (40+ are currently available) and shows them directly in Chrome. It works on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Block anything else when you started working on a task, control your deadlines, and flag tasks as ready without leaving Taco.
5. Drag
Task lists and to-do apps are great, but most to-dos actually come from emails. So why wasting time on manually transferring the contents of your inbox when you can just transform your emails into an organized Kanban-like board? Drag extension for Chrome allows you to do that. It’s a simple and elegant solution for those who want both a clear to-do list and an empty inbox.
6. Boomerang for Gmail
Is email productivity possible? Sounds like a classic example of an oxymoron: emails are one of the major distractions of the office routine. Thankfully, there are solutions that help you stay organized even with an active correspondence. Boomerang helps you schedule messages to be automatically sent in the future, set up reminders for emails that need to be sent later manually, postpone incoming messages, and track follow-ups. The extension saves your time and prevents you from doing a lot of mechanical manual work.
7. Right Inbox
This extension integrates with your Gmail mailbox and allows you to set up reminders, create recurring emails, and schedule follow-up conversations. With time zone support, you can schedule emails to be delivered to their recipients in decent time. Flexible and customizable, this tool is a great help for those who spend a lot of time on email communication.
8. Sticky Notes
Found something useful on the Internet and don’t want to forget it? Sticky Notes help you store helpful information with your comments directly in the browser. They are synced between multiple devices and don’t get lost even after clearing Chrome cache. Organize information in reminders and to-do lists quickly, easily and securely.
9. Forest
Gamify your productivity progress with this motivating extension. When you start working on a task, plant a tree. It will grow while you keep working and will be killed when you open a blacklisted website. Configure your blacklists, grow new trees, cultivate your forest, and share your results with friends.
10. Ultidash
Ultidash is a productivity dashboard located directly on new Chrome tabs. Manage your to-do lists, arrange to-dos by urgency and flag ready ones as completed, and see your activity charts. The extension also allows to block distracting websites and set up a concentration timer to improve your focus. Daily and weekly statistics help you understand your progress.
11. Pushbullet
“The app you never knew you needed”: bring together everything you care about with this extension. See all text messages from your phone and reply from the computer, receive all notifications, and quickly share links and files between the devices. Pushbullet is available as a mobile app and a Chrome extension. They are synced so that you don’t receive the same notification twice.
12. Social Fixer
Okay, one cannot simply quit checking Facebook updates. But it is possible to minimize the time you spend on it — with Social Fixer extension you can filter the news feed and hide specific content that you don’t want to see. Filter out marketing-related materials, political posts, or anything else you find annoying or boring. Hide the news you have already read to create an uncluttered and calm environment.
13. Strict Workflow
An extension for pomodoro technique fans that enforces a 25/5 min work-and-break cycles. The tool works simply and unobtrusively, and supports blacklists for distracting websites. Why the author calls it “strict”? Because they mean it: once the timer starts, you cannot stop it without disabling the extension or closing the browser. The tool encourages good productivity habits and helps develop focus.
