There’s no denying that Google has dominated the browser market with Chrome. With a total market share of over 35%, Google Chrome now has more users than most other major browsers combined, including major browsing heavyweights Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Google Chrome is becoming an ever more popular option for use in the workplace, thanks to its lightweight and speedy browsing capabilities. However, Google Chrome is still far from perfect.
If you’re looking to get the most out of Google Chrome during your working day, you’ll want to take advantage of the various extensions offered via the
#1. QuickTab
Over the course of the working day, it’s quite common for tabs to mount up and severely hinder your productivity. The problem is, once those tabs mount up, it’s incredibly difficult to manage them, especially with Chrome’s own tab management system, which prefers to just list miniature versions of the tabs across the top bar.
QuickTab is one of a number of Chrome extensions designed with a mind to improve your tab management. However, the problem with many of those tab management extensions is that they actually complicate the entire process.
QuickTab, on the other hand, provides a quick and concise way of accessing the tab you’re looking for, no matter how many tabs you have open. The extension provides a simple button next to the browser’s search bar, which when clicked on, offers a dropdown view of each tab currently open. What’s more, QuickTab allows you to quickly and easily search those open tabs – which is perfect for tab junkies like me!
The extension is also packed with a number of other useful features, including the ability to navigate between tabs with your arrow keys and close tabs with a right mouse click. If tabs are hindering your productivity, QuickTab is the answer.
#2. Momentum
Chrome’s standard new tab page is undeniably an effective tool for most users, providing an easy way to access your most visited sites and applications. However, for power users, there’s much better options available. Enter, Momentum.
Momentum is essentially a replacement for Chrome’s standard new tab page, however, it adds a bunch of functionality that should boost your productivity. As part of the extension, you’ll find a large clock, weather information and your to-do list for the day. What’s more, Momentum is clearly a new tab page that’s designed to look great, with a big and beautiful background image that changes each day.
In comparison to other new tab page replacement extensions, Momentum is extremely customisable. It allows you to tweak the various interface aspects, and for $2 a month, the extension offers additional capability, including Todoist and Wunderlist support, plus a widget that pulls information from both those sources.
#3. Speedtest by Ookla
When it comes to productivity, internet speed is everything. Put it this way, the faster your connection is, the more you’re going to get done. There’s plenty of tools out there for measuring your internet speed, but Ookla’s offering is undeniably the best and the company now offers a Chrome extension for quick and easy speed testing.
The Speedtest by Ookla extension offers easy access to their download speed check service, which is especially useful if you’re looking to get the most out of the ultra fast fibre broadband that your business is shelling out a fortune for each month.
The convenience of being able to complete a speed test directly from your tool bar is especially useful for those who work remotely. Most coffee shops and restaurants offer free WiFi for those looking to get some work done nowadays, however, the speed they offer isn’t always top tier – which is why it’s worth checking with this handy little extension to prevent your productivity from taking a beating.
#4. Jot
Much like Momentum, Jot is designed to be a replacement for your new tab page, however, it’s one designed with a much more simple premise in mind. Like Momentum, it provides a beautiful new background image every time you open a tab, however, overlaid over that image is a simple interface that’s designed to provide you with a quick and easy to-do list for the day ahead.
If you’re looking for a to-do list that doesn’t necessarily offer any bells and whistles, but instead provides you with a quick and easy overview of what you actually need to do, Jot is the answer, especially for those who like to keep their productivity simple.
That being said, the extension was last updated in 2014, so unlike the other productivity tools that we’ve covered in this article, Jot doesn’t look to be a reliable option going forward, however, for now, it does the job of a to-do list and does it well.
#5. StayFocused
Finally, the last extension on our list may just tackle one of the biggest problems when it comes to being productive – procrastination.
With StayFocused, you can put distracting websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube on your blocked sites list. With that in mind, if you spend more than a set amount of time on one of those websites, StayFocused will block your access to all of them for the rest of the day.
The extension may sound a little authoritarian at first, but for those who have a tendency to procrastinate during the working day, it could quickly become a useful tool. What’s more, StayFocused also provides users with the option to set up the days and hours when they need the application to be active, meaning you’ll still be able to scroll through Facebook and Twitter freely when you’re out of the office.
With a little tweaking, Google Chrome can become a powerhouse for productivity, and the extensions that we’ve discussed here will certainly help you to achieve that.
