4 Chrome Extensions That Will Boost Your Productivity

In the world of freelancing, newcomers and veterans have one common enemy: procrastination. Staying productive is a struggle for even the most seasoned veterans.

When there’s no boss watching, what’s stopping you from putting your work on hold and watching a YouTube video? Technology isn’t sophisticated enough for you to download an AI holographic boss who’ll make sure you stay on track.

While we wait for such groundbreaking technology to be developed, let’s take a look at a few existing Chrome extensions that can prevent missed deadlines and keep you focused on your work.

Todoist

Todoist is a web app that helps you keep track of your tasks. Pretty mundane, right? Wrong!

While the app itself is nothing special, the fact that it has a Chrome extension takes accessibility to the next level, which is why the extension is used by over half a million people worldwide.

No matter what page you’re on, Todoist is always within reach. You can check off completed projects or add new assignments to your queue with as little as two clicks.

You can even separate your assignments by the project which makes it very easy to keep your personal tasks segregated from your professional ones. Todoist lets you see everything on your agenda which helps you stay on track.

To-do lists have been the go-to weapon in the fight against procrastination since the olden days, let’s modernize this weapon of mass productivity.

To download Todoist, click here.

Break Time

Break Time is another Chrome extension that I couldn’t live without. It lets you set your work-break ratio and notifies you when each phase ends.

It shows you a timer for your working period and another one for your breaks. Keeping track of how long you have left in each phase will help you work with purpose and burn through your work like a bat out of hell.

During my brief interview with Tom J. Watson, the creator of Break Time, he revealed his motive for creating the app, saying:

“I originally created BreakTimer to solve a problem that I myself was experiencing: how to ensure I actually take breaks from work when I sit at the computer for hours on end. Being able to share the application with others around the world, and then to receive thank you messages from happy users, it’s really great.”

Tom was a great interviewee, and I can see that he’s very dedicated to his work. To see what other projects he has going on, click here.

To learn about finding the optimal ratio between working and resting, check out 69: The Ultimate Productivity System.

Not sure what to do during your breaks? Have a look at my article on 7 Things To Do During Your Work Breaks.

Want to download Break Time and experience the benefits for yourself? Click here!

Webtime Tracker

Many would call themselves productive, but the harsh truth is that most of us procrastinate far more than we realize.

But that’s impossible, right? After all, it’s just the occasional YouTube video, maybe a quick scroll through your social feed, a short read on The New York Times, but all this adds up.

Our brain doesn’t comprehend the amount of time we waste, so let’s seek out some technological assistance.

Webtime Tracker shows you how much time you spend on each website. You can view your statistics for the current day, analyze your daily average, and have a look at your aggregated data since you first downloaded the Chrome extension or last cleared its cache.

The extension lets you export your data, download a backup file (which can later be restored), and take a screenshot of your current statistics.

Using this app will keep you conscious of how much time you waste — and more importantly, where you waste it. Having tangible statistics will hold you accountable and ensure that you don’t fall into a procrastination pit.

Spending too much time on Facebook? Cut out social media until you’ve finished your work. Watching too many YouTube videos? Don’t log onto the site unless you’re on break.

Knowing where you spend too much time is the key to cutting down excessive usage on certain websites. What are you waiting for? Start gathering data by heading over to the extension page and adding it to your browser.

StayFocusd

Sometimes willpower isn’t enough to beat procrastination, so wouldn’t it be great if you were physically unable to access all the sites that you spend too much time on? Now you can with StayFocusd!

The extension lets you limit the amount of time you can spend on non-work websites. After you’ve consumed all your allocated time, the websites will be blocked until the end of your workday (you can set the specific time in your extension settings.)

You can even outright block specific websites during certain times of day to ensure you don’t watch YouTube or check your Facebook feed during work hours.

Worried that StayFocusd will intrude on your free time during the weekends? That won’t be a problem as the extension will only restrict your access on days of the week that you’ve set. If you want unlimited access to all your favorite sites on Sunday, just set your workdays to Monday-Saturday.

I know what you’re thinking, “what if I just change my settings whenever I want to procrastinate?” To avoid such a tragedy from occurring, set up a challenge that makes it harder for you to edit the extension.

The challenge consists of a typing test wherein you’ll need to write a set sentence — no shorter than 425 characters — without making any errors. If you make a typo, you’ll have to start over.

Hopefully, this challenge will be enough to deter you from editing your settings in the name of procrastination. Are you ready to add a virtual drill sergeant to your browser? Download the Stayfocusd extension here!

Conclusion

We hope you end up using all or some of the above extensions, and that they make your day-to-day life more manageable. Willpower is one of the primary defenses that your brain has against procrastination, but you’d be surprised how far a little strategy can go.

One thing is for sure, procrastination is a fierce beast, and slaying it won’t be easy, but with the right tools and a lot of willpower, you’ll eradicate this scourge in no time at all.