How to have a clean browser/digital space?

[Waves]

Yeah I'm one of those people that keep 20+ tabs open on their browser... I'm starting to notice how overwhelming and draining it feels to have such a cluttered digital space. It's messing with my ability to focus and do work, with all this context switching and scattering of attention. 

The thing is, I keep so many open because I think I might need them in the future, or a reminder to do something or check out a video etc. It's a combination of potential to-do items and uncompleted tasks (e.g. when deciding what to buy between different options).

I tried closing them all, but the pattern repeats itself. There must be something that I'm missing.

How are you keeping a clean browser?

[integral]

Tab groups

+ Chrome extensions to save and store Tab groups for later use. 

Whenever I have a new client I need to open a bunch of tabs specifically for their needs. I can't have hundreds of clients Tabs open in the same time so I have an extension that saves away those tabs and closes them, then with one click I open it again and continue working where I left off. each group of tabs is labelled allowing me to keep track of everything.

For personal use ill create a new group and label it for whatever im doing "nutrition" then minimize it when not in use. The ability to minimize the tab group is the main point + organization by grouping and labeling tabs. 

Edited August 22, 2022 by integral

[Waves]

@integral Good stuff, thanks. Is there a particular extension you prefer?

[Gabith]

read a book on minimalism 

[Sincerity]

Enable the option to delete all tabs when closing the window.

12 hours ago, Waves said:

Yeah I'm one of those people that keep 20+ tabs open on their browser... I'm starting to notice how overwhelming and draining it feels to have such a cluttered digital space. It's messing with my ability to focus and do work, with all this context switching and scattering of attention. 

The thing is, I keep so many open because I think I might need them in the future, or a reminder to do something or check out a video etc. It's a combination of potential to-do items and uncompleted tasks (e.g. when deciding what to buy between different options).

I totally understand you. But make this step to always close all tabs and you won't regret it. Let go.

If you REALLY need to save the tabs you have opened at some point you can save them as a session. At least that's an option in my browser (Vivaldi). Or save them in some other way, idk.

[Yarco]

Start off by trading your tabs for bookmarks.

A bookmark is basically like a tab that you can recall at an instant. But unlike open tabs, they aren't actively doing anything. Open tabs each take up some RAM and slow your computer down overall.

I would start by having a "temporary bookmarks" folder where you bookmark any tab you think you might want to refer back to in the future. Then at the end of the month, do an audit and honestly ask yourself whether you've clicked each link within the past month, if you think you might click it in the next month, or if it's safe to just delete it from your bookmarks and forget about.

The bookmarks that you use most frequently (let's say Top 5) can go directly on your bookmarks bar. Everything other bookmark that's important to keep long-term but you only occasionally refer to, you should sort into more manageable folders, so you don't just have an unsorted list of 200 bookmarks.

Example of my bookmark bar:

My Youtube subscriptions page | Facebook | My city's Reddit page sorted by New | 2 other sites I always check first thing when I open my browser |

(Be sure to rename your bookmarks so they make sense and you can tell what they are right away, don't just accept the default page title suggested)

Then I've got several folders on the bookmarks bar that each have several bookmarks within them:

"Website admin" folder with a link to the login page for every website I own, my ad platform dashboard, my amazon affiliates logins. Within my "Website admin" folder I have 2 subfolders: "Images" with links to royalty-free image sites like Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels, Canva, etc. so I can easily source images. And "SEO" with links to a bunch of SEO tools and articles.

Next I have a "Crypto" folder with links to various charting websites, exchange websites, opensea, etc.

Then I have a folder for each of several of my main writing clients, full of links to style guides, outlines and templates, editorial calendars, etc.

"Game Dev" folder with links to various online courses, tools, assets, etc.

"Job sites" folder with links to all the job boards and other resources I'd go through if I wanted to find more work. 

Then after all my bookmark folders, I've got maybe up to 10 - 15 miscellaneous bookmarks that aren't categorized anywhere that I'm using in the short-term but will eventually delete, like USPS parcel tracking links, stuff I'm thinking about buying, maybe a few things I'll check out in the future that I don't have time for in the moment, but try not to let it get out of hand.

Also I installed a separate browser (Brave) to use exclusively for all my podcast stuff... my podcast host, podcast email, podcast youtube channel and other channels, my podcast reddit account, twitter, and all the links to research I'm doing for future episodes. That way it's like a whole separate identity for myself and I don't need to constantly log in and out between personal and business accounts, I just open a whole separate browser where I'm already logged in separately to all of those services.

Edited August 22, 2022 by Yarco

[integral]

5 hours ago, Waves said:

@integral Good stuff, thanks. Is there a particular extension you prefer?

Tab Groups Extension For Saving Tabs but you don't need this extension to make Tab Groups its built into chrome, right click on a tab and click "add to tab group" in drop down. 

Edited August 22, 2022 by integral

[Waves]

@Yarco Thanks for the thorough post! I can see bookmarks working for more permanent sites that you access regularly, or sites that fall into 'interesting' / 'might be handy at some point' category. Coming back to the bookmark list often and cleaning it up seems to be the key. 

Also, good shut about using a different browser for a different role/purpose. I do the same to separate work and personal stuff. 

For temporary 'active' projects that need multiple tabs I think I'll be using the extension @integral suggested, which seems great.

_________________________________________

@Liebestraum Yeah I'm with you. My goal is to focus on one thing at a time, which is prevented by having many tabs open. This multitasking isn't something I want, on the contrary, it makes me feel all over the place and contributes to more distraction. Having some many tabs open is a consequence of a scattered mind, procrastination, and poor habits. And, as you say, of not having a singular, clear purpose as a foundation of it all.

In the larger picture, I realized this is just a place where I could be more intentional in. Having a clean digital space is as important as having a tidy physical environment. Also, by being this deliberate I train to be more decisive, and to let things go instead of hoarding clutter.

[mmKay]

may be overkill 
 

 

[thepixelmonk]

I use https://www.gettoby.com. The tab groups extension mentioned above is also nice, depending on your needs. I would definitely have a crazy amount of tabs open as well if I didn't use any organizational tool.

Edited August 28, 2022 by thepixelmonk