Since the beginning of time, humans have been distracted from completing essential tasks, having a detrimental effect on their daily productivity. In this modern world, progressing technologies play an increasing role in making us more efficient workers, but lots more distractions have appeared too. With just one wrong click, your attention wanders away from a productive session, and precious minutes are wasted as you get lost in the endless web of mind-numbing links that is the internet.
As well as this being a massive problem in the traditional workplace, the most challenging place to keep tabs on your productivity is while remote working. More and more people are making use of workspaces to get away from the physical distractions at home. But the biggest distractions of all reside in the tools you use to meet the deadline set by your employers.
Smartphones and the internet have long been touted as the biggest distractions in our daily lives, and Google Chrome is one of the most popular browsers used in any life situation. So, let’s take a look at some of the best Chrome extensions out there to help you remain focused on the task and put an end to your procrastination.
Leechblock NG
One of the most common types of productivity apps in the Google Chrome store is site-blocking extensions. They allow you to pick out addictive sites that distract you from your daily goals and block you from accessing them when you are trying to focus on your work. This helps you to avoid temptation, boost your willpower, and make use of your time more effectively.
Leechblock is one such Chrome extension that will help you take back control of your attention span and get on with the task at hand.
Block Site – Website Blocker for Chrome
With over 25,000 reviews and a 4.5-star rating, this Chrome add-on seems to be popular with the most accomplished procrastinators.
Block Site is another distraction-blocking Chrome extension, and with a few simple clicks, your productivity levels will be through the roof. You will also be amused by the delightful images displayed when your concentration wanes, and you try to click on one of the sites in your blocked list.
Apart from the ease of blocking distracting sites, Block Site also has an abundance of other impressive features. There is Work Mode, a Pomodoro technique timer to help you set blocking times, and a scheduling feature to help you manage your time effectively. Other features include password protection, uninstall prevention, and an adult content blocker to boot.
A great download, but be careful, you may end up addicted to blocking sites that much that you will have no fun sites left. Block Site is also available on Apple and Android devices and Mozilla Firefox. It is a free app but does contain some in-app purchases
Rescue Time for Chrome
We have just covered an app that helps you block out sites that you think will negatively affect your productivity, but what if you are unaware of some other distracting sites that are interrupting your workflow. Well, this is where Rescue Time comes in, another neat Chrome extension that tracks the websites you visit and presents them in an easy to understand graphical display. To accomplish this, it automatically categorizes the sites you visit in your digital day and ranks them on a productivity scale to show you exactly which sites are distracting you the most. It can also detect when you are away from your device and disable tracking to improve accuracy. If you prefer not to have your browsing tracked, you can easily pause Rescue Time or delete it at any time.
Rescue Times allows you to quickly see exactly what you have been doing day to day and adjust your online habits to stay focused on the tasks at hand.
Rescue Time is available on Apple and Windows devices, as well as Android and iOS. If you download the client onto other devices, it can track the apps you use and gain a more detailed picture of how you spend your priceless work time. It is available as a free download for Google Chrome, but full functionality is $9 per month or $72 a year (4 free months), with a 14-day free trial.
News Feed Eradicator for Facebook
One of the most common distractors known to humanity has to be Facebook. Since Facebook burst onto the scene in 2004, it has become the most prominent social media site in the world. While Facebook is actively trying to reduce the amount of clickbait in its newsfeed, there are plenty of clickable items that will test your willpower.
The beauty of News Feed Eradicator for Facebook is that it replaces your news feed with an inspirational quote to keep your mind focused on work, instead of getting lost in a world of news feed nonsense. Another fantastic feature of this extension is the ability to edit quotes and even add your own motivational phrases. Adding a few amusing jokes could also be a cheerful injection into your working day.
This extension is available free on Google Chrome and is also available on Mozilla Firefox.
Remove YouTube Recommended Videos and Comments
Another social media giant is ever-expanding YouTube. Who hasn’t clicked on a link and got lost in the bottomless pit of recommended videos made readily available to you.
Maybe all you want to do is watch a short YouTube video as part of your research on a particular project, but with the plethora of distractions presented to you, you can’t muster the self-control and end up deviating from your plan. Help is at hand with this Chrome extension as it will actively hide related videos, video suggestions, user comments, and other recommended distractions from the YouTube page. This enables you to confidently navigate to YouTube without the worry of being sidetracked by useless media and messing up your tight schedule.
This is available as a free extension on Chrome and Firefox.
