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  • - Hello, my name is Thomas Frank

  • and I have a browser tab problem.

  • I just can't seem to help myself from having 50

  • or 80 browser tabs open at one time

  • and completely taking up all my computer's ram,

  • which is why I now have this little extension

  • that automatically hides the browser tabs I'm not using

  • and groups them into projects, and that's not all?

  • Today we're gonna break down 10

  • of the best browser extensions out there

  • for boosting your productivity.

  • And this video is sponsored by Hover.

  • So we're gonna focus mainly on Chrome in this video

  • since it is the most popular browser out there

  • and it's the one that I happen to use,

  • but if you're using something else like Firefox or Safari

  • fear not, a lot of these extensions are on multiple browsers

  • so when I call each one out you're gonna see some icons

  • to show which of the major browsers

  • that extension is also on.

  • So with all of that out of the way

  • let's get into our first extension,

  • the one that I teased in the intro, called Workona.

  • This is probably my new favorite extension on Chrome

  • because to make a bit of an admission here

  • I'm a really bad tab hoarder.

  • My friends love to make fun of the fact

  • that I often have 50 or 100 tabs open,

  • but that's just my nature.

  • I always have multiple research projects going on

  • and before I know it the browser header bar

  • on my computer screen is just this unintelligible mess

  • of tiny slivers of tabs.

  • I can't even see what they are at that point

  • and that's the problem

  • that Workona helps people like me to solve.

  • It basically gives you this dashboard

  • where you can create multiple projects

  • and then group your tabs into those projects.

  • Now if you've watched my past videos

  • you've probably heard me talk about an extension

  • called TabCopy,

  • which lets me basically copy all the tab links

  • to my clipboard, but I gotta say this is better.

  • In addition to letting you do that,

  • if you wanna just paste your links somewhere else,

  • it also saves all of your tabs in organized projects

  • and you can even close those tabs

  • after saving them as resources

  • so you can keep a bunch of different websites

  • in a specific project without having to keep them open.

  • You can also switch between projects

  • and Workona actually suspends the tabs that you're not using

  • and hides them if they're not an open project

  • so you only see what is relevant to the project

  • that you're working on.

  • So basically Workona makes context switching

  • a lot better within Chrome but it also encourages you

  • to be working on one specific project at a time

  • because you know the grouping of tabs you have open

  • are only related to that project.

  • Our next extension is called Habitica Pomodoro SiteKeeper,

  • which is kind of a mouthful

  • but it is now my pomodor app of choice.

  • So, if you're unfamiliar with the pomodoro technique,

  • I've got a whole video on it

  • and I'll link to that down in the description below,

  • but in short it is probably the most effective

  • and easiest to use productivity technique out there.

  • You simply pick a task you wanna work on,

  • set a timer, an actual timer for 25 minutes,

  • and work on just that task during the duration

  • then you take a break

  • and because you're using an external timer to guide you

  • and because you're reframing your task

  • as work for just 25 minutes, it's an extremely effective way

  • to get over the resistance you feel to doing a tough task.

  • I use pomodoro sessions all the time

  • to get myself doing things that I don't want to actually do.

  • And I've tested a lot of pomodoro apps out there.

  • This is now my favorite one

  • because I use a habit tracker called Habitica.

  • Now, if you haven't used Habitica before

  • it uses RPG and video game elements

  • to sort of build a habit-tracking app

  • that keeps you a bit more motivated to track your habits,

  • especially if you're a nerd like me.

  • But I will note that even if you're not into the RPG stuff,

  • Habitica is a fantastic habit-tracking app,

  • possibly one of the best out there

  • because it's open source,

  • which means it has a ton of advanced features

  • that don't cost anything

  • where other apps that have similar features

  • always want you to pay, which is pretty nice.

  • And in keeping with that way of doing things

  • this extension for pomodoro timing

  • has a lot of cool features

  • that a lot of other pomodoro apps that I've seen

  • want you to pay for, like tracking your pomodoro stats.

  • A lot of 'em want you to pay for that.

  • This one does it for free

  • and it does a few other cool things as well,

  • namely it connects to Habitica

  • and adds pomodoro-based habits to your habit tracking.

  • It also has a site blocker

  • so you can add whatever sites you want to its block list

  • and during pomodoro sessions

  • all of those sites are gonna be blocked.

  • You can also add costs to websites

  • and if you add a cost to a website

  • it's gonna be blocked all the time,

  • even outside of pomodoro sessions

  • and you can get into them for a limited amount of time

  • by paying gold from Habitica.

  • Now, personally I love having this extension

  • connected to Habitica since I use the crap out of it,

  • but if you don't happen to use that

  • or you want something a little less nerdy,

  • there is another extension called Tide,

  • which has a pomodoro timer,

  • it's got the stat keeping for free,

  • it's got the site blocker, so it's very similar

  • but it doesn't have the Habitica connections.

  • So check that out as an alternative.

  • Next up on our list is an extension called AudioBlogs,

  • which translates written articles into podcast narrations

  • that you can send to your phone,

  • which are narrated by a scarily good AI narration algorithm.

  • This thing is way better than it has any right to be

  • and I have never heard a text-to-speech algorithm

  • that works anywhere near as good as this thing.

  • Sometimes it gets inflections wrong,

  • sometimes it's a little wonky,

  • but 95% of the time it's perfectly listenable.

  • - [Narrator] This guide was originally published

  • in March 2012.

  • Since then, hundreds of students and even non-students

  • have created their own personal websites using it.

  • - And the reason I have this on my list is because for me

  • one of my top priorities and values in life

  • is daily, low-level movements, walks and bike rides

  • in addition to my sessions in the gym

  • and more intense exercise.

  • For me, this is a non-negotiable priority in my life

  • and when I go for these walks and bike rides

  • I love to listen to usually audiobooks

  • so I can keep learning or keep myself entertained

  • while I'm out on them.

  • Right now I'm actually listening to a book

  • called Walkable City,

  • which is kind of making me hate the way we Americans

  • design our cities, but I digress.

  • Sometimes, I'm on my computer, I come across an article,

  • and I wanna read that

  • but I also wanna go out for a walk or a bike ride.

  • So AudioBlogs let's me turn that article

  • into a podcast narration

  • and listen to it while I do that.

  • Next up on our list we've got uBlock Origin,

  • which is a great lightweight ad-blocking extension

  • for most browsers.

  • There are a lot of ad blockers out there.

  • I like uBlock Origin because it is again lightweight,

  • it doesn't use a lot of resources,

  • and if you want you can add sites to a white list

  • so you can support them and see their ads if you trust them.

  • But I have long held that an ad-blocking extension

  • is almost as necessary for computer security

  • as an antivirus program and here is why.

  • A lot of website owners do not place their own ads.

  • They have third party ad placement extensions

  • that they put on their pages

  • and they trust the third party to place those ads

  • and there have been many instances

  • where those third party networks have placed ads

  • that contain malware or exploits.

  • So I am not going to trust my computer security

  • to every website in the world that I happen to go to.

  • I use an ad blocker as a default

  • and then I white list sites if I trust them.

  • And one other really nice thing

  • that uBlock Origin let's me do is add filters,

  • which can block certain elements of websites.

  • For instance, that what's happening section on Twitter

  • is always full of these like sensationalist headlines

  • that just suck me in and waste a ton of my time.

  • I never wanna see what's happening on Twitter ever again

  • and luckily in the my filters section of uBlock Origin

  • I can paste this little line of code

  • and that is exactly what happens.

  • It gets hidden and that is just. (chef's kiss)

  • Readwise, the next extension on our list is Readwise

  • and if you've seen my previous videos

  • you will know that I absolutely love Readwise.

  • This is a wonderful highlighter app

  • that allows you to make highlights from Kindle books,

  • from podcast episodes, from actual print books

  • if you use their phone app with the camera

  • and the built-in text recognition feature

  • and in anything that you read on the internet.

  • With the extension installed,

  • all you need to do is highlight some text, right-click,

  • and send that highlight to Readwise.

  • This is a great way to keep a collection

  • of the things that you want to remember.

  • If you saw my iPad productivity video

  • from a couple of months ago

  • you will know that I talked about an app called Command

  • on the iPad,

  • which is a browser that let's you make highlights

  • that actually stay on the webpage even if you refresh

  • and then automatically sends those highlights

  • over to Readwise, which is freakin' sweet

  • and I really wish that Command was on desktop browsers.

  • Unfortunately, it's not but for now

  • we at least have the Readwise extension

  • which while it won't leave those highlights on the webpage

  • will send them to your Readwise account

  • and if you have one of their sync options turned on

  • can send the highlights over to RemNote or Rome Research

  • or if you're like me, to Notion.

  • And while we're talking about Readwise

  • we also have to talk about Pocket,

  • which is the next extension on our list.

  • Unlike Readwise, Pocket is an extension

  • that just lets you save webpages.

  • Readwise really wants you to make a selection

  • and kind of save a snippet of text.

  • Pocket is just for like eh,

  • I wanna save this cool webpage that I found for later

  • and that's exactly what I use it for.

  • If I come across an article that I don't have time to read

  • and wanna read later or if I come across

  • just like a cool app that I wanna share with my audience

  • I will hit that Pocket button in my browser

  • and it saves it to my little Pocket list,

  • which I can go and review later on.

  • And another cool thing about Pocket

  • is their mobile apps have the ability to download articles

  • for offline reading.

  • So, if you're somebody who commutes on the subway

  • or you take a lot of flights

  • or you somehow have a lot of time or you're offline,

  • pocket can be a really, really useful app

  • and extension combo.

  • Next up on our list

  • we have an extension called Notion Boost.

  • So, as you probably know, if you follow this channel

  • or my other channel Thomas Frank Explains,

  • I am a huge user of Notion.

  • I basically run my entire business through it.

  • I've got my task management in it

  • and I write all my articles and do all my research in it.

  • I absolutely love Notion

  • but there is a feature that I have wished Notion would add

  • for a really long time and it's a feature

  • that's in a lot of other notetaking and writing apps.

  • That is a floating sticky outline.

  • I wanna be able to see all of my headings

  • and be able to zoom to them

  • and a lot of other apps have this.

  • Google Docs has it, Dropbox Paper has it, Obsidian has it,

  • Slite has it, unfortunately Notion does not.

  • They do have a table of contents block

  • but when you put that somewhere

  • it just stays where you put it

  • and you have to scroll up to find it.

  • Not that useful.

  • So Notion Boost adds Notion, at least in the browser,

  • to that hallowed collection of apps

  • that have the beautiful sticky floating outline

  • on the sidebar.

  • It does a few other things as well,

  • but that is absolutely the coolest thing for me

  • that it does.

  • I've got a lot of really long articles I write in Notion,

  • I've got huge research documents,

  • and having that sticky sidebar is really, really nice

  • for being able to zoom to different sections.

  • Next up we have Web Clippers.

  • There are web clippers for Notion, for Evernote,

  • and for OneNote

  • and these extensions basically take the entire content

  • of a webpage or at least the text part

  • and pour it over to the note taking app that you're using.

  • Now personally I don't use web clippers very often

  • because I've got a combination of other apps

  • that basically do the same thing for me.

  • If I want to make sure a bunch of tabs are saved

  • in my resource section, well I've got Workona for that.

  • If I'm reading an article and I wanna highlight something,

  • I've got Readwise for that.

  • And if I wanna just put something in my big jumble of stuff

  • that I can go look at later, I've got Pocket for that.

  • But for some people Web Clipper is going to be the thing

  • that fits the bill.

  • So we're mentioning it here

  • and I'm gonna mention specifically

  • the ones for Notion, OneNote, and Evernote

  • because they're the ones that I know about.

  • Before I move on to the next extension on our list,

  • which might possibly be the most useful one

  • for most people watching this video,

  • I do wanna say that if you're enjoying this video

  • maybe consider hitting that Subscribe button.

  • I've actually got a brand new

  • best note taking apps video in the works

  • that's gonna compare some of the newcomers

  • like Rome Research and Obsidian with our old standards.

  • So if you like these kind of videos

  • that one is coming in the very near future

  • and you're gonna want to be subscribed so you don't miss it.

  • Plus, according to my analytics, only 30% of you

  • are actually subscribed when you watch my content.

  • And I know every YouTuber says that these days,

  • it's kind of a trope,

  • but subscribing really does help support the channel

  • and push it out to more people on this platform.

  • So if you do enjoy this content

  • and you wanna help support it,

  • you wanna help support me as a creator,

  • consider hitting that subscribe button

  • and thank you if you do.

  • All right, next extension on our list

  • is called News Feed Eradicator for Facebook.

  • Even though it says for Facebook in the title,

  • this is an extension that can eradicate the newsfeed

  • in a ton of different social media websites;

  • in YouTube, in Twitter, in LinkedIn, and Facebook.

  • Instagram may not be on the list there

  • but most of the distraction usual suspects are

  • and ya gotta do is hit a little checkbox

  • and the feed on that website

  • is going to be deleted essentially.

  • It's gonna be hidden so that allows you to use social media,

  • if you're somebody like me

  • who needs to make posts on social media

  • or you wanna check your mentions

  • and engage with your audience,

  • without getting sucked into your feed.

  • It's something that I keep on almost all the time

  • only turning off

  • if I really wanna check the feed for a specific reason.

  • And that brings us to our last extension of the day

  • which is called Reader View and Reader View,

  • like the Reader View on mobile Safari

  • takes a page full of distracting elements

  • and boils it down to its essentials,

  • namely the content that you wanna read.

  • It also gives you typography options, which is pretty sweet.

  • You can change the font size,

  • you can change the line height, it's pretty nice.

  • Now, some web designers like yours truly,

  • design a website so extensions like this aren't needed.

  • If you go on any of my websites; collegeinfogeek,

  • thomasjfrank, we've got single column, minimalist,

  • distraction-free columns of text.

  • It's designed for pleasurable reading.

  • But designers like me seem to be in the minority.

  • It seems like almost every website out there these days

  • has a popup asking you to subscribe, their email newsletter,

  • there's a sidebar, there's mid-content ads,

  • all kinds of crap that is just distracting

  • and makes the page load slower.

  • So an extension like Reader View is really, really nice

  • for being able to get rid of all of that

  • and just read the thing that you came to read

  • and there are a couple of other cool features as well

  • built in.

  • There's a dark mode filter

  • and actually some light theming options.

  • There is a text-to-speech mode,

  • which is honestly pretty bad.

  • I would just use AudioBlogs if you really want that,

  • but there's also a built-in higlighter and like in Command,

  • the highlights you make persist

  • even if you refresh the page.

  • Now it's not gonna send your highlights to Readwise as well

  • so there is a couple of different actions to take

  • if you want both those things to happen.

  • That's why Command is still the gold standard

  • for researchers as far as I'm concerned,

  • but it is pretty cool

  • having that highlighter feature at least.

  • So, for all this video we've talked about extensions

  • that can make you work more productivity on the internet

  • but what about making the internet

  • work more productively for you?

  • Well, that's exactly what happens

  • when you have your own online presence

  • where you can connect with people

  • or you have your own platform or you own your content

  • and where you can maybe make connections

  • with potential employers, potential clients,

  • people who you could work with.

  • That's exactly what I do on my website thomasjfrank.com.

  • It shows off my work and helps me build my personal brand

  • and if you haven't started building

  • an online presence for yourself,

  • it's something you should definitely think about

  • and at least take the first step to doing,

  • which is getting your own domain name.

  • Even if you're not ready to build your own website yet,

  • getting that domain name locked down is crucial

  • because if somebody goes out and registers it

  • before you can get it, well you're kind of out of luck.

  • That's how I am with thomasfrank.com.

  • I couldn't get that so I at least got thomasjfrank.com,

  • but that could've been taken as well.

  • So, as soon as you can go over to Hover

  • and register yourself a domain name.

  • Hover is a great place to do it

  • because unlike a lot of other places out there

  • they have a completely hassle-free

  • and speedy checkout process.

  • They're not trying to upsell you on a bunch of stuff

  • like a lot of other websites and registers are.

  • They also have over 400 extensions to choose from,

  • your .coms and .mes,

  • which are great for your professional presence,

  • but also more fun ones like .lol and .ninja.

  • I use thomas.lol for my music stuff.

  • And once you have your domain,

  • they also have a feature called Connect,

  • which lets you easily hook that domain up

  • to online website builders and online store builders.

  • So, if you're ready to claim your domain,

  • make sure nobody else can take it,

  • go on over to hover.com/thomasfrank to buy it.

  • Along with your first purchase using that URL

  • you're gonna get 10% off

  • and you're gonna be able to support my channel.

  • I work really hard

  • to make sure that my content is research backed and detailed

  • and has a high production value and,

  • because most of the stuff that I create is free,

  • supporting the sponsors who support me

  • is actually the best way to support this channel

  • if that's something you wanna do,

  • and if it is, thank you!

  • Beyond that, make sure you're subscribed to this channel.

  • If you like content like this

  • and you wanna see some more in the future, like I said,

  • I've got that note taking app comparison coming up.

  • That's a much more detailed topic than this one

  • but I am hoping to get it up in the next month or two

  • and if you would hit that Like button.

  • YouTube's algorithm absolutely uses engagement factors

  • like likes and comments

  • when it's determining how far to push a video,

  • so big thanks to you if you do hit that button

  • and if you have other extension recommendations

  • you wanna make, let me know down in the comments.

  • Let me know what I missed,

  • let me know what's good for other browsers.

  • And beyond that I've got a couple of other videos

  • right here and here you can check out.

  • Make sure you're subscribed right there

  • or don't do any of that and go I don't know

  • drive a motorcycle off a ramp

  • through a bunch of flaming hoops like Evil Knievel

  • 'cause as always, I'm not your dad

  • but I will see you in the next video.

  • Thanks for watching.

- Hello, my name is Thomas Frank

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