If there’s one lesson that college students learned during COVID, it’s that keeping our digital spaces as distraction-free as possible is the key to academic success. The thing is, we don’t just miraculously stop using our laptops now that we are back in person. This means reducing e-clutter is just as important as ever. As we get back into the swing of taking classes IRL, downloading and consistently utilizing Chrome browser extensions will make your semester 1000% less stressful and 1000x more productive. Here are some of my favorites that truly saved my life last year.
The best part? They’re all completely free on the Chrome web store. Helloooo, 4.0!
- Toby
Do you get overwhelmed easily by having too many open tabs on your computer screen? Then this organization-oriented Chrome extension is for you. Toby allows you to drag and drop tabs into collections that you can title– for example, “Psych Research Paper” or “Online Shopping Wishlist”. It’s extremely user-friendly and easy to use, which is totally a plus.
Get Toby here.
- TickTick
I’ve always been a big fan of pen-and-paper to-do lists, and used to constantly find myself making Google Doc checklists to fill the void when I didn’t have my planner on hand. However, checking off to-do boxes on Google Docs always felt a bit unsatisfying and disorganized. When I found TickTick, it was love at first sight. With this Chrome extension, you can do everything: set reminders, write down assignments, keep on top of due-dates, rank items by importance and time sensitivity… it’s truly the best, and I’d be lost without it.
Get TickTick here.
- Marinara: Pomodoro Method Assistant
If you know me, you know I live and breathe by the Pomodoro Method. The concept is simple: it’s a time management study tool where you work for 25 minutes, receive a 5 minute break, work for 25 minutes, take 5… and repeat this cycle until you are done with your assignment. This Chrome extension has a built-in and completely customizable Pomodoro timer, and even offers personalized analytics on your productivity levels.
Get Marinara here.
- StayFocusd
The name says it all on this one. This extension will help you stay focused by restricting the amount of time you can spend on potentially unproductive websites. The best part is, you call alllllll of the shots here. So, if you know you’re addicted to mindlessly scrolling through social media and have a huge project due in the morning, you can block Twitter for a few hours in the night to stay on top of your work.
Get StayFocusd here.
- Evernote Web Clipper
If you’re anything like me, your desktop is a mess of unlabeled screenshots, random recipes, saved PDFs, and everything else under the sun. Evernote helps decrease this clutter by letting you save screenshots directly to an organized folder. It also has an amazing screenshot-annotation feature, which is especially helpful for research papers and analytical homework assignments.
Get Evernote here.