14 Must-Have Chrome Extensions For Productivity

These extensions, have helped me to gain more focus, build better habits, make work more enjoyable, and just get way more done when browsing the internet.

I've added links to all the Chrome extensions in the description below so you can try them out for yourself and there are some really cool ones on the list.

1. Blocksite

Blocksite siteblocker is designed to help you stay focused when working. The idea is it blocks all time-wasting websites to keep you productive and away from all the distractions the internet offers.

You can set a list of the sites you want to block like Netflix, facebook and twitter and you can fully block these or set a time limit when accessing distracting sites. When you reach the limit, a block goes into place. That means you can still check messages on sites like twitter but just not for too long or too often.

Blocksite allows you to set a daily blocking schedule too and even customize the page that is shown if you try and access those sites. If you're someone who is easily distracted this chrome extension will quickly boost your productivity.

2. Momentum

Momentum replaces the new tab page on Chrome with a personal dashboard to help you focus, stay organized, and keep motivated to achieve your goals.The dashboard features to-do lists, weather, daily photos, and encouraging quotes.

You can show and hide dashboard elements as you like and it's a really great way to remind yourself of key tasks and keep you focused when using Chrome.

3. Undistracted

Undistracted helps to control the time we spend every day in infamous time-sinks: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn and Netflix.

We all know how distracting and engrossing these sites can be, but blocking them totally is also not a feasible option since they do provide some really useful content.

We have identified those parts in each of these websites that grab our attention and serve us unlimited content all day. This extension enables you to hide each of these parts selectively, and even block access to any of these websites.

Your settings are synced over the google account so that you can use this extension in multiple computers with the same settings.

4. Sidebarr

With Sidebarr, you can access your browser bookmarks, ChatGPT, and Google apps all from a stylish yet powerful sidebar panel.

With just one click, you can access all of your bookmarks directly from the sidebar panel. You can easily sort and categorize your bookmarks according to your preferences, create folders and subfolders, and drag and drop bookmarks to move them between folders.

As a power user of ChatGPT it's really cool that Sidebarr let's you interact with ChatGPT directly from the sidebar panel, entering your text or question and receiving a real-time response. And the same goes for google apps. You can access Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides directly from the sidebar panel, without having to navigate through multiple tabs and windows. This feature is particularly useful for anyone who uses Google apps on a regular basis, as it can save you a significant amount of time and effort.

You can customize the interface and Sidebarr can help you streamline your browsing experience, save time, and improve your productivity.

5. Adblock

Ads are super distracting. While there are a bunch of ad-blockers out there I find adblock to be the easiest to use. You can block pop ups, ads, and annoying banners on YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and all your favorite sites.

This not only protects your privacy but I also find that it improve page load times meaning you're more efficient when browsing. Adblock is nicely customizable allowing you to set whitelists and comes with different themes.

6. Audioread

If you've watched any of my videos on encoding you'll know that auditory and visual information is processed separately by our brains meaning there is no added cognitive load. With audioread you can convert any article, PDF, email, or pasted text into a podcast using natural-sounding text-to-speech. It creates your personal RSS feed that you can subscribe to in most podcast apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Podcast Addict, and more.

7. Wordtune / Quillbot

Two for one next as we have both Quillbot and Wordtune.

Quillbot offers a really nice writing companion that offer grammar checking and paraphrasing which is ideal if you're

Wordtune is an AI-powered writing companion that understands what you’re trying to say, and suggests ways to make your writing more clear, compelling and authentic.

8. Mailtrack

If you're a gmail power user Mailtrack will track opens and link clicks for the emails that you send. This is perfect if you're sending important emails for things like job searching, sending quotes or email marketing.

9. Pocket / Save To Notion / Evernote WebClipper

Here are three extensions that all do pretty much the same thing and that's help you to capture information as you browse the web. If you've built a knowledge repo or second brain you'll know that having a quick capture system is essential. I've used all three of these chrome extensions to quickly save webpages, article clips and more into a central repo which I can then come back to at a later date.

My favourite of the three is Evernote's Webclipper as it is the most feature rich with the ability to save a webpage in multiple formats as well as having some really cool like being able to take a screenshot and then annotate it before saving it to Evernote. I'll tend to use pocket or evernote to save websites of interest and then I'll specifically use save to Notion for research as I can add a website to a Notion dashboard which I'm using to organize a project I'm working on.

10. Swiftread

If you can read more quickly you'll save yourself a tonne of time. And that's the function of swiftread which uses a visual technique called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation used by the fastest speed readers in the world. SwiftRead helps you eliminate your inner voice that sounds each word out--known as "subvocalization"--and too much focus on the words themselves, so that you can read more visually, which means faster reading while maintaining comprehension.

11. Toucan

Wouldn't it be great if you could learn a new langauge while browsing the web? You're learning while you're checking news or scrolling through reddit. With Toucan's chrome extension when you visit a website, Toucan automatically translates certain words and phrases on the page into the language you’re trying to learn. That way, you can learn words in your new language within the context of a language you’re already comfortable with.

12. Tab Suspender

I've lost hours of time over the years waiting for pages to load or just general computer slow down. Tab suspender aims to make your computer run faster by automatically suspend tabs that you're not currently using.

Reducing CPU usage by suspending inactive tabs makes the computer run faster, smoother, and generally better. and at the same time, you can simply restore them at once you need to review them.

13. Toggl

Toggl puts a timer into any web tool and allows quick real time productivity tracking with all the data stored on your Toggl account

Whether you use Trello, Slack, Asana, Todoist, Jira, Notion or one of the 100+ integrated tools, start tracking time without opening a new tab. Toggl Track timer can now also fill your Pomodoro needs through automated reminders.

14. Loom / Vimeo Video

Sending quick video messages rather than emails has saved me lots of time of the past few years. Video is especially great for explaining things and ensuring smooth delegation so you can get more done with your time. There are lots of great screen recording tools out there but Loom and Vimeo offer two of the best video recording solutions for Chrome.