Nowadays, working from home is pretty darn common. While remote work definitely has its perks (nothing beats wearing comfy pajama bottoms all day), it has its downfalls too. Do you ever find yourself getting absorbed in a juicy Twitter thread or being sucked down a wormhole of countless dog-themed TikToks? If Google Chrome is your browser of choice, then you’re in luck. We’ve rounded up the best Chrome extensions to help keep you on track.
The best part? They’re all free to download on the Google Chrome Web Store.
RescueTime
RescueTime lets you see how you’re spending your time online. If you’re anything like me, you may think you’re checking your social media only a few times a day. Not bad, right? Turns out I’ve been peeping at my social media a total of 20 times a day. I was shocked by how much it all adds up throughout the day. I don’t think this extension intends to shame you, but it certainly feels that way. In reality, it’s meant to help you manage your time better.
StayFocused
StayFocused limits how much time you spend on specific websites. If you find yourself spending far too much time on Reddit or some other time-wasting website, this extension allows you to set your own time limit. You can even configure it to completely block websites you spend an embarrassingly large amount of time on. This extension is a sure-fire way to get you back on track and better focused on whatever work-related task you should be doing.
Momentum
I like Momentum the best out of all these extensions because it really sets you up for success and it isn’t a one-trick pony. The extension essentially turns your new tab page into a place that houses a to-do list, weather updates, quick access to bookmarks, and much more. It keeps you focused on the task at hand, sure, but it also motivates you with inspirational quotes. Plus, every new tab features a beautiful landscape picture, from wintry peaks to vast oceans. It serves as a nice reminder to sit back and take a breath, something that many people forget to do.
Grammarly
Producing a well-written, comprehensive email is worth its weight in gold. Whether you’re a customer service representative or a software engineer, sending an email that’s chock-full of gobbledegook generally isn’t a cute look for anyone. After all, work productivity really suffers when miscommunications occur. That’s where the Grammarly comes in. This extension checks for any grammatical errors, typos, misspellings, and so on. As someone who writes and edits for a living, I consider Grammarly to be an invaluable tool and something that I regularly use every day. It double checks the entire article from top to bottom for anything that I might’ve missed after the first pass.
The Great Suspender
I’m not going to lie. The Great Suspender sounds more like the next best adventure novel than an extension on Google Chrome, but here we are. If you’re dealing with a sluggish laptop or computer as a result of a plethora of open tabs, this extension will help improve overall performance. The Great Suspender essentially suspends non-active tabs, which helps free up the CPU and memory. It’s very configurable too, as you can whitelist tabs you don’t want to suspend. So, if you’re the type of person that regularly drowns in a sea of open tabs, this extension is for you. It’ll help keep your computer running smoothly.
Author: Ashley Biancuzzo, Associate Editor
Ashley is a professional writer and editor with a strong background in tech and pop culture. She has written for high traffic websites such as Polygon, Kotaku, StarWars.com, and Nerdist. In her off time, she enjoys playing video games, reading science fiction novels, and hanging out with her rescue greyhound.