How many tabs do you have open on your computer right now? Exactly. At any given moment, throughout the day, I have no less than 10 tabs open in my browser window. On the surface, it seems harmless.
But in real life…
It’s no different than working at a cluttered desk with mounds of papers everywhere. I’m constantly clicking the wrong tab and peeking inside of another because I forgot what was behind Door #2. It slows me down. The real problem, though, is not the tabs themselves.. it’s how I got there. Were those tabs necessary for the work at hand? Probably, not. Typically, I opened some email, clicked a link and landed in the wordly ‘nets.
This weekend, I was listening to the Foundr podcast episode “How to Hack Time With Tim Ferriss”. The host Nathan asked Tim about his favorite productivity tools. Momentum was the only one that I wasn’t familiar with, and I couldn’t wait to rush home to check it out (I’m a bit of a productivity tech nerd).
Let’s just say iLove it.
In a nutshell, Momentum is a screensaver for your browser. When you open a new window, you get a pretty screen like this:
Great right?
It makes me feel guilty enough about any random internet searching I intended to indulge in + snatches me back to the reality of sh#@ I need to be doing:
- It centers me on the main area of focus that I’ve set for the the day
- Gives me a nice inspirational lift every time I open the tab
- Allows me to add my full day’s to-do list + minimize it so I only see it when I’m ready for the next task (see where it says “Todo” in the lower right corner).
This is mainly an honor system app because it doesn’t actually block you from browsing the internet. So far, this gentle nudge is just what I need. Momentum is an extension for Chrome (my absolute favorite browser extension).
Drop in the Creative Genius Society group, let us know if you check it out, and how it’s helping you stay productive + focused throughout the day.