Overwhelmed by endless open browser tabs? Discover the simple fix today. ~Crystal Wind

How many tabs do you think are open in your browser right now? Most people have more than 10 open at once, and probably just as common is to have 20+ tabs open. It can be overwhelming!

I’m no stranger to this myself — I will often open a bunch of tabs while researching, taking action on things, reading casually, working on a project. And they become a big mix of tabs, often across multiple browser windows.

But I find I work best when I put things in their place, and simplify my open tabs.

The Biggest Obstacle to Tab Simplicity

The biggest obstacle to simplifying tabs is that we need the information in the tabs, so we can’t just close them … but we’re also not clear on where to store that info.

So simplifying comes down to 2 things:

1. Get clear on what you need to do with the info — is it an article to read later, a video to watch later, some references you need for a project, a task you need to do (like pay a bill)?

2. Have a place for each of those categories of info.

Most people don’t do the first step, and are just as unclear about where to store things.

Practical Places to Store Your Information

Here are some examples of places to store things:

* Read later: If it’s an article to read later, save it to a read-later service. There are a handful of good ones: I use Instapaper, but Readwise Reader is also a good choice. I open Instapaper on my phone when I have some time to read articles. For books I want to read later, I just keep a reading list in my note-taking app (currently Obsidian).

* Watch later: I’ve been using Raindrop to save tabs for later — including videos that I want to watch later (I tag the videos “towatch”). Then when I have time, I just open that list and watch away.

* Action items: Often tabs will represent actions you need to take, so you can’t just close the tabs … so I add them to my task manager (currently Todoist) with a link to the tab in the task notes.

* Notes to save: Sometimes, I just want to keep a couple bits of info from a tab for later reference. For example, maybe there’s a good health tip, or a bit of ancient wisdom that I find valuable … so I copy that paragraph and save it to my note-taking app (again, Obsidian). I have notes for saving tips on health, wisdom, finances, etc.

* Reference items for projects: Sometimes, tabs are meant for a project I’m working on, but I don’t need them at this moment. So I will either bookmark them in Raindrop with a tag for that project … or copy the links into a task in Todoist.

Customize the System to Fit Your Needs

That probably covers most kinds of tabs we have open, but you might have different needs. Categorize them, and find a place for them!

Clear your tabs to clear your mind — simplicity unlocks true focus.

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