I'm not here to pick on tab hoarders but browser tab chaos gives me anxiety. Making it harder for me to stay focus and productive.
For years now I've followed a simple mental model that keeps me from falling into this trap. Didn't think much of it until I was screen sharing with a friend who thought it was awesome! So here it is:
The rule is simple: Open each task or topic in its own window and related links in tabs.
That's it.
So let's say I'm working on fixing a bug. I start this journey with a new window CMD + n. The first tab is usually the Jira ticket where the work is defined. Next is often a google search and the rabbit hole of tabs that usually springs from that (ex: docs, blogs, StackOverflow, GitHub issues and so on).
Now let's say that in the middle of that I need to review an API design doc. Well, that's a different task/topic. It's a context switch. So it gets a whole new window π
This approach has two main benefits:
- I always have a birds eye view of what I'm working on. Nothing gets lost in tabs. I can quickly cycle throw everything I'm working on by just cycling throw my open windows
CMD-` - But the best is that when I'm done with a task I just close the whole window. This means that in one shot I say goodbye ππ½ to all the related tabs too. #noHoarding #feelsGreat #tinyDopamineDump π
- Pro Tip I: Every once and a while I'll need to send home a tab I've opened in the wrong window. Instead of Jiu-Jitsu dragging windows to get it home, I've recently discovered Chrome's new "Move To Tab" feature which makes this a breeze ππ½
- Pro Tip II: Chrome recently released a new Tab Grouping feature that can be used to implement this workflow. Personally, I prefer using windows because it makes it easier to keep everything I'm not currently focused on out of sight and out of mind. But feel free to give it a shot and see if it works for you.
If you have other tips related to this please share them with me @JoseBrowneX
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