11.21.2024

Keeping Tabs

Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post for Google. However, I do use a shit ton (official measurement) of Google products because they work for me! Please use at your own discretion and I will not be held liable for any issues you may have in the present or future due to reading this post. Also Google, if you are reading, I would not mind if you sent me free stuff. Thanks. 


I have a confession to make. I am a hoarder. A Google Chrome tab hoarder. I have a set of ten tabs that I open on startup (or keep open if I am just putting my laptop to sleep) that I always keep open. Due to this, if I am researching something, I can often have twenty tabs open, since I have my normal ten plus whatever ones I am opening along the way. Right now I have these ten plus two others that I am using to look stuff up as I write this post. 

I can feel my work buddy (G-Money the Kiwi) and my hiking buddy (Bugsy) both rolling their eyes at me as they are both inbox zero types of guys. Get this, G-Money even deletes his text messages once he reads them. Yes, deletes the entire string! So sometimes I will send him something and he will ask about it later and I will tell him that he should already have it and he will say that he already deleted the string. Sigh. However, I probably go way too far the other way, and have never deleted a string since the day the dinosaurs walked the earth, or at least as long as we have been able to port texts over to a new phone when we switch (again, thanks to Google!) Also, in my defense, I am a super sleuth at finding the info I need within these old texts, so it is not all in vain! 

As a side note, if you don't already do this, you can set up your Chrome to always open the same tabs upon startup. It can done by opening the tabs that you want to have be your defaults --> going to settings --> on startup --> open a specific page or set of pages --> use current pages. Or you can manually add addresses by clicking --> add a new page. 



I am also a bookmark hoarder. I am guilty of having way too many bookmarks saved that I probably will never return to. I think I feel like I will want them later and then something new comes along (squirrel!!) and I use that information instead. However, I have found that the Chrome Reading List really helps me to cut down on this, as you can put it on the list and then once you read it, mark it as read and then you can dismiss it. 

In my defense though, I do sometimes dislike the attitude that instead of saving things in an organized way, we can just look them up again, essentially doing the same steps over and over that we have already done (definition of insanity?), which can sometimes be a waste of time. Again, I do feel like I have organized them so I can find them easily; however, in some cases it may just be faster to look them up a second time. Also, I do have a favorite pizza dough recipe that I have made dozens of times, so some things are worth saving. 

Side note: you can find the reading list under --> more (three dots) --> bookmarks and lists --> reading list. If you then click reading list, it will open a side tab, where you can click --> add current tab (#3) to add the tab you want. Alternatively, and I would suggest this, you can click --> the pin button (#1), which will pin the shortcut to your browser (#2), and then you can close the side tab and only open it using the shortcut when you want to add a tab. 


I feel like this is similar to the "one touch" principal of decluttering; rather than moving something to a new place and then going through it again at some point in the future, we are supposed to decide right away and just put the thing where it needs to be (the trash, goodwill etc.) So with my bookmarks, should I take notes? Take the info that I need from them and then close the tab? I probably should, as my return rate is probably below 50%. However, it only takes a click to save it, so what do I have to lose? I guess there is a point of intersection where brain power and efficiency are optimal, and then you can go way too far over to one end or the other otherwise. 

Since this is a Google oriented post, I will also say that of my ten saved tabs, eight of them are Google related. You want to know what they are, you say? Okay here we go! 

Feedly: Blog reader (non-Google). Fun fact: Feedly actually used to be part of Google Reader. Does anyone remember that? 

Gmail x 2: Need I say more? Actually, a side note: when I got my first Gmail address, you had to request an invitation! Does anyone remember that? 

Google Calendar: This I use for calendar, tasks and contacts (which can also be accessed on the Gmail tab). 

Google Maps: I use this every day, multiple times per day. This is also probably one of the top ten apps I use on my phone. 

Google Messenger: This is the texting app on my phone, which can also be used from my computer. I find if I am sitting at the computer anyway, it is much easier to answer texts with a keyboard. 

Google Keep: Notes, lists, ideas, thoughts... Also used multiple times a day and often on my phone when I am in the middle of something and have a thought. This can also be shared with other people when planning a shopping or a camping trip etc. 

Blogger: Blog creator. This is probably the least used tab, as I only post once a week, so I may use it twice a week(*obviously not at the moment). However, it is nice to have it at hand for when I get ideas and often I will just start a draft with some notes and then come back to it later. 

YouTube: I use this a lot for research. In fact, I almost never use it for entertainment, unless you call watching travel destination videos entertainment, which I guess you could. However, I am mostly doing it to find out the answer to something. 

ChatGPT: This is a new addition, and my second non-Google tab. I don't use this very often (despite all of my posts about this recently). I do also sometimes use Gemini (which is a Google AI platform) to create images (like the Canadian Thanksgiving Beaver or the cat at the top of this post). 

A runner up and one I don't have pinned is Google Photos, which I not only use to look at photos, but sometimes to remember certain trips or times. Often when I am doing a travel recap, I will go back and look at my photos and/or GPX (map) files to remember dates, names, places etc. Also, if you have your location enabled, you can see all of the photos you have taken on a map, which can be quite handy. Wow, making this list really makes me see how much of the Google Kool-Aid I have drunk! Bottoms up! 

Are you a Google user? Do you keep any tabs open all of the time? What method do you use for bookmarking or saving things to read or use later? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my upcoming ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here

17 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh. I needed this post. In all honesty, what I need is for you to come to my home and teach me this stuff or look at my laptop (try not to fall over in shock at the number of tabs I keep open) and tell me how to bookmark, save, and prioritize. I keep about 60, OK - maybe 75 tabs open at a time. I once brought my laptop to the religious ed class I was teaching so we could watch a video during class, and one student died laughing. I was like, What's so funny? Him: YOU HAVE SO MANY TABS OPEN!

    I'm like you in I like to be able to find stuff I already found, but unlike you I do not have the tech knowledge to know how to find anything if I close it. Maybe I'll have my kids read this post and bring me up to speed. I'm not sure I can be helped though. Most of what I keep open is stuff I don't need, for example Ally Bean posted a link to find out what Madewell jeans worked best for you, ie: color, height, body type, style preference, etc. My preferred jeans were sold out, but I still have that tab open probably 9 months later. I just bought some new jeans when Mini was home in Oct, so I guess I can close that tab.

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    1. Oh my gosh Ernie, I literally just spit my coffee onto my computer monitor. 75 tabs!! Hahaha! And I was embarassed to admit to ten! You definitely need to try the reading list, as you can dismiss them once you're done with them, aka you could now dismiss the jeans tab, but they are not cluttering up your mind. I have questions for you; how do you figure out which tab you want to look at? Do you have mulitple versions of your browser open? How does this all work?

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  2. I am a user of google to the extent I can although so much is blocked at work, like google calendar, google drives, etc. And I only use my work PC. Otherwise I do everything else on my iPhone. I am debating getting a chrome book or something like that, maybe during Black Friday sales. It would be nice to have a PC so I don’t always have to write blog posts on my phone! I do not have as many tabs open as you. I try to keep to a low number because otherwise I get overwhelmed. I do not adhere to inbox 0, though. I do not sort things into folders as I find it easier to find if I keep things in my main mailbox.

    I do not delete text threads either! I often need to reference back to them or if there is a group chat I would rather respond to a thread from the group v remembering who all to add! I also have a lot of bookmarks! I occasionally go through them and delete ones I don’t need anymore, though!!

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    1. I am starting to delete bookmarks, which actually is quite easy since I have them in folders! Now I can delete the "house" folder, which was just links to possible Oakland handymen etc. I used to be blocked at work from all Google things too (except for search) and so did nothing personal at work or on my work computer. However, I did not have time to do anything personal anyway, and definitely did not have time to comment on blogs or anything, so I would just set aside morning time to do that on my own computer. This also worked for me anyway, as I am more of a time block type of person (I hate multitasking and/or switching back and forth from one thing to another).

      I was inbox zero at work, but definitely am not with Gmail, unless you count it as unread vs read(?) I do mark all as read very often and so do not have a lot of unread emails.

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    2. I mostly wish I had google calendar at work as then I would use it for family scheduling. I don’t like the interface on the phone, though. It would also be nice to have Gmail mostly in case I get an email from school or something to that effect. I do not give out my work email to anyone outside of work so have to check my phone for any personal emails. Which isn’t a big deal overall. Phil has access to Gmail at work. He doesn’t use it much but it is nice to have open in the background. But his company is way less locked down!

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  3. Team Google4Life. Also TeamDigitalHoarder. I mean if you don't have every email and every text that you've ever received who even are you? With that said, I'm Inbox Zero and there's a limit to how many tabs I can handle at one time. At work I pause a couple of times a day to shut down all of my excess Excel files. My other fun fact about my digital life is that "real me" lives in Chrome and "blog me" lives in Firefox. Chrome is my preferred browser, of course.

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    1. Wait, who is real me and who is blog me? I mean, when are you "blog me?" I still use Firefox for some things that don't work as well in Chrome, as Firefox (and Mozilla) were my browser of choice before Chrome came along. I always have Edge on my computers, but I never use it!

      I am curious to hear how inbox zero works when you are a Gmail user. Like, where do you put them, and how?

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  4. Ohhh this is helpful - I definitely do not use Chrome to its full capabilities and tend to open the same tabs over and over again. My most helpful Google related organizational system is the bookmarks I have on my toolbar. On my work computer I have my most used sites saved in the tool bar with 3-letter abbreviations so I can fit a lot in. And I also have a few groups (?) saved to the tool bar so that when I click on the heading a related list of bookmarks drops down and I can pick what I want. But… I’m seeing from this post that I could be doing a lot more so I’ll need to look into this more!
    I remember the early days of gmail -- I was so excited when a friend gave me the needed referral link. That’s how
    I ended up with first.last @ gmail (no numbers, middle initials, etc.) for my name, which isn’t John Smith but is shared by quite a few others. The downside is that I receive their emails every so often (evites, appt reminders and other random things). One time I received my name twin’s license to practice medicine in the state of New Jersey! I called the sender about that one but normally I ignore (if it’s junk or there’s no easy way to reply) or write back and just say they have the wrong address.

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    1. Haha! I actually have a "firstlast" (no dot!) for my email address and I get comments on it all the time, like I must be OG to have no dots and no numbers! I (obviously) have a pretty uncommon first name, but have still received a few rogue emails in my time! Like someone who keeps trying to log into Quantas!

      I do love the toolbar and have my most often used sites there, but it is also nice to just have them open as soon as I log in or turn on!

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  5. I like that you know yourself and what you like to keep handy in the browser. But you are not using tab groups yet (not me either but I might check it out soon?)?

    I feel like it's a constant struggle to close tabs as I read something and can dismiss it but before that opening 4 more links. 😬

    Remember Google reader well, what a sad day when they retired that!

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    1. I had not heard of tab groups but I just went and checked it out, but I am not sure how helpful it will be since the only thing I have enough of to be in a group is Gmail, and I always keep my tabs in the same exact order already. However, if you know of any tips or tricks on how it could be helpful, I am all ears!

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  6. Ooh love this! Fellow Google fan here, though I do NOT do the tabs thing you do. I actually can't use Chrome on my laptop because it's an HP in S mode and I am forced to use Edge!! But I don't really know any different so it's fine- and I don't actually do much, if any, actual saving things TO my computer. I'm more likely to save bookmarks on my phone (just in Safari), or most likely to save a link in Google Keep or something. I feel like I should re-think my bookmark game though, after reading this post!

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    1. I don't know how Safari or Edge work together, but the good thing about Chrome is that it is on my phone and computer so they sync, so I always have what I need on hand! Okay, I just Googled it, and Edge has a Reading list kind of thing too, so potentially you could save things easily on Edge. Also, I basically use the same tabs all the time anyway, so I find it easier to just have them open.

      If I am researching, like for a trip or something, I will have a Keep file with the name of the place and will save related links or screenshots for that place in the file. That way they are all in one place.

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  7. This is a fun post but I am shuddering at your tab game. If I have more than 5 tabs open at one time, I feel claustrophobic, lol. Even at work, I am constantly closing out tabs (and then realizing I needed said tab, sigh). For work, I like to pin tabs so I can easily reference them but I only pin 3 tabs because, again, digital minimalist lol. I don't have any tabs open on start on my Chromebook but I probably should do that for things like Feedly, Gmail, Wordpress. I always have them open!

    When I want to save something to read later, I'll usually bookmark it.

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    1. I would like to keep the tabs to a minumum, but I also find it less efficient to keep opening the same one over and over, so I have come to this as my solution. I also have shortcuts on my task bar, so could technically close some tabs and would still have easy access to them. If I find a better way, I am happy to change!

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  8. OMG, Kyria. You and I both - I always have a gazillion tabs open LOL (and I have bookmarks too!!). I do not have tabs that open on start-up though - must look into this :)

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    1. It's helpful! And now they actually have groups (thanks Hanna for the information) and I am playing around with them a little, and it seems like they could be helpful in having less tabs open.

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