- Using a single browser window for dozens of tabs is a recipe for disaster.
- Using separate browser windows and/or multiple browsers will help you be more organized, thus more productive.
- Read on and I’ll show you how I usually organize my workspace to separate various projects I’m working on at one time.
Be honest, does your browser window look like this?
Or it’s something like this?
I know plenty of people who are what I would call “tab hoarders”. It pains me to see them trying to find a specific tab. It takes a lot of time, and sometimes they hit the close button by mistake, closing a tab instead of selecting it.
Yes, you can bring back the last closed tab with a keyboard shortcut, and most current browsers allow you to search through the list of opened tabs, but that’s not the point, if you ask me.
Why going through all this trouble when there are better ways to organize your workspace.
Pretty much anything is better than having only one browser window. So, in the next few paragraphs I will show you how to do it. Not the perfect method, but my method.
My method: open multiple browser windows
I like to separate my workspace from my private life. If I work on multiple projects, I also like to separate projects into their own browser windows. I always spawn a new window with Ctrl + N (while my browser is selected as the active window).
If you have 5-6 separate browser windows your taskbar will become a lot more cluttered, so I always use this in conjunction with virtual spaces. This way I can have a completely separate desktop space for each project I’m working on. I found it also helps my brain focus on the work in front of my eyes. Maybe it will do the same for you too.
I do like comparisons and analogies, and I think this method is similar to having your clothes organized in separate closets for winter apparel, summer, sport activities, and so on.
Currently, my computer is organized something like this:
- Main desktop: my main browser window for personal stuff (email, YouTube, social media, news, reading articles). I also have another window for my Substack.
- Work 1: one browser window for BinaryFork, and one for related marketing activities.
- Work 2: this is my freelancing workspace, with a window for each project I work on.
- Work 3: this is for my day job, with multiple windows for specific work tools and separate projects I’m assigned to.
If may feel too much, but if you manage to replicate this setup on all your computers (if you have more than one), your brain will adjust pretty fast and will switch context seamlessly.
Step up your game by using multiple browsers
I currently use Edge as my main browser. This may change in the future because it’s has become slower and more bloated in the past years. That doesn’t mean I don’t also have Chrome and Firefox installed on my computer(s).
Firefox I use to keep for keeping maintenance tools open. When I need to do specific work, I just open Firefox and it’s all there.
The same goes for Chrome, where I keep stuff related to analytics, advertising, and affiliate marketing.
I find this segmentation works much better than browser windows spawn from the same browser.
Why?
Because you cannot bring back a browser window you closed a while back. Closing the entire browser will let you resume work when you reopen it, but not if you just close one window.
I currently use Tabox for saving windows, but it doesn’t work as well as I would like it to. Maybe this kind of functionality should be something Microsoft and Google should focus on next, not shopping coupons and other c**p like that.
As a hobby web developer, I also need to use all the current browsers to check that the websites I work on are displaying properly on these platforms. That’s an edge case for most people, though.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t install and use multiple browsers. It can help you when a website doesn’t load properly. Instead of diagnosing the problem by looking at the tracking prevention settings, just load that website in another browser. Maybe it’s a browser related problem, not a website issue.
This is also an argument of why I prefer different browsers instead of creating multiple browser profiles. It’s matter of preference, of course and I may change my mind in the future.
Now let’s turn the attention on you. How are you browsing? What method works for you? Remember, there’s no wrong way if you can make it work for you.
