Managing the Task bar and tabs clutter

Question

I am a power user when it comes to browsing the Web and reading a lots of articles , PDF , using command windows and word composer and I use a Windows 8 Laptop.

Even in the web browser my browser gets cluttered with an average of at least 25 tabs per window and having an average of 2 browser windows (Chrome and firefox). I have timer blocks like leech block installed to keep my browsing habits in check.

Also i have an uncanny habit of not closing anything due to the fact i get engrossed in the reading , work and switching between.

How can i manage the this tabs clutter and windows task clutter easily and increase performance and efficiency of my work.

And is it rather better to have this clutter of multiple tabs open to increase efficiency by decreasing the task switch time?

Answer 1

If the things you have open in tabs are articles you want to read later, save them using Pocket. Its basically a bookmarking system which deletes the bookmarks after you read them (or rather archives them). It has tagging and a nice clutter-free article view.

I use it to save interesting links I encounter, but do not have the time to read right now (e.g. if I skim over twitter during a short break). I also use it on my smartphone (it syncs all the bookmarks over all devices).

Other than that I have window clutter, so I tend to use different spaces in OSX, maybe there are program which do that in Windows 8. Additionally I often close a document if I no longer need it, but make sure that all the documents reside at a place where I can easily find them again if I need to.

Answer 2

I like to make extensive use of bookmarking to come back to things I need to read later. I add them all to a folder on my Bookmark bar -- either bookmarking as I go or Bookmarking All Tabs.

Later I'll either come back to them individually or Open All Bookmarks with a right click and go through them when I have time. Then you can either remove them individually or remove the folder after you're done with all tabs.

I prefer this to the mental clutter of managing what tabs may be open.

As for managing Windows tasks, I like to have my Taskbar on the left side of the screen and have all of my priority applications pinned in order of priority.