How many hours are you losing by writing repetitive emails and getting distracted by social media?
Believe it or not, a simple Chrome extension may be the perfect prescription for your ailing productivity. Some can even take care of important operational tasks (like scanning documents and scheduling meetings) that you might outsource to an assistant.
Take it from these busy entrepreneurs from YEC who swear by these time-saving Chrome extensions.
Related Article: Stop Wasting Time: Tips to Raise Productivity and Reduce Procrastination
1. MozBar
I'm always diving into website metrics and MozBar allows me to glance at them without too much effort. SEO metrics, social metrics and page markup details are literally right in front of my face. This saves me from having to open another browser to get the information I need. – Jonathan Long, Market Domination Media
Image via Rapportive
2. Rapportive
Rapportive integrates with Gmail and shows you a side bar that connects the social media accounts of the person you're emailing. You can see their picture, city, job title and can click to connect with them on any social media network. It's a great way to put a face to an email address and learn a bit about them quickly! – Darrah Brustein, Network Under 40 / Finance Whiz Kids
3. HelloSign
HelloSign is an awesome extension that enables you to sign documents, contracts, agreements, etc. in just minutes from within your Gmail account. You should never have to print out, sign and scan again. HelloSign saves our company a ton of time every month, and it's very easy to use. – Alex Miller, PosiRank LLC
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4. Buffer
Buffer is a service that enables you to schedule the things you want to share on various social media channels. Whenever I see an article, tool or resource online that I want to share with my audience, I just click the Buffer extension and schedule the post. I use it the most for my tweets but also for Facebook posts and LinkedIn updates. It's a great time saver! – Juha Liikala, Stripped Bare Media
Image via Assistant.to
5. Assistant.to
We all hate the back and forth that happens when trying to set up a meeting. Assistant.to is a lifesaver in that department, and its integration with Chrome is nothing short of beautiful. With just a couple clicks, you can send your availability which stays up to date in real time. Then, with literally one click, they can select their time and book. – Christie Kerner, Launch MiE
6. StayFocusd
StayFocusd has saved me all the time I used to spend getting distracted by social media and news, and helped me get outside more, too. I've set it up to give me a half hour maximum browsing time in total on all my non-work related websites, every day. After that, StayFocusd blocks them, so if I need a break I just go for a walk and get back to work. I'm more productive and happier as a result. – Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com
7. 1Password
For security-conscious Mac and iOS users, 1Password (and its browser plugins and mobile app) is a great time saver. Passwords are a poor authentication mechanism, but using a password locker like 1Password (or LastPass) lets me choose long, unique and secure passwords for every site, web application and service I use. – Vik Patel, Future Hosting
Image via Tab Snooze
8. Tab Snooze
I often come across websites, services, articles, etc. that I want to look at later, but don't have time for at that moment. Tab Snooze lets me "schedule" these sites by removing the tabs from Chrome and re-opening them on the date/time specified. This prevents me from drowning in a sea of tabs but also ensures that I'll get back to the site, which things like Pocket or Instapaper can't do. – James Simpson, GoldFire Studios
9. Yesware
Yesware is undoubtedly an email game-changer for our email marketing efforts. It allows us to create customized emails in bulk directly from Gmail, without having to log into any other third party tools and provides real time notifications on read and opened emails. It saves me an average of six hours of labor per campaign compared to my previous method. – Reuben Yonatan, GetVoIP
10. Nimbus
My favorite time-saving Chrome extension is Nimbus Screenshot. This extension makes it extremely easy to screenshot any image on any website and place it in an email or on a document to show a person what it is exactly that I am looking at. For example, if I am looking at a particular graph on a report and want to show it to a client, I can screenshot it with a click of a button and send it over. – Phil Laboon, Eyeflow Internet Marketing
