Ways to avoid keeping so many browser tabs open

[chengengaun (Eng Aun Cheng)]

@tommy

I’m a window closer. My wife has hundreds of tabs open.

Boggles my mind but it is one facet among many of the mysteries of other people.

I seem to be a window closer, too. My ‘strategy’ of keeping tabs in check comprises moving tabs/webpages into one of three channels:

• Markdown documents which are either scratchpads or new documents for a particular problem I want to solve, managed via iA Writer:
  – I add a link to the document alongside some annotations summarising the key points (e.g. chunks of code/technique in StackOverflow answers).
  – When I need to go in a different direction (than what was in the open group of tabs), I start a new heading in the Markdown document, and close the existing tabs if possible.
  – I open all such webpages in Safari private browsing windows (I set private browsing as the default mode in Safari).
  – This seems to help with organising my thoughts and keeping my attention focused (instead of going down some link-surfing rabbit hole). I clear the scratchpad md file when the links are no longer necessary.
• Safari tab groups for frequently accessed sites, e.g. “Forums” in which TidBITS Talk is open. I closed the tab groups when they are no longer necessary or at the end of the day, and re-open them when I need them. I try not to keep more than one tab group open at a time.
• DEVONThink groups for ‘non-interactive pages’ that I need to reference with some frequency, e.g. documentations and travelogue sites.

@fischej

I’d be interested to see if there’s a correlation between number of open tabs in one’s browser and the amount (or lack) of clutter on one’s physical desk .

I strive to have my desk and Safari tabs to be as clean as my macOS desktop (i.e. having nothing on it)…