You open a new tab to look one thing up, and the page that greets you offers ten other places to go. A focus new tab for Chrome does the opposite: it shows what you are doing, how much of the session is left, and little else.
This guide builds that page in Backs, the new tab extension we make, using only its free plan. If you already use Backs, read step 7 first.
What you need
- Chrome on a computer. Backs has no phone or tablet version.
- Backs from the Chrome Web Store. It costs nothing to start and needs no account.
- The three things you most want to finish today.
Set up a focus new tab for Chrome in seven steps
Install Backs and open a new tab
Add Backs from its Chrome Web Store page, then open a new tab. It asks for your language and offers a short tour; take it or press Skip. Everything on the page is a Backon, the Backs word for a widget. The first layout has an analogue clock, a search bar, a plant, a lantern and three small squares: Move (four arrows), Menu, and one that opens the backgrounds.
Pick one calm photo
Click Menu and choose Backs Bakery in the list on the left. Select Fresh Backs and press its refresh button until a quiet photo comes up: still water, fog, a plain sky. Then leave it. The background changes only when you ask, so every new tab looks the same, and the Backons take their colours from the photo.
Add the Pomodoro timer
Open the menu again and choose Focus Greenhouse. Drag the Pomodoro timer out: the menu closes and the timer follows your pointer until you drop it on the grid, ideally near the middle. It reads 25:00, with a play button and a skip button. The technique behind the name: about 25 minutes on one task, then a short break.
Add a task list with today's three things
From Productivity Hills in the menu, drag the Task List onto the grid beside the timer. Press its plus button, type a title and press Create, once for each of today's three things: send the quote, outline chapter two, call the printer. To rename it from To-Do List to Today, click Move, hover over the title, press the pencil, type the name and press Rename. The free plan has one task list in each Space.
Place the clock
Move switches on edit mode: a notice says Edit Mode, the grid's dots show, and every Backon can be dragged. Put the analogue clock in a corner, out of the timer's way. If you prefer digits, Clock Hallows in the menu has a compact digital clock and a large one.
Remove everything else
Still in edit mode, drag each Backon you do not need off any edge of the screen. The plant, the lantern and the search bar can go: Chrome's address bar still searches. Keep Move and Menu in a corner for later changes. If they do go, the Backs icon in Chrome's toolbar opens a small panel with the same two buttons. Click Move again to finish.
Optional: give it a Space of its own
A Space is a separate saved page with its own Backons, tasks and background. To leave your everyday page untouched, drag the Space Backon out of Productivity Hills, hover over its name, press the pencil, choose Add Space, name it Focus and press Create Space. The new Space starts with only the Space, Move and Menu Backons: a clean page for steps 2 to 5. The Space Backon's arrows switch between the two. Two Spaces are included; more need Premium.
Using it through a working day
Write the three tasks first thing, then press play. The digits count down, the bar under them fills, and the timer carries on while you work in other tabs.
Every new tab you open during a session shows the same three things: the time left, the list, the clock. The page blocks nothing. It puts what you meant to do in front of you: a nudge, no more.
When a focus session ends, Backs sends a notification and the break starts counting by itself; after the break, the next session begins. Skip jumps to the next phase and waits for you to press play.
Tick a task when it is done. It drops into Completed at the foot of the list, and the counter moves from 0/3 to 1/3. In the break, stand up, look out of the window, fetch water. Leave the browser where it is.
Keeping it useful
- Keep the list short. When a fourth task turns up, swap it for one of the three, or park it in a Notepad from Productivity Hills and drag it into the list later.
- Clear finished tasks. They stay under Completed until you open it, hover over a row and press its delete button.
- Let a daily task reset itself: open the task, choose Date, switch to Repeat, pick Daily and press Apply. It returns the day after you tick it.
Questions and answers
- Is this setup free?
- Yes. The Pomodoro timer, one task list in each Space, the clocks, the Notepad and two Spaces are on the free plan. Premium is optional, at €3.99 a month or €39.99 a year with a 14-day trial, and adds things this guide does not use, such as more task lists and unlimited Spaces.
- Do I need an account?
- No. Your layout, tasks and timer lengths are saved in your browser. You sign in only for Premium, which is also where syncing between computers lives.
- Can I change the timer lengths?
- Yes. It starts at 25 minutes of focus and 5 of break, and takes any whole number of minutes. The tip above shows where.
- Does the timer keep running if I close the tab?
- Yes, while Chrome is running. The timer lives in the extension's background, so closing the Backs tab does not end the session.
- Does it work in other browsers or on a phone?
- Backs is made for Chrome on a computer. There is no phone or tablet version.
Photo via Unsplash