Why I don’t close my internet tabs

A screenshot displaying two of my current open windows.

I have this questionable habit when it comes to internet tabs and applications on my computer — namely, that I usually don’t like to close them.

At the time of my writing this, I’ve got Spotify, Discord,  three Adobe Acrobat PDFs and 83 Opera tabs — containing a mix of Google Docs, Reddit, Canvas, YouTube and various random websites — open on six separate windows.

Why? You might ask. Well, it’s because I thrive on chaos. 

OK, but seriously, I leave all these tabs and applications open simply because I’m not done with them. 

It’s actually really convenient. I frequently find myself going down rabbit holes and getting distracted from the task at hand (don’t we all), but when I finally regain my senses and realize my AP Gov homework is due in a few hours, I can just throw those interestings videos and articles onto a different window and get back to work. Later, I’m just three key presses away from visiting all those interesting web pages again.

Some would call this madness, but as the saying goes, there’s a method to it. 

For example, I have a window dedicated to my main schoolwork, one for college essays and applications, one for studying chess and several more for interesting but not directly work-related content. 

Even on a micro level, there are subtle optimizations for organization. The browser I’m writing this story on, which currently has 19 tabs open, is separated into three sections: personal, school and newspaper work. I have the first four tabs for my personal stuff (Gmail, Drive and two Google Docs), the next 10 for school-related assignments (Gmail, Drive, Canvas, Pivot Interactives, Google Docs) and the final five for newspaper (Gmail, Drive and three stories I have yet to write).

Having a dual monitor makes things a lot easier, too. For example, one window can have the Google Doc of my college application essays while the other is filled with a bunch of information regarding the school I’m writing for. Also, it’s always amusing to just drag windows across screens.

You see? I have a system going on; it’s not total anarchy — in fact, now that I think about it, this browser arrangement is probably one of the more organized things that I do. My advice: Don’t knock it until you try it.