Tabs: the vice of choice for the digital hoarder

Are browser tabs the obsession of a new wave of hoarders? Pretty much

Sure, all those browser tabs don’t actually require physical storage space. But they intrude on my computer every bit as much as physical clutter intrudes on my home. Every window is another window to flip through as I go looking for the web form I had half-completed before my last phone call. Every tab is a nagging claim on my attention, however minute. I’m often running so many browser tabs that I can’t actually find the tab I’m returning to, and have to open yet another Facebook or Gmail tab. And then I have the audacity to complain because my computer’s too slow.

This, is, basically me. Once in a while, opening a browser window in an airport, and seeing every single one of the dozens of tabs I have open become an WiFi login page becomes both a traumatic and a therapeutic process for me as I hit enforced tab bankruptcy. I’m trying to wean myself off the tab habit, making more judicious use of Pocket and acting on articles more quickly – but I have a long way to go. Right now, I have a digital hoarding problem.

Luckily the article has some useful suggestions on how to think about your browser tabs, and how to manage the problem.