The 'one tab' rule that fixed my scattered browser
Forty open tabs isn't a workflow, it's a to-do list you can't read. Here's the reset that stuck.
By Marcus Vela · 2026-03-24
Tab hoarding feels productive and is the opposite. Each open tab is an unfinished decision quietly draining attention.
The fix isn't discipline you don't have — it's a rule that makes the mess impossible.
The system
- Reading something later? It goes to a read-later list, not a tab.
- Need it for the task at hand? Keep it. Otherwise close it.
- End the day at a handful of tabs, every day.
A browser is a workshop, not a storage unit. Clear the bench and the work gets easier.