Buzz
If you're anything like me, you probably have a bunch of tabs open right now. Whether it's articles you plan to read later, podcasts you intend to catch up on, or multiple email and social media accounts, your browser is likely full of tabs that aren't all that necessary—and your computer is likely slowing down as a result. So, why do we keep so many tabs open? Metro recently shared some insights into this, which we found via Travel + Leisure.
According to Metro's Ellen Scott, the term you need to understand is 'task switching,' which explains what our brains are actually doing when we believe we're multitasking. Research shows humans can't multitask efficiently—instead, our brains rapidly shift from one task to another, losing focus each time. It turns out, opening countless tabs is simply a digital form of task switching.
It's not just about the illusion of productivity. Keeping multiple tabs open also serves as a shield against boredom, according to Metro. Having dozens of tabs open gives us the illusion of always being busy, or at least having something to do whenever we need it.
This might also stem from a fear of missing out on information—a form of 'Internet FOMO,' as Travel + Leisure puts it. We worry that if we close our social media feed, email account, or news article, we could miss something important, so we leave everything open.
But this habit can lead to an overload of information. Even if you're focused on a single task in one window, all those open tabs in your peripheral vision are using up mental energy, distracting you from the job at hand. Studies on multitasking suggest that keeping so many tabs open might even be affecting your brain. Research has shown that 'heavy media multitaskers'—like those who constantly juggle tabs—tend to perform worse on cognitive tests compared to people who don't consume media at such a frantic pace.
In simpler terms, it might not be worth the bandwidth. Just like your brain, your browser and computer have limits on how much they can handle at once. To improve your browser's efficiency, Lifehacker recommends keeping no more than nine tabs open at any given time. With nine or fewer tabs, you can quickly scan everything that's open and use keyboard shortcuts to switch between them. (On a Mac, press Command + 1 through 9 to switch tabs; on a PC, it's Control + the number.)
That being said, there are times when it's necessary to keep many tabs open. Daria Kuss, a senior lecturer in cyberpsychology at Nottingham Trent University, explains to Metro that there are two main reasons we keep multiple tabs open: to be efficient and to 'create a multi-source and multi-topic context for the task at hand.' For example, I currently have six tabs open to reference for writing this article. Sometimes, there’s no way around it.
Ultimately, it's about acknowledging our (and our computers') limitations. If you're unsure, there's no harm in closing those tabs. If you need to return to them later, they're all stored in your browser history. For those who just can't stop opening tabs, browser extensions like OneTab can help by condensing all your open tabs into a single window of links to revisit later.
