Chrome extension

The GrowthX extension replaces Chrome's new tab page. Every new tab shows a quote, and Focus blocks the sites you choose for as long as you say. It needs Chrome 111 or later on a computer.

1. Open the GrowthX listing on the Chrome Web Store.
2. Select Add to Chrome and confirm.
3. A new tab opens on its own. It shows the Focus setup. Follow the next part of this guide to finish it.

What you get on every new tab:

• A quote in the middle of the page.
• The Focus pill in the top-left corner. This is where every focus session starts.
• A gear in the top-right corner. It opens Focus settings.
• The GrowthX mark at the bottom. It opens the GrowthX community.

There is no sign-in inside the extension. Clicking the GrowthX icon in Chrome's toolbar does not open anything. Everything happens on the new tab.

The first new tab after you install walks you through four short screens.

1. On the intro screen, select Set it up. If you'd rather do it later, select Skip for now.

   

2. On Which sites should stay shut while you focus?, click a site to turn it on or off. X, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, Facebook and TikTok start on. LinkedIn starts off. To add your own, type it in the Add a site field and select Add. Then select Next. Sites are blocked only while focus is on.

   

3. On When should focus turn itself on?, choose your schedules. Clean morning is on and Clean evening is off. Use Add a schedule for your own. Select Next to save them.

   

4. On You’re set., select Start a session to begin now, or Later.

   

Note

If you skip, no schedules are turned on. You can change everything later in Settings.

A Timer session is one stretch of focus. Your blocked sites stay shut until it ends.

1. Open a new tab and click the Focus pill in the top-left corner.

   

2. Make sure Timer is selected.
3. Set the Duration. Pick 25 min, 45 min, 60 min or 90 min, or use − and + to move in 5-minute steps, from 5 to 240 minutes. The time it ends shows on the right.
4. Optional: under Working on, type your goal in What are you focusing on? (up to 80 characters).
5. Select Start 45 min of focus, or press Enter in the goal field.

   

A short start ritual follows. It shows who the time belongs to, then asks you to take one deep breath. Press any key, click anywhere or select skip to go straight in.

If the start button reads Pick sites to block in settings, you have no sites selected. Add some in Settings first.

Pomodoro splits focus into rounds. Your blocked sites are shut while you work and open during breaks.

1. Click the Focus pill on a new tab.
2. Select Pomodoro.
3. Under Rhythm, set Work (5 to 90 minutes), Break (1 to 30 minutes) and Rounds (1 to 8). The default is 4 rounds of 25 minutes with 5-minute breaks. The time it ends shows on the right.
4. Optional: type what you're working on.
5. Select Start 4 rounds.

   

How the rounds run:

• The pill shows which round you're on, then break · sites open during a break.
• During a break, blocked pages go back to the site you were trying to reach.
• There is no break after the last round, and no long break.
• +15 min is not available in Pomodoro.

There are no sounds or notifications when a round or break starts. Watch the pill, or the badge on the GrowthX toolbar icon: ON while you work, BRK during a break.

While a session runs, every new tab keeps you on track. If you set a goal, it replaces the quote under Focusing on. Double-click the goal to edit it. A thin progress line runs across the top of the page.

The pill in the top-left counts down. Click it to open the live sheet, where you can:

• See the time left and when the session ends.
• Add or change your goal in Add what you’re working on.
• Select +15 min to add time. This only works for a Timer session you started yourself. You can press it more than once.
• End early. Press and hold Hold to end early for 10 seconds. Let go before then to keep focusing.

Time when you're away from your computer or it is locked is not counted as focused time. When a session finishes on its own, your next new tab shows how long you focused and your total for the week.

There are no sounds or desktop notifications. The GrowthX toolbar icon shows ON while a session runs.

During a session, any blocked site, and its subdomains, opens a GrowthX page instead. Tabs that were already on a blocked site switch to it when focus starts. The page shows how long is left and when the site opens again.

What you can do:

• Back to work takes you to a new tab.
• Let me in for 1 min opens the site for 60 seconds. You get two of these per session. After that the button reads No passes left this session. While a pass is on, a thin black line runs along the top of the site. Hover it to see the time left.
• Hold to end early ends the session after you hold it for 10 seconds.

When the session ends, or a Pomodoro break starts, the page takes you back to the site you were trying to open.

Note

Changes to your block list apply from the next session. A session that is already running keeps the list it started with.

A schedule turns your block list on at the same time on the days you choose.

1. Click the gear on a new tab and open Schedules.
2. Use the switch to turn Clean morning (5:00 am to 10:00 am) or Clean evening (10:00 pm to 1:00 am) on.
3. To change one, click its row. Move Starts and Ends in 15-minute steps and pick the Days.
4. To make your own, select Add a schedule, give it a name and switch it on. You can have up to 8.

   

Two schedules that are on can't overlap. If they do, you'll see This overlaps another schedule that's on. Move one of them.

Five minutes before a schedule starts, a panel appears on any blocked site you have open. Select Extend 30 min to push the start back (twice at most) or Skip tonight (Skip today for windows that start between 4 am and 5 pm).

Once it starts, blocked sites stay shut until the window ends. Hold to end early skips the rest of that window for today only.

All settings are in one place. Click the gear in the top-right corner of a new tab, or the gear inside the Focus card. Changes save as you make them.

Setting	What it does
Appearance	Mix gives random colours every tab. Light is always white. Dark is always dark. Block pages are dark unless you pick Light.
Focus	Choose Timer or Pomodoro as the mode the start card opens with.
Default duration	The Timer length the start card fills in. 45 min to begin with.
Rhythm	Work, break and rounds for Pomodoro.
Sites to block	Turn sites on or off, or add your own. You can type a full address or just the site name. Remove your own sites with the ×. Up to 100 sites.
Schedules	Times when your block list turns itself on.
This week	A bar for each day, your focused time this week and the number of sessions.

Select Start a focus session at the bottom to go back to the start card, or press Escape.

The extension ships with 76 quotes. Each new tab picks one at random, so you won't see them in a set order. Some have a named contributor, shown under the quote.

The extension also gives you quick ways into the GrowthX community:

• New tab: click the GrowthX mark at the bottom of the page.
• X: on x.com, a GrowthX button sits in the bottom-right corner. Click it to open the community in a new tab. To hide it for a while, right-click it and choose Hide for 1 hour.
• LinkedIn: a GrowthX item appears in LinkedIn's top navigation. Click it to open the community in a new tab.

To change how the new tab looks, open the gear and choose Mix, Light or Dark under Appearance.

Your blocked sites, schedules and focus history are stored in Chrome on your device. They don't sync to your other computers. Read the GrowthX privacy policy for the full terms.

Why Chrome asks for each permission:

• Storage: to keep your settings, block list, schedules and history on your device.
• Tabs: to move open tabs off blocked sites when focus starts, send them back when it ends or a break starts, and open the GrowthX new tab after you install.
• Alarms: to end sessions, rounds and 1-minute passes on time, and to warn you before a schedule starts.
• Idle: so time away from your computer isn't counted as focused time.
• Blocking and redirecting pages: to send a blocked site to the GrowthX block page while you work.
• Scripting: to show the thin pass or break bar and the five-minute schedule warning on a site.
• Access to all sites: because you can block any site you type.

The extension also adds the GrowthX button on x.com and the GrowthX item on linkedin.com.

If you want Chrome's own new tab back, you can switch the extension off or remove it.

1. Open chrome://extensions in the address bar.
2. Find GrowthX.
3. Use its switch to turn it off, or select Remove to uninstall it.

Chrome's normal new tab comes back straight away. Removing the extension deletes your blocked sites, schedules and focus history, because they are only stored in Chrome on this computer.

To come back later, install it again from the Chrome Web Store and run the one-minute setup again.