1. Gmail Offline

Gmail Offline is one of the most useful tools I have downloaded. Many times emails come in faster than I can reply to them, but disconnecting from the internet while I reply to what is currently in my inbox can be a big help. Additionally, when you are not connected, you will use less battery power.

2. Google Calendar

Google Calendar is an app that gives you fast access to your Google Calendar. Aside from the direct link to your main calendar, there is also the option to see and manage your calendar while offline. This is very useful for the same same reasons as the above Gmail Offline app.

3. Smartr Inbox for Gmail

Smartr Inbox for Gmail is a great extension for your Google Chrome browser. You will be able to see the social accounts for your contacts, which is a great way to better understand clients and/or keep up with family and friends, all from your Gmail inbox.

4. Google Tasks (by Google)

If you weren’t aware, Google has a Tasks app, and it’s already part of your Gmail and Google Calendar. While it is pretty bare-bones, it can still be useful. Using the Google Tasks (by Google) extension will make Google Tasks more accessible and therefore more effective.

5. Always Clear Downloads

Always Clear Downloads is a Google Chrome extension made to solve the problem of that ugly download bar that appears at the bottom of your Chrome browser window after you download any type of file. This will save you task of clicking on the close “X” button every time you download something.

6. Grammarly Lite

Grammarly Lite is a great spell-checker for your browser window. It is different from most others because it will check your grammar as well as your spelling. If you dislike  people who incorrectly place the wrong type of word in the wrong part of a sentence, Grammarly will help you avoid becoming one of them.

7. KeyRocket for Gmail

KeyRocket for Gmail is a somewhat educational tool: while you are using Gmail, KeyRocket helps you learn the keyboard shortcuts. Knowing what will Archive an email vs. Deleting it will help you get through your inbox a lot more quickly, and the faster you get through all of your emails, the more likely you are to keep your message count low—maybe even zero.

8. PanicButton

PanicButton lets you hide all of your windows and tabs at once and opens a preset window—some people refer to this as a “boss” button. You can even password-protect the button so they can’t restore the tabs without it. If the button is too obvious, a keyboard shortcut can be used instead.

9. Awesome New Tab Page

The Awesome New Tab Page is a great way to create a useful start page for your Google Chrome browser: when you create a new page or tab, this window will open up. There are a lot of default tiles to add as well as other extensions to install, adding to the awesomeness of the new tab page.

10. Powerbot for Gmail

Powerbot for Gmail ties your two most used apps—Gmail and Evernote—together for one big productivity party. What is really cool here is not needing to toggle between two apps just to create a new note. Everything can be added to the note just as if you were in Evernote; even the email attachments.

Search Tools

11. Search by Image (by Google)

Search by Image (by Google) is a brilliant little extension that lets you search the web using an image instead of words as the search term. This is handy if you are looking for the original version of an image, or even a modified version thereof. You can right-click on an image on a webpage and then search Google for similar images.