15 iGoogle Gadgets for Web Worker Productivity

By Leo Babauta Sep. 5, 2007, 6:00am PT 65 Comments

While there are still many who love Netvibes, iGoogle has its share of fans in the start page world. And with more than 25,000 gadgets available for iGoogle, the array of choices is sometimes overwhelming.

Choose wisely, and iGoogle can be a great tool for productive web work of any kind. But put too many fun gadgets and games on your start page, and your productive time will go down the drain.

Instead of scrolling and searching through 25,000 gadgets, we’ve found 15 of the best that you can choose from to increase productivity.


1. Today list. This isn’t actually a specific gadget, but an idea for how to use one. Choose from among the many to-do list gadgets available (whichever works best for you) and call it your “Today list”. Now only write down the 3-4 most important things you need to do today, and use that to drive you to get those things done.

2. iReminder. This is an insanely useful gadget from Todoist (maker of the useful to-do list service) that allows you to set reminders that can be sent to your mobile device, email or Twitter.

3. Timesheet recorder. Freelancers and independent contractors need an easy way to keep track of their time. What easier way than through an iGoogle gadget?

4. Procrastinator’s clock. You’re habitually and continually late for everything. You procrastinate on procrastinating. You need this clock, which could be up to 15 minutes early … or might not.

5. My earnings. Enter your data into the gadget, and it calculates your earnings by the millisecond.

6. Google Analytics. If you have a blog or website, you like to keep track of your stats. You know you do. Instead of opening Analytics every 5 minutes, just leave the gadget on your home page.

7. Google services. If you’re like me and use a lot of Google services, get their gadgets (or put them in the compound gadget below): Gmail, Google Reader, GCal, Google Docs, Google Talk. It’s extremely useful to have them all in one place.

8. Compound gadget. Clean up your iGoogle page by combining several gadgets into one tabbed gadget. It makes things much more organized.

9. World clocks. As web workers, we often work with people from across the globe. And figuring out what time it is for them can be a hassle. No longer, with this set of world clocks on your start page.

10. Document to PDF. Need to create PDFs often? This tool makes it quick.

11. Microsoft Outlook. If you use Outlook, put your inbox and calendar on iGoogle with this gadget.

12. Days since. This gadget tells you how many days since any event you enter. While this can have many, many uses, one of the most productive uses is following up on things such as invoices — you’ll always know how many days have elapsed since you sent an invoice.

13. Web stickies. Add stickies to your home page for quick little notes on anything. Very useful.

14. Activity tracker. An extremely useful gadget that allows you to track how much time you spend on multiple activities.

15. Make your own gadget. If you can’t find the gadget you want, Google created a wizard that allows you to create your own, using seven templates, including ones for photos, a countdown, lists, You Tube and more.

What’s your favorite iGoogle gadget? Let us know in the comments.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.