Quickly hide the useless sites you’re looking at so your boss doesn’t know that you’re slacking off. It’s called Panic Button, it works in Google Chrome and it’s designed for full time workers who actually work part time.

If you’re reading this blog post at work, you probably shouldn’t be. And if you’re doing something at work you probably shouldn’t now, you probably do that with some frequency. Were this a productivity blog I’d tell you to shape up, fly right and install another todo list app on your smartphone.

It isn’t. Here’s a tool that lets you avoid doing work more effectively. It won’t protect you every time, but it might help.

Using The Panic Button

Let’s imagine that you’re wasting your time. We’ve already established that by the act of reading this article you’re wasting your time, so there’s really no need to imagine, but let’s imagine anyway. You’ve got your favorite time wasting sites open, and are about to search for the best videos earth has to offer.

Suddenly your boss appears. Panic! If only there was some kind of button…

Oh yeah. The panic button. That’ll do. Here it is, highlighted in yellow:

Click it and all of your time-wasting tabs will disappear. In their place is a blank page, or the work-related URL of your choice. Simple. Don’t worry, though. Your precious kitten videos aren’t gone. That would be terrible. No, your beloved distractions are merely hidden. Click the panic button again and they will return to you, just as adorable as ever.

You can even hide the panic button itself, if you fear your boss is catching on to this whole “technology” thing. All that and more is in the options:

As you can see it’s also possible to password-protect your distractions and pick a keyboard shortcut to use instead of the extension bar button.

Are you ready to install this anti-productivity tool? Find Panic Button in the Chrome Web Store. Can you not use Chrome at work because you can’t install it? Grab the portable version of Google Chrome, or keep reading for more tips.

Conclusion

We’ve written a shocking number of articles dedicated to helping you pretend that you’re working. Among my favorite is Can’t You See I’m Busy, a set of games that looks like actual work. From the Bejeweled clone that looks like a spreadsheet to the tiny rocket you help navigate through a graph, this suite of online games will make you look busy – especially when you’re not.

There’s also the Magic Boss Key, which hides what you’re doing in Windows. Great if you enjoy non-browser distractions, such as games.

If these don’t work for you, check out these other guides:

• How to quickly hide your web surfing from the boss
• 8 tools to become a procrastination ninja at work

I know, I had no ideas ninjas were so adept at procrastinating. Learn something new every day.

Do you know of another way to avoid doing actual work at work? Share it in the comments below. Bonus points if you do so at work, instead of working.

Image Credit: Panic Button Image via Shutterstock