While the internet is a great resource for connecting with people and research, it often becomes a real distraction. When I am trying to focus on blogging or business, I need to force myself to avoid the following:
1. Twitter
Shut down your twitter client. When you’re following hundreds of people, the flow of information is constant, with several new tweets coming up every minute. There’s plenty of great information and links in that stream, but it’ll all be there after the post is finished.
2. Email
Log out of gmail or shut down Outlook. Same as Twitter – it’ll all be there when you finish what you’re working on, and nothing in email is so urgent that it needs immediate attention. Bonus tip: shut off any pop-up or audio notifications that you have new mail. There’s always new mail. It can wait.
3. Facebook, Myspace (if you roll that way), LinkedIn, etc.
Again – great tools if used properly. Great for networking, meeting new people, staying in touch with old friends, and seeing what topics have legs in social media. Too easy to get distracted and on tangents. Use these sites for a purpose, but not when you need to focus.
4. Your farm, mafia, café, or aquarium
I don’t even want to know how much time I blew on Farmville or Café World while complaining about not having time to get this going. These apps are now blocked on my Facebook page. Do yourself a favor and shut them down!
5. YouTube
While David After Dentist (and the David After Dentist Remix, and the David After Divorce spoof) is admittedly hilarious, save this stuff for when you really need a break from your work.
6. Forums, RSS, Blogs
See points 1-5.
Force yourself to focus
Two Mac apps that I’ve come across in my search for focus: Self Control and Concentrate. Both do similar things – block websites that you specify for a specific period of time.
Self Control (free) is the more resilient of the two – you can’t even get around the timer by shutting down the program or restarting your computer.
Concentrate (60 hour trial, $29 after) can be shut down to regain access. However it does have some neat features. You can set up custom “activities” – say Writing – and the program will fire up your word processor, shut down Tweetdeck and Adium, block Facebook and eBay, and lock your kids out of the room for as long as your timer is set.
How about you? What are your biggest internet time suckers? How are you avoiding them?
