For me, procrastination often occurs as a result of distraction. Although, the distraction is often a byproduct of the difficulty of a task (such as homework/projects), distraction is still the main reason why a lot of work is often left undone. If you're like me and need a little help to keep yourself away from lifesucking websites such as digg.com, xkcd.com and so on... you'll love these little apps which I'm about to mention here. What they do is fairly basic: block the internet. Of course, you could just disable your internet connection yourself, but who has the will power to do that?
Selfcontrol (free; Mac only, Linux alternative here): This app pretty much only does one thing. Prevent you from accessing the internet for a set period of time without allowing you to overrider the disconnect. Essentially, if you have to reconnect before the timer runs out you'll have to change around some system config files. While I've only tried this a handful of times, I'm surprised to say that it does work... but it takes a lot of willpower to click on the start button. Also, it might be a good idea to turn off the iPhone/BlackBerry/other Smart Phone as well, incase you get tempted to use that instead.
Freedom ($10; Mac and Windows): Like Selfcontrol Freedom offers similar abilities of being able to disconnect yourself without an option to reconnect before the timer is done.
While I think that these applications alone may not help you get rid of your habit of browsing youtube videos or checking Facebook videos, they may prove to be helpful when you're really under a deadline and can't afford getting side tracked even for a few minutes.
Selfcontrol (free; Mac only, Linux alternative here): This app pretty much only does one thing. Prevent you from accessing the internet for a set period of time without allowing you to overrider the disconnect. Essentially, if you have to reconnect before the timer runs out you'll have to change around some system config files. While I've only tried this a handful of times, I'm surprised to say that it does work... but it takes a lot of willpower to click on the start button. Also, it might be a good idea to turn off the iPhone/BlackBerry/other Smart Phone as well, incase you get tempted to use that instead.
Freedom ($10; Mac and Windows): Like Selfcontrol Freedom offers similar abilities of being able to disconnect yourself without an option to reconnect before the timer is done.
While I think that these applications alone may not help you get rid of your habit of browsing youtube videos or checking Facebook videos, they may prove to be helpful when you're really under a deadline and can't afford getting side tracked even for a few minutes.
Got a question, tip or comment? Send them to beyondteck+question@gmail.com and we'll try to answer it in a blog post!
These look good, do they work on teenagers? How about something similar for a cellphone? As an mro services engineer, I am always hands on, and rarely have the computer to distract me, unless I am programming or recording work like the c4isr systems.
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