Unclutterer

1. Posted by Another Deb - 04/22/2009

   I wish I could have this for my husband’s computer games. It might have saved us an entire extra year on the thesis…

2. Posted by Rue - 04/22/2009

   I don’t really have to *force* myself to be productive. When I feel like taking a break, I go and read a blog (which I keep up with almost daily, so it’s not like I spend hours reading what I’ve missed) or a single article on MSN. Only takes a few minutes, and then I’m back to working!

3. Posted by Catherine - 04/22/2009

   This sounds great! Do you know if there are similar programs for Windows?

4. Posted by Shani - 04/22/2009

   I like Isolator (http://willmore.eu/software/isolator/).
   It keeps me connected, but makes it easier to focus on the task at hand.

5. Posted by Dream Mom DBAwww.dreamorganizers.com - 04/22/2009

   This program sounds more like a clutterer than an unclutter. Any time you have to do something to remind you or keep you from doing something else, seems like too much work to me.

   I stay on track most of the time by having little rules. For e-mail, if there’s a website I want to check out, I put it in a file called, “9 p.m.”. That’s the time when I have time to go and read things at my leisure and won’t suck up all of my time.

   More often than not, when I don’t feel like being productive, I have a rule that I need to do it for “just 15 minutes” or I might say that I will do just one tiny piece of what needs to be done. That usually works. For example, if I have a big presentation to be done and I don’t want to do it, I might require that I choose the template, create the header page and outline, etc.

   Other times, I look at the cause of my not wanting to be productive. I am up a lot at night taking care of my son (he’s disabled so I do meds, help him roll over, change his diapers, etc.); sometimes I am up once an hour all night. On those days, I might need a short nap late in the afternoon and then I am more productive.

   But the bottom line is you have to do what works for you and if a program can help, then do it.

6. Posted by lina - 04/22/2009

   I don’t get it. How is this any different than manually disabling your network access? Seems like it’s an unnecessary program to do something that all machines have built in functions for anyways.

7. Posted by Mario - 04/22/2009

   Usually when I use the internet I browse the web. I don’t play video games or IM much, so since Firefox is my preferred browser, I installed LeechBlock, https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4476, which lets me block certain websites for either a certain amount of time, or during specific time periods, or both. It’s great and works well. There’s also a little timer on the status bar that tells you how much time you have left you’ve allowed yourself to have for that particular website. For example, I block Facebook from 7 AM to 12 PM, then from 1 PM to 6 PM. But I also only allow myself 10 minutes a day on it. Anything over that, and it redirects itself to my remember the milk page (you can customize the page). This has worked well for me.

   Also, just turn off your computer monitor. Sometimes when I just need to work that doesn’t require the computer, I just turn off the monitor, lock it (which requires a password when you try to get back on), and go out and do whatever I need to do.

8. Posted by Ben - 04/22/2009

   If you use Firefox, the LeechBlock extension does essentially the same thing, but with more options. It’s been incredibly helpful for me.

9. Posted by Freedom Featured on the Unclutterer - Freedom - OS X Networking Freedom Software - 04/22/2009

   [...] recieved a nice writeup on the Unclutterer, a great blog about productivity and organization. Since our employers pay us to work and not goof [...]

10. Posted by Marie - 04/22/2009

    I sometimes save up pleasant chores to use as breaks from less pleasant ones. That way I’m getting away from whatever is boring/annoying and still accomplishing something.

11. Posted by Christine - 04/22/2009

    I’ve gone from doing lots of wet-bench work in the lab to doing entirely in silico analysis – I’m doing terribly at not spending stupid amounts of time on Facebook and blogs and news sites and. . . yeah.

    Now that I’m on the computer for many hours every day, it’s difficult to develop good habits.

    The upside of LeechBlock is that it will keep me off my worst sites whenever I tell it to but without blocking email. Downside? I still have all my RSS feeds and a lot of email that distracts me really easily. I may actually end up using a combination of LeechBlock on obviously non work-related tasks and Freedom for time periods when I need to settle down and read articles (since I use Papers for reading academic articles, I even do that on the computer now.)

    Thanks to everybody for the information! This will probably be great news for my thesis.

12. Posted by MissPrism - 04/22/2009

    Ben – thanks for the LeechBlock recommendation! I’ve been looking for something like that for a while.

13. Posted by Erin Ferree - 04/22/2009

    This sounds awesomely helpful – mainly to get away easily from email and IM and then have it turn itself back on.

14. Posted by Heather - 04/22/2009

    When I need to get something done, but not feeling productive, I head to a coffee shop without wi-fi or one with wi-fi with a log-on procedure. I’ve also set my browser’s homepage to something boring so that if I do have to log-on, I’m not distracted by reading the news or whatever.

15. Posted by Michelle - 04/22/2009

    I find it interesting that this program is called “Freedom”. Weren’t all these technologies supposed to make us more productive so we had more free time?

    Anyway, I used to have a Firefox plugin that alerted me when I spent too much time on sites that I’d tagged as “restricted” (e.g., Facebook, my RSS reader). But because I work in the Web, it became too difficult to manage which sites should be restricted, because usually-restricted sites were sometimes necessary for my work.

    I hate to say it, but in today’s world of blurred life-work boundaries, I think willpower is the best defense.

16. Posted by Lisa - 04/22/2009

    I’ve used Freedom a few times now. While I commend the people who say that they don’t need some program to tell them to be productive, that’s just not me. I will procrastinate doing nearly everything.

    I really like to write but the actual writing part not so much. I’m joking sort of. But basically, I found that anytime I started writing and got blocked, I’d go to Firefox and start browsing and end up completely sidetracked.

    Freedom is handy, but I almost find it too restrictive. Because I know there’s a time limit sometimes I’ll play around with other programs to help tick down the time when I should be writing.

    My best option is Blitz. It’s not intended to be a productivity tool but works surprisingly well. It’s normal function is to freeze other programs so the program you’re working on runs faster. I found though, that I could use it to freeze my browser, aim client, any other program that distracts me. So when I’m stuck writing and try to click on Firefox in my dock, nothing happens. It won’t even bring up the window! And I find that really key. With Freedom, I can still get to Firefox and I find just the act of going into another window can break my flow. When I click and nothing happens it’s just a nudge saying “more writing!” Also you can turn it off whenever while that may be too tempting for some I actually really like it that way. Once I’ve written a good chunk I get to reward myself by checking my email or what have you.

17. Posted by Lisa - 04/22/2009

    Ah and forgot to add, you can also “focus” on a program and it will darken/blur out all the other programs. A lot like what Isolator does.

    Also just another program I like to help me focus is Spirited Away which hides programs automatically once they’ve been idle for x amount of time.

18. Posted by mhb - 04/22/2009

    Thanks for the comments about LeechBlock, y’all – I’m going to try that out right now.

19. Posted by Emily - 04/23/2009

    What a great idea! Some people need the extra help for sure!

20. Posted by Leonardo Leiva - 04/24/2009

    Thank you so much for this program. I usually respect my personal rules about internet, mails & co., but sometimes this program can be useful.

21. Posted by LBell - 04/29/2009

    I tried Leechblock to block the sites I most waste time on but what ended up happening is that I found OTHER sites to waste time on. I actually spent an embarrassing amount of time reading a blog about women who chose to stop coloring their hair and go gray. (It was relevant; I happen to like my gray but I was curious about why others didn’t and what made them learn to like it.)

    It’s daunting to learn that the bit of Internet you like to fritter time on only constitutes a tiny fraction of the whole. My problem is discipline…and what’s worked best so far is unplugging the modem (at home) or the Ethernet (at work). A PC version of Freedom would save me the trouble of getting out of my seat, though…

22. Posted by The New “Freedom” | Front Porch Republic - 06/03/2009

    [...] is starting to get some coverage – see here, here, and here – and I imagine it will get some more. I also imagine that much of that coverage will [...]

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