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…

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.

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.

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.

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.