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- Jul 3, 2012
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As many of you know, especially those with online businesses, it’s incredibly easy to get lost on the internet.
You’re reading an article…it links to another article. Boom! You’re on another website. Alright, let’s binge read articles on increasing productivity. I should really watch Steve Job’s commencement speech RIGHT NOW. Better to check out that Elon Musk interview while I’m at it. Let’s read some random threads on a forum.
And suddenly you look at the clock and two hours or more have passed.
Yes, there might be a time to consume all that content, but it’s probably NOT now (if at all).
Here’s my three step process for eliminating distractions on the Internet/the computer:
1. RescueTime (https://www.rescuetime.com/)
It’s a software which tracks your application and website usage for the time you’re on the PC. The Light version is sufficient for what we’re trying to accomplish here. Sign up for a free account, download the software to your computer and let it run.
2. ColdTurkey (http://getcoldturkey.com/) for $14,99 or SelfControl (http://selfcontrolapp.com/) on Mac for free
This allows you to block sites and applications computer wide and according to specific groups. I would get the paid version, it’s only $14.99 and it allows you to block applications as well + schedule functionality. If you try to access a blocked website, there'll be a nice "Shouldn't you be working right now?" type quote.
That’s the basic setup. So after 24 hours or so, head over to Rescuetime.com, login and check the dashboard. You will find that it has collected a bunch of stuff, mainly what applications you’re running for how long, which websites you visited for how long and so on.
What you need to do now: Have a close look and be honest with yourself.
ColdTurkey has 3 groups for you to use. Green, Yellow and Red.
I use Green for websites/software I want to check/use daily after I’m ready with work for the day. This might include this forum, your favourite news site and industry forums and so on.
Yellow for websites that I want to spend time on occasionally when I simply want entertainment. This might include Youtube, Netflix, reddit, a chatroom you frequent. For me this is Sunday afternoon.
Red for websites/software that I know to be time suckers. Software like Steam, Origin, betting websites, basically anything I don’t want to spend any time on.
So I go through the websites/software and categorize them according to my guidelines above. If I’m not sure which category to put something in, I go for the stricter category. Not sure if Green or Yellow? Pick Yellow. Rationale: If I'm not sure when I'm actively thinking about it, there's a high chance I'll end up there later on anyways.
I do this once every two week nowadays, but with the major time-wasting sites blocked already, there's not too many new sites to be added.
Example:
Note: Add websites in the red group to the other groups as well, so they get blocked all the time. Add websites in the yellow group only to the red and green group, so they aren't blocked in the yellow time period. Then LOCK your schedule. You won't be able to change the schedule or remove websites, only add new ones until the chosen time.
But let's not fool ourselves. Even with the major time sucks out the way, there are a ton of websites we visit daily. It would become impossible to micro manage all those sites, because you might only visit them twice for a few minutes. Still that will add up. This is where step 3 comes into play:
3. Pocket (https://getpocket.com/)
Their tagline is "When you find something you want to view later, put it in Pocket." and that's basically what it does. It takes a piece of content and archives it, syncs it with your mobile devices etc. Head over there, sign up for a free account and get the browser addon for your favorite browser.
So if you're researching a specific problem, looking for a solution etc., you might stumble upon an interesting website which has, besides your solution, a lot of other different stuff that you reeeeeeeeeally want to read. Right-click, hit "Save to Pocket" and get back to work.
Get in, get the kill (solution), back out.
Using this approach I've been able to constantly improve my focus and my results, because it allows me to concentrate only on the task right in front of me.
Disclaimer: This is what is working amazingly well for me, your mileage may vary.
Hope it helps!
You’re reading an article…it links to another article. Boom! You’re on another website. Alright, let’s binge read articles on increasing productivity. I should really watch Steve Job’s commencement speech RIGHT NOW. Better to check out that Elon Musk interview while I’m at it. Let’s read some random threads on a forum.
And suddenly you look at the clock and two hours or more have passed.
Yes, there might be a time to consume all that content, but it’s probably NOT now (if at all).
Here’s my three step process for eliminating distractions on the Internet/the computer:
1. RescueTime (https://www.rescuetime.com/)
It’s a software which tracks your application and website usage for the time you’re on the PC. The Light version is sufficient for what we’re trying to accomplish here. Sign up for a free account, download the software to your computer and let it run.
2. ColdTurkey (http://getcoldturkey.com/) for $14,99 or SelfControl (http://selfcontrolapp.com/) on Mac for free
This allows you to block sites and applications computer wide and according to specific groups. I would get the paid version, it’s only $14.99 and it allows you to block applications as well + schedule functionality. If you try to access a blocked website, there'll be a nice "Shouldn't you be working right now?" type quote.
That’s the basic setup. So after 24 hours or so, head over to Rescuetime.com, login and check the dashboard. You will find that it has collected a bunch of stuff, mainly what applications you’re running for how long, which websites you visited for how long and so on.
What you need to do now: Have a close look and be honest with yourself.
ColdTurkey has 3 groups for you to use. Green, Yellow and Red.
I use Green for websites/software I want to check/use daily after I’m ready with work for the day. This might include this forum, your favourite news site and industry forums and so on.
Yellow for websites that I want to spend time on occasionally when I simply want entertainment. This might include Youtube, Netflix, reddit, a chatroom you frequent. For me this is Sunday afternoon.
Red for websites/software that I know to be time suckers. Software like Steam, Origin, betting websites, basically anything I don’t want to spend any time on.
So I go through the websites/software and categorize them according to my guidelines above. If I’m not sure which category to put something in, I go for the stricter category. Not sure if Green or Yellow? Pick Yellow. Rationale: If I'm not sure when I'm actively thinking about it, there's a high chance I'll end up there later on anyways.
I do this once every two week nowadays, but with the major time-wasting sites blocked already, there's not too many new sites to be added.
Example:
Note: Add websites in the red group to the other groups as well, so they get blocked all the time. Add websites in the yellow group only to the red and green group, so they aren't blocked in the yellow time period. Then LOCK your schedule. You won't be able to change the schedule or remove websites, only add new ones until the chosen time.
But let's not fool ourselves. Even with the major time sucks out the way, there are a ton of websites we visit daily. It would become impossible to micro manage all those sites, because you might only visit them twice for a few minutes. Still that will add up. This is where step 3 comes into play:
3. Pocket (https://getpocket.com/)
Their tagline is "When you find something you want to view later, put it in Pocket." and that's basically what it does. It takes a piece of content and archives it, syncs it with your mobile devices etc. Head over there, sign up for a free account and get the browser addon for your favorite browser.
So if you're researching a specific problem, looking for a solution etc., you might stumble upon an interesting website which has, besides your solution, a lot of other different stuff that you reeeeeeeeeally want to read. Right-click, hit "Save to Pocket" and get back to work.
Get in, get the kill (solution), back out.
Using this approach I've been able to constantly improve my focus and my results, because it allows me to concentrate only on the task right in front of me.
Disclaimer: This is what is working amazingly well for me, your mileage may vary.
Hope it helps!
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