There’s a new crop of tools that helps you focus by lashing yourself to the mast, i.e. forcibly keeping yourself away from the Internet (or the most seductive parts of it) for a set amount of time. I haven’t thought through that metaphor completely, but I have thoroughly considered the awesomeness of these products. Do you have another that you’ve heard of or that’s worked for you? Please let me know!
- Leechblock works with Firefox. You can block certain websites that you designate during certain times. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/leechblock/
- Freedom locks you out of the internet altogether for up to 8 hours (you set the time). http://macfreedom.com/ It’s $10 but there’s a free trial. It’s now available for both Mac & PC.
- Antisocial locks you out of social media sites like Facebook for up to 8 hours (again you set the time). http://anti-social.cc/ It’s $15 and is currently only available for Mac.
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Seeking out wifi-free coffee shops (surprisingly short in supply!) and other network deadzones can be similarly effective.
Someone should open a coffee shop that proudly proclaims “no wifi available inside” — I bet people would flock there!