Cutting Back On Computer Distractions
Posted on November 28, 2011 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Productivity
Mondays are productivity days at SimpleProductivity blog.
I’ve been working on National Novel Writing Month in November. It’s #6 for me, and I have successfully completed the challenge of writing 50,000 words in 30 days five times.
This year it has been difficult to get focused. Email calls me. Facebook (which I normally don’t use) beckons. Heck, even Solitaire was more attractive than writing!
I finally had to take drastic measures in order to eliminate these distractions. Here is what I ended up doing:
Uninstall Local Time-wasters
I’m not one for playing games on my computer. (I normally play on my iPod Touch) But for some reason Solitaire and Minesweeper seemed irresistible. (I know, I know…)
My solution? I uninstalled them. This could be done for any program that doesn’t give you value for your time.
Block Websites
One of my friends commented that I was obviously avoiding something, since I had posted to Facebook multiple times during two consecutive days. She was right. I was also checking my email, re-filing my email, checking Twitter…you get the idea.
My solution? I installed an add-in for Firefox called Leechblock. I set up the times I wanted to be blocked, and the sites that needed to be blocked. There is one set for weekends, where I have to make sure I get my time-wasters in before 10 a.m., between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m; beyond that I am limited to 10 minutes every two hours. Weekdays are blocked after 7 p.m.
Go Full Screen
I am distracted by things on my computer screen. I want to check the weather, the time, my task list, my current wallpaper…you get the idea.
My solution? Both of my novel writing tools, Pagefour and Scrivener come with full-screen modes. When I am writing I find this the best way from going off doing other things. I press the key to take it full-screen and write.
Listen to Pink Noise
I can be distracted by noises. Hear a noise outside? I’ll look out the window. Hear my daughter laughing at a television program? I will go to watch.
My solution? I turn on the MP3 player and listen to Pink Noise, as I explained in How I Use My MP3 To Concentrate
Go For An All-In-One Solution
Let’s say all of those things are not working. I have a final weapon: an all-in-one. This program goes full screen with hidden windows controls, and provides a soothing audio track and keeps me writing.
For those days when I just can’t seem to corral my monkey mind, I pull out ommWriter. A full screen application with three soundtracks to pick from, it keeps me from being tempted by other applications.
The Absolute Last Ditch Solution
If I really can’t bring myself to get on with my writing, in spite of the above, I do the low-tech: I turn the computer off and pull out a pen and paper. 
Do you have any solutions to cutting back on computer distractions? Share below!
Photo by TDOMMDAD
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Comments (5)
With all these social networks it’s getting harder and harder to abstain from wasting time online. I’ll try your second tip…sounds really productive
)
Great point! I tried the StayFocused extension for Chrome prior to that, but I’d even find myself uninstalling the extension just to go to the sites which were blocked. Because of this, I just uninstalled Google Chrome on my work computer because I found web browsing to be TOO EASY. Very good endorsement for the browser… Makes browsing so easy that you won’t get any work done!! Uninstalling Chrome works for me because my company is just about to migrate to IE8 (from IE6), and these older versions of IE iare just so clunky in general that I find myself browsing less.
Chrome Nanny add on works well too.
I will be passing that on to people using Chrome.
[...] My methods? Using a timer, doing the first thing, blocking distractions. [...]