Solutions for Internet Addiction

[RichardGraham]

Hi Folks,

I'm interested in knowing if any of you have had the same issues I've had with the Internet -- spending WAY too much time on it -- but I'm even more interested in knowing how you've solved the problem.

As many of you know, I'm writing a book on the history of Roller Hockey International. (Sounds like it could be a snooze-fest to those not interested in our sport, but I beg to differ. I'm writing about the PEOPLE who were involved in it and their stories, and let me tell you, those stories are fascinating!)

However, I often find myself wasting time reading about politics, reading e-mail I never needed to receive, watching and deleting hundreds of attachments per month, etc.

What do you folks do to minimize the interruptions and get work done?

One thing I'm finding effective is to do research and interviews for my book BEFORE I ever get online in the morning, despite how many flame wars might have erupted on Inline Hockey Central the night before.

Your thoughts and solutions?

[joisyan]

richard, why dont you pick up a hobby? or a sport? . . . like hockey? haha

[RichardGraham]

Hey Tim,

I played ice hockey last night until 1:30 a.m. That good enough for ya? ;)

[joisyan]

haha, then if you're still finding yourself stuck online all the time, i'd suggest video games

[quick_dry]

I can't remember then name of the name of it, but there is a free FireFox plugin that lets you white and blacklist URLs, so you can make your browser block you from going to websites during certain hours.

It isn't for protecting kids, because it is easily overthrown by going into your settings, but the aim of it is to increase the friction between your desire to view the website, and ease of getting there.

[MBurke]

Rich,

My homepage is: http://www.merlinmann.com/rightnow/. Usually it cuts me off before I stray too far into RSS feed reading, etc. :)

Merlin has a lot of good personal productivity stuff: http://www.43folders.com