

Ask HN: How do you stop reading the internet when you need to work? - Prrometheus

I'm a big fan of the LeechBlock plug-in for Firefox; it takes care of the worst time sinks (for me, social news sites). However, my mind seems to be very creative at destroying my productivity.<p>What can I do to get to work?
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jd
A few things work well for me:

1\. 10% rule. Whenever you're doing something and feel like taking a break do
10%-20% more. Usually you go over the bump. After fixing a couple of bugs and
you want to take a break - fix one more. Just read 50 pages? Read 10 pages
more before you take a break. And so on. It gets easier once you're used to
it. Concentration is something you have to work on, especially when you don't
really like what you're doing.

2\. Music helps me get started on work, but I usually do my best work in
complete silence.

3\. I get distracted more easily when tired.

4\. Create deadlines. If you're a deadline-junkie you may do your best work by
skipping sleep the night before the deadline and working for 16 hours
straight. You can't slack for more than a few minutes when you know time is
running out.

5\. Realize that you don't _really_ want to read social news sites, that's it
mostly a waste of time. Think of the things you'd rather do, and then do that
instead as "reward" for doing something productive.

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ars
Try <http://8aweek.com/> it's designed for doing that (keeping track of wasted
time while browsing and blocking after a while) - but I have to admit I
disabled it.

I was also a little concerned about the privacy implications of sending them
everything I do, and if you disable that (which you can), many things don't
function as well.

Edit: WAIT!

What?? What happened to 8aweek!? Now it's socialbrowse, which so far as I can
tell is designed to do exactly the opposite of what 8aweek was going to do
(i.e. save your time - now they want to waste it).

Edit2:

8aweek was a ycombinator startup! What happened?

~~~
ErrantX
That's quite ironic/amusing :D

I remember 8aweek - and I did the same thing (turned it off).

At the end of the day it is too easy to click "sod off let me in anyway"
(which is what I do to the anti-procrast feature here :D).

------
boris
Work on something more interesting than reading the net.

~~~
Prrometheus
I like what I am working on, but it is hard and has a long-term payoff. The
internet is easy and gives my brain a little dopamine jolt right now.

~~~
wheels
Pull the plug on the internet altogether when you catch yourself being
distracted. After about 15 minutes once you're into the problem it doesn't
matter too much if you reconnect it.

~~~
RossM
Physically pulling out the network cable from the router (presuming you're at
home/in a place where you can) is also a beneficial psychological push to get
on with your work.

I do this and have found myself opening Firefox/Outlook/Newsgroup/RSS readers
only to find a flat "no connection" page - that immediately scolds me for
sidetracking and I get on with what I'm supposed to eb doing again.

~~~
electromagnetic
Most laptops feature a button to turn off the wireless connection. I find
hitting that button has a similar effect, you've just got to restrain yourself
from hitting the button again.

My work is writing, so I find it extremely convenient to have internet access
as it helps with checking if I've got the meaning correct for words I rarely
use in common conversation. It also helps greatly with research, however there
comes a time when I have to turn my wireless off and actually use what I've
research, etc.

------
coderrr
The question I'd like to know the answer to is...

How much would you be willing to pay for a solution to this?

~~~
astine
For an easy and effective solution, quite a bit.

------
FraaJad
The solution that has worked for me:

1\. If possible, use two computers. One for work. One for fun. I do all my
work on my macbook and browsing etc on my ThinkPad.

2\. Use OpenDNS to block all the news sites. You can add reddit, HN and all
the other news sites to the blocked sites list. Most often than not, I used to
land up on reddit/HN by "accident". That is, my fingers would go Cmd-L -> redd
-> return.. even befor I realised it. Having a blocker works. Sometimes, I
consciously want to browse HN/reddit, but OpenDNS takes 3 minutes before the
block is lifted. By that time the urge would have passed. Or, as I do now, I
get up and move to the "fun" PC .

Why am I on HN now? I unblocked all the sites on election day to read the news
from the fire-hose :p . Sine I don't own a TV, internet is the only news
source....

~~~
aaronblohowiak
if you are just blocking, your hosts file is an easier solution (though it
doesnt have the 3 minute timeout)

------
JoelSutherland
It is really a 2 step process.

1\. Stop reading the internet.

2\. Get to work.

If you can't do that maybe you find the internet more interesting than work.
If that is the case, consider making a change so that reading the internet
becomes your work. No sense spending your life fighting yourself.

------
run4yourlives
I try to look at my rescue time dashboard everyday before I log off.

The thought of seeing "fun" being in my top 2 or 3 has so far given me enough
of a guilt trip that I keep working.

~~~
ErrantX
Heh that is a neat looking app/site! Never come across it before so thx.

(amusingly googling for "rescue time dashboard" pops up with _this_ page as
the top link :D)

------
DaniFong
Usually I save chunks of the problem I can solve without a computer. I go on a
long walk to figure them out. when I come back I want to write up what I've
thought, and get it implemented. This gets me started, which is the hardest
part.

------
arien
It's really hard at times (I suffer the same thing), but the only thing you
have to save yourself is your own will, so you have to learn to strengthen it
somehow.

Divide your day in small periods of time and set working goals for each of
these. Let's say take 45 minutes to focus on work and finish some task. And
then take 15 minutes to read feeds or social websites. And then back to focus
on work. And so on.

The smaller the goal the easier it is to achieve it and the less boring it
seems compared to these juicy websites waiting for you.

I recommend you read this on your first 15 min. break, it will help you to
understand this method. It's a GTD thing:
[http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/how-to-
accomplish-...](http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/how-to-accomplish-
great-things-small-victories-winnable-games)

I wrote that equation in a paper and have it right next to my screen at all
times. That way I don't have the temptation to forget about it :)

Good luck!

------
ErrantX
Argh! This question is distracting me from my work.. see what you have done :D

I agree with the others: find ways to enjoy what you do hr by hr.

Part of my day job involves analysing up to 1,000,000 images at a time and
categorising them (that many images takes around 3hrs with our software). That
gets VERY boring: what I do is set myself targbets - so I say "at 40,000 I
will read my mail". Only when I get there I say - oh just another 5,0000. I
developed a very usfel OCD-like thing of not beign able to stop until the
"done" number reaches a precisely round number (which nevert happens :D) like
10,000 etc. :)

Try something similar: set short targets after which you will break - but then
extend them. Set targets and what time you hope to reach them by; but make
sure you will easily make it in the time you set. Then say "oh well in the
time I have left I could do... xyz".

Keep setting tiny targets till you can't face it anymore and then lose
yourself in the net for a bit :) (until you realise you should be back at
work).

I have found that forcing work in this way for 2hrs then breakign for 20mins
gets a lot more work done :D

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cstejerean
I found that getting work done on the train or other places without internet
conneciton does wonders to my productivity. Only works well though when I'm
really familiar with what I'm working on and don't need to research things,
and when I have whatever documentation I need installed locally.

------
randomwalker
Most of my reading is in google reader. Part of my work involves following a
number of blogs and news sources, which are rolled together with the feeds I
follow for fun. So even when I'm wasting time on the Internet, 50% of my time
is productive.

Of course, there are times when you just have to get shit done. When I'm
sufficiently motivated about my code, my brain automatically shuts everything
else out. I don't force myself, I just wait until motivation/inspiration hits.
Sometimes takes a day or two, but it's worth it, because then I'll have (say)
a week-long burst of creative output that I couldn't have gotten any other
way.

------
bootload
_"... How do you stop reading the internet when you need to work? ..."_

Hard problem this one.

Some times you need to search the web for information. Other times you really
need to turn access off to get work done. One suggestion would be to pre-
search all you need to search for. But this is clumsy and sometimes unforeseen
comes along. Then when it comes time to work, try working on a machine not
connected to the Internet.

But this practice doesn't scale. Is anyone working on an idea that lets an
algorythm to work this out for lots of individuals?

~~~
ggruschow
I start my time wasting on a few sites (e.g. this one), so I just blocked them
from my work computer (hosts[1] file -> 127.0.0.1). If I really have to, I can
go in and remove the mapping. It's enough of a hassle that I don't though.
It's worked so well that I ended up blocking sites that get me upset also
(intranet).. that kills my productivity in a different way.

Also, as much as I thought I benefit from the internet while doing a lot of my
work, I now really question it. In the past few years, when stuck on a
problem, I'd just google it. Now, I think that's probably counterproductive in
the long-run. It gets you out of what you were doing, and you don't learn as
much or as deeply as working on the problem yourself.

Lately, I've been trying to figure out how to best deal with IM. I do need to
have it up so people that are too far away to get to me can ask questions, but
I like talking to people more than I like my work right now. (I'm dealing with
that also)

[1] /etc/hosts on unix, %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts on windows

------
msluyter
I sometimes use Temptation Blocker
(<http://sourceforge.net/projects/temptblocker/>). It prevents access to
certain applications for a specified period of time. I'll block Firefox --
where all my typical news/blog sites are bookmarked -- but leave IE unblocked
in case I really need to google something (some sql syntax, for example) work
related. I could of course cheat and surf using IE, but that generally causes
enough cognitive dissonance that I'm able to resist the temptation.

------
gertburger
A simple plugin is not gonna stop me. I tend to just live with the fact that
I'm going to get distracted. I have a tendency to get lost in work once I get
going, but that doesn't happen often ;->

------
narag
At my day job, I can't, here I am. At home I have two computers, an
unconnected desktop where I program and a laptop that has net access. I try to
keep the laptop shut as long as I can.

Also I've developed a mental filter, an attitude of "did I really want to read
this?" comparing the feeling before and after reading the article. Now I see
the headline and try to figure which will be my reaction after I see the
article. Most of the times, the conclusion is that I'm really not interested.

------
coliveira
This is a really difficult problem, specially for developers. A solution I use
is: a) decide the times you want to access the web. In my case is early in the
morning, and after lunch. b) If this is difficult to stick to, maintain a
timer of how much time you spent away from the web. Try to maximize this
quantity as your secret personal task during the day. This works really well
for me.

------
sethm
1) (I guess this only works if you're a programmer) Don't completely finish
your last task of the night, leave a comment with TODO-110608 (that would be
the date of tomorrow) where you need to polish. Gives you an easy entry point
to your work. 2) Schedule your wasted time. I have three 20 min blocks
dedicated to internet waste per day. No more. (I just spent 3 min on this)

------
csl
I have a simple rule for myself that works quite well:

Every day, I _have_ to do at least _one_ productive thing before I can leave
work.

Usually I read email, programming stuff and news in the morning, then catch
myself wasting time and then get to work. When I first get started, time
usually passes by extremely fast (depending on my current assignment).

------
teej
I've been looking for something as well. I didn't know about LeechBlock
previously, thanks for the recommendation.

------
there
use virtual desktops (or spaces or whatever it's called on mac os). put your
web browser in one workspace, your e-mail/im client in another, and your
coding environment in another. work in only the coding workspace with no other
apps showing. if you're working on a web app, open a new browser window, hide
your bookmarks bar, and drag it to your coding workspace.

use things like growl notifications to alert you of instant messages and new
e-mails. that way you can remain in your coding window and quickly glance at
what that little chime was just for. if it's an important message, switch and
take care of it (or don't). if not, ignore it. this way you aren't forced to
switch workspaces and interrupt your work every time something comes in that
you hope might be more fun than your current problem at hand.

------
bOR_
Partially managed to fix the 'read the mail, websites' urge by replacing it
with a distraction that is still useful to my work 'scan the titles /
abstracts of new HIV publications'. I just need a distraction occasionally,
and that one works just as fine as reddit.

Find yourself a useful dstraction :)

------
sown
Don't. Alt-tab or ctrl-alt-arrow around windows on a ssh session to a terminal
somewhere running lynx, links or elinks. I always run screen and sometimes
will lock it if I really need to but for the most part the best way to banish
temptation is to give into it.

------
michael_nielsen
I use stickk.com. I decide a time period over which I'm not going to use the
net (typically, between starting work and 4pm, for an entire week); I then pay
out $20 to an anti-charity of my choice if I fail. Works a charm.

------
Shamiq
Brew a strong cup of coffee. Drink it while being away from your desk. Return
to your work as soon as you finish enjoying it.

Creating a pre-work ritual is amazingly useful in getting into the correct
mindset.

------
sovande
<http://seoblackhat.com/2007/01/29/do-it-fucking-now/>

------
iloveyouocean
I consciously quit being such a 'victim', own my actions, set my intention,
and work.

Stop embracing weakness. Empower yourself.

------
imp
Stand up and get a drink of water. Walk away for a minute and you'll realize
how much time you're wasting and get back to work.

------
marvin
When I need to do work, I close the browser.

~~~
nihilocrat
That's, uh... a little difficult to do in web development/design.

~~~
rdrimmie
One solution for this is two use different browsers for entertainment and work
(similar to an earlier comment about using different computers for the
division). I use Safari for slacking off and FireFox for development.

When I need to buckle down, I close Safari.

------
markessien
I have a potential solution. Send me an email at markessien at gmail dot com
if you'd like to help me test it.

------
lallysingh
Shrink the web browser window. It really helps.

------
robhu
There's a way to stop?

------
lst
Simply train yourself to abstain from something.

It can be very simple and small things, the only important point is to make it
a habit.

There is no better way (all other things suggested can help, but if you are
not able to do the above, nothing will save you...).

