I’m working to wean myself off of compulsive behaviors as far as loading certain websites go. I wouldn’t say I’m an internet addict, but I do have concerns about my attention span. So, how am I doing it this time around? I’m using a combination of SiteBlock and Stayfocusd for Chrome.
Siteblock is set to get rid of the websites that I’ve decided to push out of my life. Sites like Reddit and imgur and the like that are pure time-sucks, heavily lacking in valuable content. It’s set to allow access for 0 hours of the day, every day.
Stayfocusd, on the other hand, is set to prevent me from wasting time while I work. I have a much broader family of sites entered on my Stayfocusd list. Everything from news sites to lifehacker.com to other sites I find valuable, at appropriate times. StayFocusd helps me by not allowing me to access them at inappropriate times. I’ve set it to be active from 9 am to 7 pm. I can also turn on the same list for a discretionary period at night if I’m working on writing or other creative tasks.
This has helped me tremendously. It’s cut back on compulsive behavior that I don’t think is healthy. But it’s been hard. Internet addict? No… I can quit any time I want.