Staying on task is a subject that I am constantly working on. At the moment, I’m working full time, trying to finish a dissertation, and am active in a number of extracurricular activities. This means, when I have the time to work on writing/research, I really want it to be productive. It also means that I’m constantly searching for ways to be more productive (see also: Lifehacker).
One thing I’ve always wished for is some way to turn off networking and multitasking for a period of time. Actually, “wish” is an understatement… I’ve dug around looking for terminal commands and even briefly thought of hiring a developer! As one of the “3.5” readers over at Shouting Loudly, I learned of an application and a technique that might help.
Freedom is an application for the Mac that I can’t believe I missed, given all the coverage it has received. The program basically turns off internet access for an amount of time you specify. For me, this takes care of a good share of frequent distractions. As if that wasn’t enough (and believe me, it would be), another SL blogger pointed out a good technique in a comment which helps with the non-computer distractions.
The Pomodoro Technique is a good way to set goals and manage attention for short periods of time. It reminds me a bit of the 40 minute cycle I have tried in the past, but is much more specific in terms of setting goals and shorter in terms of time. By focusing on a small number of “rules,” it is remarkably easy to follow. The technique also suggests to keep track of distractions, and to combine them into later work–which can help focus all of that Internet time that was lost while using the Freedom application.
I obviously haven’t tried these long enough to see how well they really work, but given how much I’ve thought about and worked on these issues, I’m really hopeful. Thanks again, Shouting Loudly! I’d like to respond to the substance of the post linked above, but need to get back to writing 🙂