Posts Tagged ‘wasting time surfing’
I’m as guilty as anyone else of wasting time online…I love Facebook and surfing in general. Too often, I find myself intending to spend 10 minutes on a site…then I look at the clock and half an hour (or more) has gone by.
I’ve decided to get a handle on this once and for all. It’s hurting my pocketbook and keeping me from achieving what I want to do. But–I’m not going to give up my surfing completely. I’m just going to do it smarter, and I’ve come up with three things that might help you too.
1. Make a to-do list every day, not just when you think you need one. I had done this occasionally in the past, but was never consistent about it. I’ve been doing it for the past few days and I’ve been amazed at how well it’s working. It keeps me focused and moving forward. So simple, yet so effective.
It’s up to you whether you do the hard stuff first or get the easy tasks out of the way. Try it both ways and see. I find that I do better if I work on the complicated or difficult tasks in the morning when I’m more likely to stay on task. The afternoon is for easier items on the list, and I’ve been known to stay up late to read or study.
2. Plan breaks–yes, I said plan them. Make surfing breaks a regular part of your routine and schedule them. Decide on a reasonable time frame for you. For some that will be 5 minutes once an hour to check email, for others it might be half an hour once a day to write a personal blog post.
Be careful that you don’t overschedule breaks. Five or ten minutes an hour is fine, but twenty might be pushing it.
There are a few ways to schedule breaks. You can do it like “regular jobs” do, at a couple of set times every day. That works well for people who like a rigid schedule. For those who like structure with a bit of flexibility, perhaps 5 minutes every hour will be ideal. People whose work is more task- than time-oriented might like to complete a task uninterrupted, then take a break. Find the schedule you like and stick to it.
3. Use a timer. Whether you “go on break” twice a day or once an hour, you need to track and be accountable to yourself for the time you spend online. Find a timer. You can use a manual timer, like one you’d find in a kitchen, or set an alarm clock for the time you need to go back to work.
The trick here is to find a timer that you have to shut off, preferably one with a loud or irritating sound. Set it close enough to your desk so you can hear it, but far enough away that you have to get up to turn it off. The annoying noise from the timer breaks the concentration you have on your surfing, and getting up reinforces that break from the computer. Then you sit down and resume working.
I hope these ideas work for you. What tips do you use to stop wasting time surfing?
