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I am willing to bet my left testicle that most of us here have a ridiculously short attention span, which is why I'm going to try and keep this blog as short as possible.
In 2002 the BBC published a study indicating that Internet was shortening the average attention span of a human being to a mere 9 seconds - that of a goldfish. This was shocking then, and I'm sure it will be even more shocking now given the vast "improvements" of the Internet delivered to people like you and me. Lightning fast download/upload speeds has made a drastic impact on my life with regards to studying, reading, and so on.
I have made a couple of changes to how I spend my time on the computer the past few months and have noticed a pleasurable difference in how long I can pay attention to things.
I suppose I have lose some of you by now, but I'm going to make the following list as graphic as possible to keep you hooked in.
#1 - Get the StayFocusd Plug-In for Google Chrome
You get on the computer, decide to do something productive and 5 hours later, god-damn-it, you're on some obscure sub-reddit or actually typing out a veritable essay as a reply to one of EffervescentAureola/StateofReverie 's blogs.
What this plug-in does is help you set up a time limit you can spend on a certain amount of sites per day. You add sites like Reddit to your list of blocked sites, set an amount of time you can spend on your blocked sites per day, and there you go. It will block your sites after the set amount of time has passed.
When you install in, a little bubble will show up beside the URL bar as such:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bpBPA.png) Blue means the site is not blocked ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/cxmE7.png) Red means the site is blocked
Any amount of time you spend on sites that have been directed to you via links on your blocked sites will also be counted into your time limit per day.
This plug-in also has a Nuclear option that when activated, completely prevents you from browsing the Internet completely.
Unless you switch to Internet Explorer, which for that, there is no cure.
#2 - One Thing At A Time
Quick and simple tip. Don't browse the web and listen to music. Don't listen to music while playing StarCraft. Do one thing at a time.
#3 - Organize Your Computer Desk
I highly doubt I need to get into the specifics of this. A organized desk helps you find shit and get shit done. A disorganized desk promotes procrastination because of how difficult it'll be the find the piece of work you need to do.
I apologise for the use of stock images, but you get the idea.
There you go. 3 weird old tips that will increase your attention span and decrease time spent on sites like Reddit. Alexis Ohanian HATES me!
Do you guys have any tips to share? I would love to read them.
I hope this was easy to go through and digest.
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5/5 read ur blog for 2 seconds then realised i needed to do other stuff.
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On October 14 2012 10:44 Nazza wrote:
5/5 read ur blog for 2 seconds then realised i needed to do other stuff.
Good man. Go do it, and come back to read the whole thing 
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Interesting. I might use this in the future. I do often get sidetracked browsing TL when I should be doing work, and a plugin like this could really —
Oh, look at the kitty! :3
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I am the opposite. Music gets me through my day and gets my work done. I have done ao much work just from listening to one aong on repeat for 2 hours
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Are you a mind reader???
I got StayFocused a few hours ago.
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On October 14 2012 11:22 Praetorial wrote:
Are you a mind reader???
I got StayFocused a few hours ago.
Yes. And stop thinking about requesting for a perm.
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StayFocused seems useless since you are the master behind using it. At any time, if you truly want to, you can alter it or uninstall it to suit your needs. If you've set aside 120 minutes to spend on TL and you're in the middle of reading a controversial topic, are you gonna stop reading it because an earlier version of yourself is limiting your viewing time?
On October 14 2012 11:01 StateofReverie wrote:
I am the opposite. Music gets me through my day and gets my work done. I have done ao much work just from listening to one aong on repeat for 2 hours
Ya I'm this way too. Listening to classical piano while I'm researching a paper is the way to go.
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On October 14 2012 11:48 Fumanchu wrote:
StayFocused seems useless since you are the master behind using it. At any time, if you truly want to, you can alter it or uninstall it to suit your needs. If you've set aside 120 minutes to spend on TL and you're in the middle of reading a controversial topic, are you gonna stop reading it because an earlier version of yourself is limiting your viewing time?
Here's a quote by Historian A.L Fisher (The League being the UN of the 1920s and 30s)
If the nations want peace, the League gives them the way by which peace can be kept. League or no League, a country which is determined to have a war can always have it.
It is ultimately up to you to decide if you want to continue spending time on the net by adjusting StayFocused. It is just a tool to push you in the right direction and to help you plan your time.
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Super interesting! Cool stuff, thanks :D
I've used some of these before and yeah, thanks for these suggestions ^_^ fantastic job, and much appreciated indeed. Also, you did forget to bold your #3, but it's all good.
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On October 14 2012 12:06 Aerisky wrote:
Super interesting! Cool stuff, thanks :D
I've used some of these before and yeah, thanks for these suggestions ^_^ fantastic job, and much appreciated indeed. Also, you did forget to bold your #3, but it's all good.
Thank you!
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Haha i was going to do this and then i forgot what the app was called because i started doing other stuff xD
TYTY though :3
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No problem
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On October 14 2012 10:44 Nazza wrote:
5/5 read ur blog for 2 seconds then realised i needed to do other stuff.
Best post possible.
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Ah. Always wanted to have some kind of browsing monitoring system but I kept forgetting.
Thanks for reminding me, and telling me the actual name of the plug-in~
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On October 14 2012 15:37 jidolboy wrote:
Ah. Always wanted to have some kind of browsing monitoring system but I kept forgetting.
Thanks for reminding me, and telling me the actual name of the plug-in~
You're welcome
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Thank you. The most interesting aspect of this extension is the Nuke option. Basically when I'm working on something important I want to go cold turkey on all addictive web browsing. Basically this forces you to turn off the habit of browsing sites when you've actually got work to do.
The restricted time still allows you to browse those distractive sites, nurturing the bad habit of procrastination. If you suddenly decide that its time for a break and you're still blocked, it's an incentive to get up of my chair and move around a bit, grab a bite or go to the bathroom, so I'm completely off the PC.
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Glad that I could help ruXxar.
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that's a cool site timer. Definately gonna check that out, along with not listening to music... it will be hard tho
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bo7nA.png)
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