Are you tired of constantly be distracted by social media and chasing rabbits around the internet? For some of us, it’s a serious issue. If your phone is seriously cutting into your productivity time, make it a mission to stop wasting time online with these three simple tools.
Oh, the irony that a blogger like me would be handing out advice on how to stop wasting time online when my entire livelihood kinda depends on people wasting time online, right?
But, considering I am forced to stay on the internet and social media pretty much 24/7 in order to write and promote my blog posts, I have become an expert on this subject. There comes a point when I have to force myself to stop chasing internet rabbits and focus on the task at hand. Sometimes I need a little extra assistance to make that happen.
So, here are a few of my best time-saving tips to get in, get out and go home (or go right back to Facebook).
1. Freedom.to
If you’re anything like me, you get sucked right into social media and don’t have the willpower to stay away from it for too long. With Freedom.to, you can block any website you choose from your computer AND mobile devices for a designated amount of time. So if you need to get some work done but keep getting distracted by Pinterest or Reddit (or even your email), you can just turn those sites off for a while so the temptation is gone.
You set the time frame you want to be locked out of the site, and when it’s set you will only see a big green screen that says “You are Free” when you try to access the sites. You can even put yourself in lockdown mode where you block the entire internet, but that’s hardcore, man. The dashboard will show you a countdown clock for how long you have until you can have access again. Count down those minutes being uber-productive.
This is an awesome option for all the willpowerless people of the world (like me). Now I can stop letting my mind constantly drift over to social media and just focus on WERKIN. If only it would work for my refrigerator door.
It is not a free service, but it is pretty cheap with a coupon code.
Download Freedom.to here
2. Facebook Purity
Do you ever sit down at the computer intent on getting some work finished but soon find yourself mindlessly scrolling through your Facebook feed getting hooked by every click-bait headline? If you find yourself falling down the rabbit hole of “trending news” on Facebook, you need FB Purity in your life. My friend Allison introduced this little gem to me over a year ago, and it is the main thing that saved my sanity during the Presidential election season and the crazy news cyclone that has not stopped since. I cannot sing it’s praises enough for anyone who is tired of all the stressful drama on Facebook.
The news feed blocking feature is just one of many customizations you can set for your feed. You can also see who has unfriended you, turn off annoying game notifications or even block entire keywords from your news feed so you do not even see any posts related to that word.
It’s amazing. This is a tool you need in your time AND sanity-saving toolkit.
Don’t let the AOL-era looking website fool you. This is a powerful little tool that is totally free. I would pay a LOT of money for this site, but surprisingly it’s completely free to use.
DOWNLOAD FB PURITY HERE
3. Put your phone in airplane mode.
This is simple but effective advice.
Airplane mode turns off access to the internet and any app that has to reach the internet. By simply clicking this little button on your phone, you will be telling your brain that it’s time to get to work. If, by force of habit, you pick up your phone and start swiping… Airplane mode will say “NOPE!” and give you a nudge back in the right direction.
So there you go- those are my top three ways to save a ton of time (and stress) while online.
Now SHOO. Get back to work!
Do you have any favorite sites to add to this list? Post them in the comments below.
PS- To all my fellow willpowerless procrastinators of the world, here’s a little reminder for us…. Go pin this pic as a reminder to yourself to stop wasting so much time online!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase I’ll earn a small commission. Thanks for clicking!
Very helpful post, Beth, thanks! (Nefarious… you actually made me LOL.)