How to: remove online distractions

njd2010

Thought I'd share some anti-procrastination programs I've found useful for studying.

I'm sure all of you have experienced the same problem- you need the internet to study, but it's easy to suddenly lose a few hours to Facebook or Boards or whatever.

There is an addon for Firefox called Leechblock, basically you give it a list of sites that you want to ignore and when/how long you want them blocked and it will stop Firefox going to these sites until it's ok.

That only works for Firefox however- if you have other browsers they will be unaffected. If you find yourself tempted to switch browsers to get around Leechblock, try a program that blocks the computer itself from visiting those sites.

I use SelfControl for Mac, it hasn't got all the same features as Leechblock but it will block your computer from accessing these sites for a designated time entirely- uninstalling it or rebooting doesn't affect it.

There is also FocalFilter, which seems the same as SelfControl but works on Windows PCs. I haven't tried it myself but if it works as well as Selfcontrol it will come in handy these next few weeks.


Another thing I've had to do- give your fancy new smartphone to a family member and go back to using an older phone that only does basic texts/calls until the exams are over, so you can't be tempted to browse on your phone or waste an hour playing Angry Birds.


Hope these help people, if ye have any anti-procrastination tips feel free to post them here. I can't say I'll read them myself, since Boards will be inaccessible on my computer for the next few hours :rolleyes:

Good luck!

NotExactly

Thanks. I'm a serious procastinator. If only I found this programme in September

higgz

If you have a wireless router, it's also possible to block access to certain sites to your laptop.

Last month I let my parents change my twitter and facebook passwords. They won't give them back to me until after the exams

Salty

I was thinking of asking for a siteban until the 23rd:P

red_red_wine

This program is also excellent: http://www.getcoldturkey.com/

You can block any websites and also programs like MSN. There's no way to get around it, you just have to suffer through it until the day that you have specified.

marko93

Facebook no longer works. God bless you sir!
I dont think i wanna block boards though

Daniel S

marko93 wrote: »

Facebook no longer works. God bless you sir!
I dont think i wanna block boards though

+1

Daniel S

make sure you block all proxies you know also, I just found out hidemyass.com works and I've no way of adding it to the list!

Fbjm

Better idea (in my opinion) is to study the old fashioned way (ie using books, those dusty papery things lying around your parents' room!) and make sure the modem is off while studying.

njd2010

That works for some but I use e-xamit and google translate a lot, I need an internet connection.

Ian_K

enaeknala1

njd2010 wrote: »

That works for some but I use e-xamit and google translate a lot, I need an internet connection.

Advice.......Re-read first post.

enaeknala1

njd2010 wrote: »

Thought I'd share some anti-procrastination programs I've found useful for studying.

I'm sure all of you have experienced the same problem- you need the internet to study, but it's easy to suddenly lose a few hours to Facebook or Boards or whatever.

There is an addon for Firefox called Leechblock, basically you give it a list of sites that you want to ignore and when/how long you want them blocked and it will stop Firefox going to these sites until it's ok.

That only works for Firefox however- if you have other browsers they will be unaffected. If you find yourself tempted to switch browsers to get around Leechblock, try a program that blocks the computer itself from visiting those sites.

I use SelfControl for Mac, it hasn't got all the same features as Leechblock but it will block your computer from accessing these sites for a designated time entirely- uninstalling it or rebooting doesn't affect it.

There is also FocalFilter, which seems the same as SelfControl but works on Windows PCs. I haven't tried it myself but if it works as well as Selfcontrol it will come in handy these next few weeks.


Another thing I've had to do- give your fancy new smartphone to a family member and go back to using an older phone that only does basic texts/calls until the exams are over, so you can't be tempted to browse on your phone or waste an hour playing Angry Birds.


Hope these help people, if ye have any anti-procrastination tips feel free to post them here. I can't say I'll read them myself, since Boards will be inaccessible on my computer for the next few hours :rolleyes:

Good luck!

At least 6 months too late..:( haha

ziz

Another great tool is StayFocusd. It's like Leechblock (actually even better, in my opinion) but for Google Chrome instead of for Firefox.

If you want to get Internet Explorer off your system so that you can just have Firefox (with Leechblock) or Chrome (with StayFocusd), see here for instructions for uninstalling Internet Explorer 8. But make sure you have Firefox or Chrome installed before you uninstall IE!

PS I am a co-author of FocalFilter. Thank you njd2010 for the plug.

NotExactly

ziz wrote: »

Another great tool is StayFocusd. It's like Leechblock (actually even better, in my opinion) but for Google Chrome instead of for Firefox.
.

I'm using this ATM. It's working for Youtube but not for Boards the time froze on 26:37, do you know how to solve this? I'll end up staying on Boards with no music:D

luyolo

Well I'm going to give my laptop charger to a family friend who lives 2 hours away and ask him to only give me it back on the 24th.

Zhavey

Gonna be using these handy tools for going into sixth year. I'm a terror otherwise to get off those silly time-wasting sites. Thank you everyone for the links and tools on this thread!

EDIT: Apologies for the bump, didn't realize this was so old!

paulmclaughlin

Zhavey wrote: »

Gonna be using these handy tools for going into sixth year. I'm a terror otherwise to get off those silly time-wasting sites. Thank you everyone for the links and tools on this thread!

EDIT: Apologies for the bump, didn't realize this was so old!

2 months isn't that old and it's good that you've brought this to the top for upcoming Leaving Cert students like yourself.

smeal

To be honest social networks were the only thing that got me through the leaving cert. Boards was excellent for predictions aswell. I don't think I could have done without talking to my friends in the evening and everything. I spet alot of time on the internet over the LC and I did a really good leaving cert. Everyones different though i suppose! I wouldnt worry too much about your plans for cutting out the social life just yet, your sure to go mad that way. If I was you I would start doing useful things like making study plans and everything:) That's way more important:D:D

GoldRush4821

You'd be amazed how accurate the general consensus on boards seems to be before the exams... Going through every post on each subject and getting hints and tips from students better than myself definitely improved my overall points.. Often somebody will tell people what topic they're focusing on for the exam and it will remind you to do the same and it can often happen that that topic appears on the paper.. So I wouldn't cut off communication with boards altogether, but I suppose during study hours its a good idea

Wolfe Tone

Plug out the router and give it to your mam, thats what I did coming up to my leaving!

njd2010

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

Plug out the router and give it to your mam, thats what I did coming up to my leaving!

Unfortunately that doesn't work for people who use sites like e-xamit.ie to help them study, and also won't make you popular with your non-6th year siblings :rolleyes: