self-control?

I've had trouble focusing this week. I know what I'm supposed to be doing: taking the final chapter of my dissertation and turning it into a standalone article. The problem is that I'm still not entirely sure what that means. So I tackle small, discrete tasks in fits and starts, never developing momentum or becoming truly engaged with the writing.

Enter procrastination. Everyone has his or her personal weaknesses in this regard, and mine lie in the realm of internet news articles. Reading the news is ostensibly a virtuous habit – I'm becoming a better informed citizen, learning more about how the world works, and satisfying my curiosity about the many interesting things out there! What could possibly be wrong with that? Well, it becomes pretty obvious that something is wrong when I constantly click over from my word processor to my internet browser and refresh the New York Times homepage for the umpteenth time that afternoon, just in case a new article was published in the previous three minutes. I know I'm wasting time and avoiding real work, but I can't stop it.

While I was – what else? – procrastinating on the NPR website, I clicked on this article:
Apps Block Social Media Because Users Can't Stop Themselves.

Social media sites have gotten so difficult to ignore that millions of people are using apps to stop them from wasting time on the Internet. So if you lack self-control, no problem. Just download SelfControl — the app.

Although social media/email are not my prime weakness, this struck a chord with me. I often need the internet while I'm working, but certainly not every site. So I downloaded SelfControl and have been trying it out! (Love my modern lifestyle: instead of developing personal discipline, I download it for free!) One thing I noticed is that simply by adding sites to my blacklist and setting the timer, I was much less tempted to even try visiting those sites. But that doesn't last forever, and unfortunately, I find SelfControl to be rather buggy. I love that it's free, but I don't love that it lets me into half the sites I blacklist.

Further searching (procratinating?) led me to LeechBlock, a Firefox extension. Also free, but much more powerful. I can block certain sites during set hours of the day, or block those sites after I've used up an allotted amount of time on them, or combine those conditions! Since my working hours are irregular, I'm currently using it with the "Lockdown" option, which blocks listed sites for any amount of time I specify (usually 60 mins). That block of time allows me to snap out of the mindless-refresh-compulsion that comes over me when I don't know how to start writing.

The goal is not to become a productivity freak (though I do love me some Evernote). I am well aware that a fully-lived life needs relaxation, activities just for fun, rest, social time. My hope is that by cutting down on procrastination, I'll have more time for the things that really rejuvenate me!