3 Time Saving Tips for Computer Work

Imagine this, I'm at my desk, ready to get some work started on an article I'm writing about Web 2.0 Education Technology. I start thinking all great stuff I've been using and start browsing through them on Firefox, reading reviews on them on gadget and technology sites, and then I come across even more cool web apps that I've always wished they would come up and now is a great time to look into ... two hours later, I have an account on a new service and am figuring out how to make my day productive but have no article whatsoever. I feel like crap. Does this sound like you?

How many hours have you lost on Facebook, Wikipedia, Google, Google Reader, Gizmo do, Dig or any other website only mildly more interesting than the work you were supposed to be doing? One of the ethics of being an employee that I struggle with sometimes is the amount of time I spend involved in things (usually computer-based related) that is not necessarily what I'm being paid to do. I believe in "giving unto Caesar what is Caesar's" but its too easy for me to give into things, anything at all to distract me from work. So, I have had to 'enforce' some hard-line control to limit my distractions and focus on the work I need to be doing. I have 3 steps I take to keep me on my toes at work.

STAY AWAY FROM DISTRACTING WEBSITES
Firstly, identify the websites that suck up most of your time unnecessarily, those social networking sites, those that you hit when you are bored then put a gate on them. My favorites are Google Reader, Mashable, Facebook, Twitter, Metafilter and Gizmodo and I could spend hours just reading them away. But they do nothing for my work in any immediate way.

Then, decide when are your most productive time at work - tell yourself you will not visit those lovely distracting websites until your work is done. Most of the work I do takes place from 7am to 2pm. During that time, I must be on my toes to make sure everything on my schedule gets done so that I'm ready for any student or class I see during consultation or curriculum hours. After that, most of the work is done and my time is more flexible and I can reward myself with catching up on my social life. I put the "Invisibility Cloak" Greasemonkey User Script on till 2pm as a first-stage blocker of distractions. To install it, right-click and choose "Install User Script". Note: this will only work in Firefox with the Greasemonkey extension installed. If I really needed to, I can always deactivate it with a click of a button but activating and deactivating turns out to be quite tedious from experience. After a while, I realize it's actually more productive to get work done instead. Plus, I'll feel more satisfied with myself.

In the Greasemonkey add-on, you can manage it by editing, adding and removing the sites that you should hide from yourself during your most productive hours. You can edit the script's timing by opening it any text-editor by changing the number 15 (which represents 3PM) in the line that reads var surf_time_after = 15; to your desired time. You are warned though that this is not for the faint-of-heart.

FIREWALL YOUR ATTENTION
Technically, this means limiting the exposure of your attention to distractions from elsewhere, such as at your desk, or even within a computer's operating system. Many of our powerful desktops are running an array of applications at any one time. As I write, I have Firefox, Evernote, Microsoft Word, Preview, Remember The Milk, Tweetdeck and Adium running at the same time although I can only really only do one thing at a time if I'm giving my best in writing this article. This is just going to distract me unless I come up with a system that keeps all the noise away while I'm 'at work'.

One fairly simple way to do this is to use hide or minimize the Dock and use Spaces on the Mac to help me focus my attention on related tasks. For example, I use Microsoft Office and Evernote in one space and use Tweetdeck, Adium and Firefox in another space. That way, I'm not tempted to dash off a memo to my mate while I'm writing. Further distractions are about two keys spaces away instead of just a mouse-browse to Expose.

Another way is to use task-specific Zen wares that focus on the task at hand or block out other distractions. When writing, I maximize my window to the largest possible space on the desktop, so that it blocks out all the other eye-candy icons. If that's not enough, FocusWriter (Mac) and WriteMonkey (Windows) are free, full-screen, distraction-free writing environments; just an empty screen and my words. If its another application I'm using on the Mac, there is DooDim, Think, Backdrop, or Isolator. On my Windows PC, I use MinimOther to adjust the brightness or completely black out the menus, desktops and other apps that are running in the background. What's left highlighted is the work that I'm supposed to do.

CHANGE YOUR PROFILE
The power of the Invisibility Cloak in Greasemonkey and firewalling your attention rolled into one. This is Single-tasking at its best. Basically, you set up a workspace profile that allows nothing but work to be done. There are no social networking applications, no internet messaging apps, no photo galleries, no music player, no user-friendly web browser or at least one with the most basic minimum that doesn't make surfing such a pleasure, and toped with Invisibility Cloak so you see nothing but the most boring stuff that you use in research for the work you have to do. You have all the productivity applications and office software to get real work done and absolutely nothing else. There are no icons on your desktop, even the wallpaper is black.

To help my kids I teach get work done, I control their screens during teaching time. Sometimes, I also like to spook them a little with a nifty timed 2 second screen message that says, "I am watching" if I have to open up the parental controls. Or, when I'm engrossed in something else. Works like a charm for a while if accompanied by a stern demeanor. When the works done, the controls come off and the mice can come out to play.

It's a real pain but the idea is that the effort involved in going back to your 'fun' profile is just so much work that you would rather not. This one is actually one from the educational institutes. I flip a switch to control all the computers in the classroom and when I want my kids on task and doing nothing else.

Of course, all these hacks work only if you want them to. It's not going to help your work much if you don't really want to get work done. They are only there to help you if the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Do you have other strategies for curbing the web habit? Let us know in the comments or tips in the comment box.