Do you often find yourself on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media site, 5 minutes after declaring that you were going to study for an hour? Do you find it hard to concentrate, knowing that there could be a message or notification waiting for you? If you’ve answered “yes” to these questions, then I’m going to suggest you install one of my top 3 internet blocking applications.
Lack of concentration is a big problem for many a student and the percentage of people who struggle with this affliction has drastically increased since the birth of Youtube, Facebook and mobile internet plans!
The only thing I can suggest to help you combat this problem is to shut yourself away from any electronic devices. This is quite a simple solution for those of you who have the will power to do so, or perhaps don’t need to use the computer to complete an assignment or study for an exam.
However I’m sure that there are many of you who are going to need the internet to finish a research paper, or maybe have to type up your assignment into best. So how do you resist the pull of social media when the computer is sat right in front of you?!
- Self Control – This is a useful application for Mac computers, that allows users to block distracting websites for a certain period of time. You simply list the sites you would like to block and the time you would like to block them for and voilá! You won’t be able to access these sites until the time expires, even if you reset the application or delete it! And for an added plus, this app is completely free.
- Cold Turkey – This application is very similar to Self Control, but is available for Windows users. It allows you to block sites temporarily, create a schedule for regular site blocking periods and even block other distracting applications, like games and email. The basic version if free, but they also offer a one time payment upgrade for extra features.
- Freedom – Again this is the same sort of application as described above, however Freedom can be installed in both Mac and Windows computers, as well as ipads, iphones, etc. They offer a free trial, but unfortunately a permanent install will cost you a bit of pocket change.
I’m sure there are many other good applications that help the user to switch off for a while and get some work done. If you have tried and tested any others worthy a mention, comment below to keep the list up-to-date and growing.
And if you can’t seem to find one that works for you, there’s always the original internet blocking app – Dad!