Web of Distraction.

May 9, 2002 12:41 PM

Web of Distraction. Does the web cause you to lose time, having a hard time stopping browsing, and starting working? I know for me, the sheer inertia of browsing, it's hard to start working.
posted by patrickje (12 comments total)

I tell myself over and over and over that I won't surf the web at work, but i keep creeping back to metafilter without fail. Now I know what it is, over-excercised willpower.
posted by jnthnjng at 12:52 PM on May 9, 2002

Overexercised willpower! What claptrap!

They're essentially saying that if we're not tempted to turn to distraction then we're less apt to do so. And that when there are lots of temptation we're likely to give in.

I mean, I know I'm a genius, but this isn't exactly a complicated theory.
posted by wsfinkel at 1:07 PM on May 9, 2002

Metafilter--a hive of posts on weekdays--sort of dies on weekends.
posted by caraig at 1:08 PM on May 9, 2002

So true. Now that I'm hooked on Mefi I hardly have any time to dedicate to my normal routine of week-long crack binges and engraving the Gettysburg Address on grains of rice.
posted by sacre_bleu at 1:20 PM on May 9, 2002

shhhhhh
posted by bittennails at 1:28 PM on May 9, 2002

...which is having a deletrious effect on MY normal routine of week-long binges on gettysburg address engraved rice. much more of this and i'll be reduced to hanging out in the 7-11 hoping to steal a box of rice-a-roni...
posted by quonsar at 1:30 PM on May 9, 2002

The 'net doesn't steal much of my time. Mind you, there's so little worth reading on it, anyway.
posted by Dark Messiah at 1:44 PM on May 9, 2002

Since when did shift get all bloggy? Cute.
posted by D at 1:53 PM on May 9, 2002

"Pychyl runs what is likely the world's first procrastination research centre…"

Boy, does that ever sound like a place for me! Too bad it's in Ottawa.
posted by timeistight at 1:56 PM on May 9, 2002

"...willpower is like a muscle -- it gets tired, same as a bicep. If you exercise your willpower too much, it becomes exhausted, and is less able to prevent your attention from wandering." ROTFLMAO! Someone got paid to do this "research?" Pull my other one, it's got bells on. Other than that, I agreed, at least with the beginning and end of the article.
posted by Lynsey at 4:31 PM on May 9, 2002

A month ago I cancelled my ADSL account. I reckon my productivity has trebled since then (I mostly work from home).
posted by Hogshead at 6:49 PM on May 9, 2002

I'm a full-time student, so I spend a great deal of time at my apartment close to campus. I used to waste tons of time online, but recently found a solution. I bought a recumbent bike and sit it sideways in front of the computer, so every time I'm on the computer I have to ride. It's been working good so far. I still spend alot of time online, but at least I'm doing something productive as well. I've ridden 100 miles in the last 2 days between e-mail, MeFi, and Heroes of Might and Magic III.
posted by ttrendel at 10:00 AM on May 10, 2002