If you’re anything like me, you get distracted quite a bit.
If something is difficult, or requires some thought, I’ll often open a new tab and start browsing something else, letting my subconscious work on the problem at hand while being entertained. The problem with this is that browsing the internet is not very conducive to solving problems.
I’ve recently been rereading Atomic Habits by James Clear, which is one of my favorite personal development books, and in it, he says something that resonated with me.
“You do not rise to the levels of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
This clearly portrays what he is communicating throughout the whole chapter. If you want to achieve a goal, you have to set yourself up for success. You have to have the systems in place that let you get there. As such, I thought of ways to raise the friction to internet distractions.
The solution came in the form of a browser extension called LeechBlock (Chrome/Firefox). Once installed, you can block any website that you frequently use as a distraction. The biggest for me are Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram, but I’ve gone ahead and blocked all social media pages, in case I find myself crawling back to Facebook.
You can also put some time limits on websites so you can access them after the workday is over or during a lunch break.
This puts in place the level of friction that I need to stop myself from mindlessly browsing the web. If I open a new tab and try to go to one of these addresses, the LeechBlock page pops up and I wake from my mindless state.
This is one of the best things that I’ve done to help keep myself on track during the day. I’m not sure how many hours I’ve saved by stopping mindlessness at the root. I hope this helps you too.