Much like a flea market, the web is filled with a multitude of fascinating distractions. It is very easy to get sidetracked. What begins as a quick to moderate task can take hours. The web itself actually works against your ability to get things done both on purpose and accidentally.
Web site operators purposely try to keep you on their sites longer to get more advertising revenue. Conversely, the web can be so haphazard that you tend to stumble onto places that you really hadn’t planned on visiting. The problem gets compounded by the fear that you might not be able to find something again.
This often leads to mixing work and play. There is nothing wrong with playing on the web, but often you have to get something done. There are a few things that can help.
- Go online with intent to play or work.
- Indulge your curiosity
- Develop ‘goto’ sources
- Watch the clock
Go online with intent
Pick a mindset and to try not to violate it. It is very easy to get distracted when you are searching for something. You may start looking for something work related when, suddenly, an incredible article on sailing pops up. Oh, look, a great new concept snow machine.
Surprisingly, this even reverses itself. You can be searching for something fun to watch on TV that evening when a link to some new work tool pops up in a search. Suddenly, an hour has passed because you read everything there is to know about the new theory on non-relational database structures. You just earned yourself a cool evening at home.
When this happens save the link to bookmarks or a text file so that you can go back to it later.
Indulge your curiosity
Make time to go back and look at all the interesting things you bookmarked. These little indulgences often lead to new ideas for work and play. This also makes it easier to avoid the temptation to read the next terribly interesting thing you find. You haven’t lost the opportunity; you just deferred it.
Develop goto resources
Many items on the web are questionable. Often you have to double check anything you plan to rely on as truth. Over time, you find reliable sources for different topics.
You may rely on wikipedia.org for science and history; trust imdb.com for entertainment; and snopes.com to identify urban myths. Keep a list of these resources, mentally, digitally or on paper. This will reduce the time you need to vet the resources you find
Watch the clock
Time seems to evaporate when you work online. Between the distractions and seemingly endless resources, hours pass very quickly. Plan to finish your tasks within a time frame. Go home for supper when you are supposed to! If you are attentive, and if you are lucky, you might just keep your real world friends and family.
overview – what is the web – search criteria – protecting yourself – plan your time
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