Gain Freedom by Disabling Your Network Connection

Recently I discovered Freedom for Mac OS X. This application disables all wireless and ethernet networking on your computer for up to three hours at a time. When you open the application it asks you ‘how many minutes of freedom’ you would like.

Set the amount, hit ‘OK’ and it you will not be able to use your internet or your wireless network anymore. Afterwards your connections will be re-enabled. You can quit Freedom before the time you set, but this does not get you back on the internet. You will have to restart your computer to for that.

Why would we want to do something like that? Is it so hard to keep yourself focused on your task at hand? Yes, for some people it is! What could be so distracting then? There are more than a few things that can keep you away from what you should be doing.

People use social networking to stay in contact with their friends and to make new friends. Sites like Twitter are becoming very popular. It doesn’t matter what your field of interest is, there is always a place to ‘hang out’ on the web. A forum, a popular blog, or a group in a social network.
These places are great if you want to learn a lot about a certain subject. You want to know more about, say, coffee? At CoffeeGeek you’ll find days, if not weeks, of reading material. So you create a profile, start participating, and when you really get enthusiastic about it might be difficult to leave it alone.

We also see how online applications like Google Docs and the 37signals products become available and reliable. When working together on an assignment or project with a group the sharing capabilities of those Web 2.0 tools are great. They are most of the time much simpler and more intuitive to use than their offline competitors (like the Microsoft products).

OK, so you’re not distracted by social networks or instant messaging. Is there anything else to be afraid of? There could be. What about email? A great tip from Merlin Mann is so simple but so effective: turn off your new mail sound. Even better might be to turn off auto-checking and only check your email manually at set times, but turning the sound off will already help a lot in beating distractions. Every time you are reminded of a new message entering your inbox you will be distracted.

A colleague of mine told me that whenever he has a day of serious work to do, he physically unplugs the network cable so he will not be distracted. You might be strong enough to resist the urge to go online and check your websites stats, replies on your forum messages, email, instant messages, RSS feeds, you name it (also read my Simple Tip To Maintain Focus). If not, you can try forcing yourself by using applications like Freedom.

My personal experience is that I get distracted a lot. Sometimes it’s because of lack of inspiration but that should be no excuse. I tried setting alarms (I like Awaken), but there is always this dangerous snooze button staring at you at the wrong moment. At those moments I can use a little bit of extra motivation. And I will not restart my computer because I ‘have to’ check my mail!

Will you gain freedom by disabling your network connection? Have you ever done this? Please leave a comment and let me know!

Picture by Abnel