I have trouble being disciplined. When there is no clear next action and my energy runs low I tend to procrastinate. Even more so if there are distractions around. As a someone how spends a significant time at the computer this is a major problem.

A computer with internet connection is a bottomless hole of distractions. News websites, Hacker News, Facebook, Reddit, Youtube and Twitter are just a few that can suck you into mindless consumption with the blink of an eye.

My current approach for spending my time more conscious is setting up guardrails against distractions. Freedom is configured to block distracting websites between certain hours. RescueTime tracks where I’m spending my time so I can continuously refine my block lists based on hard data.

Firefox is also setup to not save my browsing history. It means more typing but also prevents me from seeing distracting autocomplete suggestions.

One of the most effective ways to focus is a timer that pings me periodically and writing down what I’m doing right in this moment.