Note: This title is preemptive while I try this out. Let's see if it really works!
With apologies to Bryan, Facebook interface designer Creative Director extraordinaire.
I'm notoriously skilled at wasting time on the Internet, something that bothers me quite a bit. Although this Internet Addiction Test indicates that I am, in fact, not an addict, I know there are better ways to redeem my time than cruising the del.icio.us popular page or posting on Facebook profiles in the wee hours of the morning.
After reading a Wired profile on Lifehacker's Gina Trapani, I checked out her Invisibility Cloak Greasemonkey Script, which allows you to temporarily block specific sites while you're on the Web so that you can focus on what you need to do (well, as long as you're using Firefox). Her solution is simple but remarkably effective.
I thought it could be improved upon for my particular use, though.
Gina's script unbans her list of time-wasting sites after 3pm, since she gets most of her work done in the morning. While this is useful, I also don't want to get caught up in a Facebook poke war after 9pm, when I try to get to bed. Yes, 9pm. I'm an old fogey.
I took a two-fold approach to help enforce my 9pm bedtime.
Make 8pm my "Computer Off" Time.
I've read that you shouldn't have a computer or TV on within a half hour before your bedtime, since the light from the screen mimics sunlight and makes your body think it's not time to sleep. Whether or not that's true, I do know that having the computer on makes it easy to miss the passage of time—that is, until you find yourself posting a Myspace comment at some ungodly hour of the night. Not to mention, there are almost daily reports of studies that find all sorts of benefits to getting a full night's sleep, from helping weight loss to job satisfaction. So, I've set 8pm as my "computer off" time, so I have about an hour to get ready for bed and wind down with a good book.
Modify the Invisibility Cloak Script to Allow for a Window of Time
I next modified Gina's script so that it would only allow me on time-wasting sites between 3pm and 8pm. I figured that was a pretty generous allotment of time, and it helps reduce my overall time online since I tend to be away from the computer between 5pm and 7pm anyways. You can find a link to the modified script below. Please note that you'll need Greasemonkey (and Firefox) installed in order for it to work. You also may want to read over Gina's original post for instructions on how to use her script.
Invisibility Cloak Script, with modifications
Incidentally, these are the sites I blocked:
So does it work?
So far, yes. Sort of. I had the computer off by about 8:15 last night, but then got into a book that I couldn't put down, so I ended up staying up till 9:45 or so. I don't think that's such a horrible reason to stay up, though. :)
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