Okay buddy, what the hell are you doing here? Seriously. You should be working. Don't you have a Powerpoint to write? TPS reports to collate? A meeting to prepare for? What the hell, dude?
Yes, the Internet is a billion square miles of non-stop carnival sideshows, so if you're having trouble focusing, the blog "Productivity 501" has some good advice to keep you on track. Among the suggestion....HEY! I'm talking to you!...among the suggestions (pay attention pal, I'm almost there)...are:
1) TWO BROWSERS: Two browsers: one for work, one for "exploration".
2) DISCONNECT: Disconnect your brain from the Internet and work from a notepad. Notebooks just have lines and blank spaces, lines and blank spaces. Not much to distract you. Just lines and spaces.
3) TIME AUDIT: Buy a timer, set a task, pick a time period for that task and finish it before the bell goes ding. Repeat.
4) AUTO LOGGING: There are apps that help you track what you're doing on the computer and for how long.
I would add that you should start your day with a list of to-do's specific to that day and then cover them off. You'll notice that dicking around on the Internet doesn't make your list. So don't do it. If you don't have enough on your list each day, then you're not thinking proactively enough.
The 99% Blog has a great tool called The Action Method that they sell (very inexpensive) that's designed specifically for creatives. I haven't used it, but it looks neat.
Stumble It!