eleven

Simple Internet

THE INTERNET: it’s not only where we get our information these days, it’s where many of us live. It’s where we buy things, where we meet people, where we communicate, where we play and work, where we go to waste time, where we go to do research.

With so many functions, it’s no wonder we can go on the Internet to do a work task and get caught up in a dozen other sites, often wasting an hour or two before realizing it. The Internet can be a black hole of productivity, and if we let it, it can take over our lives. Apply the Power of Less to your Internet usage: Set limitations and use the Internet more powerfully. With limitations and simplicity, you can get more done both on and off the Internet.

AWARENESS: TRACK YOUR USAGE

Try this challenge: Track your Internet usage for three days. Use a tool like Toggl (www.toggl.com/), yaTimer (www.nbdtech.com/yaTimer/) or Tick (www.tickspot.com/) to track your Internet usage time, and you’ll get a good picture of how you actually spend your time.

This first step helps you increase your awareness, and that’s an important part of the process of getting your Internet usage under control. To simplify anything, you must first become more aware of it. And sometimes it can be an eye-opening process—we might spend a lot more time in e-mail, or at a certain site, or on the Internet in general, than we think we do.

Once you’ve tracked your Internet usage, you can take a look at which sites are time-wasters for you—you spend a lot of time there, but they’re not helping you get to your goals. These are the sites you need to limit.

CONSCIOUSNESS: MAKE A PLAN

After awareness comes consciousness. You want to consciously plan your use of the Internet, instead of jumping on anytime you feel like it and getting carried away without thinking. Conscious use means setting limits and having a purpose to your use. That doesn’t mean you can’t ever use the Internet for fun, or for browsing, but you should be doing this consciously—when you need to work, work, and when you have time to play, allow yourself to play.

Your Internet plan will be different from mine, as it really depends on your needs, but here are some things to consider:

• What are your real needs? What Internet uses are critical to your work? When do you need to use these sites and how often?
• What are your fun sites? You can still use them, but limit your time on these sites. Use them as rewards for doing your work.
• When do you need to do serious, uninterrupted work, and when can you afford to browse the Internet and get distracted?

I suggest that you set blocks of your day for doing uninterrupted work (without the Internet), for doing communication like e-mail or instant messaging, for doing research and other work-related Internet activities, and for doing fun stuff or just browsing. This will allow you to be more conscious and smarter about how you use the Internet, and will allow you to get more work done.

FOCUS: LEARNING TO WORK WHILE DISCONNECTED

One of the best things I’ve ever done to increase my productivity is to disconnect from the Internet when I want to get focused, uninterrupted, serious work done. While I’m writing this book, for example, my Internet is disconnected. While this might sound a bit drastic to many of you who are used to being connected all the time, it’s actually quite relaxing and enjoyable to be disconnected for good chunks of time, once you’re used to it.

Let’s say you set your three Most Important Tasks (MITs) for the day, and the first one is writing a report or a paper or an article. You might first need to do some research on the Internet, so you go on with a specific time frame (let’s say thirty minutes) and a specific purpose (retrieve all the relevant info on rain forests). After you do the research, you disconnect from the Internet to write your paper or report.

Many of us have tasks like this that require research or communication on the Internet, but don’t require the Internet for the main part of the task, such as writing or drawing or editing or even reading. If you do these tasks while connected to the Internet, distractions will crop up every few minutes—you think of an e-mail you need to send, or a book you want to look up, or a song you want to download. Temptations to go check on your favorite sites are constant. It’s hard to stay focused on your task when the lure of the Internet is there all the time.

Disconnecting allows you to put these distractions in the background. It means you have one task to do and one task only, and it means that you’ll get a lot more work done. Some tips on working while disconnected:

• Do your Internet research first, so you don’t need to reconnect once you get started.
• Clear all other distractions and disconnect from the Internet so you can focus on your task.
• Set a timer and try to really focus on the task for a certain amount of time.
• When you think of something you need to do on the Internet, write it down. You can do it later. It will wait.
• Consider having an “offline hour” each day when you regularly work while disconnected. Or even an “offline day” if you think you can do it.
• If necessary, actually unplug the Internet so that you can’t just reconnect with a couple clicks of the mouse.
• If really necessary, give the cord that connects you to the Internet to someone else to hold for an hour or so. Or go somewhere quiet with your laptop that doesn’t have wireless Internet.
• Reward yourself for finishing your task by allowing yourself to go to some site you enjoy, but only when you’re done.

You’ll be amazed at how much work you’ll get done.

DISCIPLINE: HOW TO STAY AWAY FROM DISTRACTIONS

The Internet, for many people, is an addiction like any other, even if we don’t realize it. That means that if you try to work while disconnected, you might have a really tough time—tougher than you think. In fact, you might not even want to consider working without a connection, if you’re addicted.

Like any addiction, the urge to go on the Internet can be beaten. It takes focus and energy, but it can be done. Here’s how:

• Focus on breaking the addiction for at least one week. A month would be better, but I know you have other things to do. During this week, make it your goal to break free from the Internet and be able to work in disconnected mode when needed.
• Set rules for using the Internet and stick to them. Rules could include “No e-mail except at 10 and 4” or “No Internet from 9 to 10 a.m.” or “No Internet in the mornings.” Make up the rules based on what will be optimal for your working situation, but stick to them.
• When you get an urge to go on the Internet, let it pass. Every urge is like a wave—it builds up, then it goes away. Another wave will come, but just ride that one out too. Every urge will pass if you just wait a few minutes.
• Apply positive public pressure to yourself. Ask family, friends, and coworkers to encourage you to stay away from the Internet during the times you designate—to help you follow your own rules. Tell them to keep an eye on you, and report to them each day. This positive public pressure will help you break your addiction.
• Reward yourself. If you successfully stay away from the Internet for the time you set, give yourself a little reward—a treat, or some time checking e-mail, or whatever will help motivate you.
• Use delay strategies that work for any addiction, such as deep breathing, drinking water, self-massage, and walking around. Do these things and the urge will pass.
• Give it some time. It takes getting used to. But the more you practice being disconnected, the better you’ll get. It’s a great feeling.