How To Curb Your Procrastination Habit (Sort Of)

If you’re like us, you’ve been having a little bit of trouble getting back into your schoolwork after winter break, and now that classes are picking up speed again, your crippling Facebook addiction is starting to hurt. The obvious solution is to suspend your account, but come on, you don’t want to be that guy. (Plus, then you’d miss NYU Local stories in your newsfeed! Terrible idea all around.) So how to cope? We’ve told you before how to stay away from Facebook altogether, but if you’re just looking to limit your usage, it’s a little trickier. Here’s what we recommend:

1. StayFocused for Google Chrome is a highly-customizable app that limits your usage on sites or content of your choosing.

Why it works: You don’t need to stop using Facebook completely to use StayFocused. You can specify the number of minutes you’re allowed to spend on each blocked site per day, and StayFocused will make sure you don’t exceed your limit.

Best feature: StayFocused lets you pick the days you’ll need help, and won’t bother you on the others. Don’t have class Friday? Set StayFocused to limit your usage Sunday through Wednesday.

Loophole: If you really need a Facebook fix, you can get around StayFocused by disabling the extension.

 

2. Write or Die is a web app (also available for PC download or iPad for a pricey $10) that scares you into doing your homework (seriously).

Why it works: Pure intimidation. If you don’t write for a few seconds, Write or Die will start deleting your work. The Write or Die web app is decently customizable, so you’ll be able to adjust the settings to the situation.

Best Feature: The pause button only works once, so you can’t really take breaks and go to Facebook or Twitter.

Loophole: Can’t deal with Write or Die? Copy and paste your work into a Word document and keep writing without the pressure.

3. Strict Pomodoro for Google Chrome is a domain-blocking app that lets you build breaks into your homework routine.

Why it works: If you’re trying to work without taking breaks, you won’t succeed. Strict Pomodoro understands you need a little Facebook time and will give it to you after you’ve worked for a set amount of time (default is 25 minutes).

Best feature: Strict Pomodoro is customizable, so you can be in control of how long you spend working and how long you spend breaking. This, of course, does require you to have some will power.

Loophole: Once again, you can disable the app if you can’t take it or in case you finish your homework.

[image via]



4 Comments

  • Kate Shapiro
    February 10, 2012

    Once they stop making new episodes of The League I will stop procrastinating.

  • Hannah Troxel
    February 14, 2012

    My personal favorite is Written? Kitten! (http://writtenkitten.net/). Every 100 words you write, you get a cute picture of a cat. Good for those of us who are easily motivated by intangible, useless things, like badges on Kongregate.

  • jake moore
    February 29, 2012

    ‘self control’ for mac is x 300 HxC than stayfocused. blocks the domains of whatever you tell it to for however long you tell it to– can’t fuck with it by restarting, uninstalling the program, praying: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

  • jake moore
    February 29, 2012

    aka would remove the “(sort of)” from this headline

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