Imagine. I have to trick myself into thinking I cannot access the internet while I am writing my books. What has the world come to?
At any rate, this Freedom Software app seems to work for me. The default turns the internet off for 45 minutes. I can set it for as little as 15 minutes and as long as 8 hours. And if something drastic happens, I can reboot. But rebooting takes forever so who wants to do that?
This app works on both Macs and PCs. It only costs $10, but there’s a Free Trial period if you’re commitment phobic.
The first day I tried it, I wrote for two hours. It lets you know your time is up, but I was into the writing by then so I kept going. The thing about writing is it’s so hard to get started. Then once you get started, it’s so hard to stop.
What’s hard about starting?
Fear, I suppose. Fear that my brain is not ready, that my muse is not ready, that I will have nothing to write about. So I figure, might as well see what’s happening on Twitter or Facebook or the blogs I like to visit. It’s the digital equivalent of heading down to the coffee room to chat with the other employees/writers. And that can lead to a huge time drain.
So this little program lets me get started. Thank you, Siri, for telling me about it.
Freedom icon from http://macfreedom.com/
You and Siri are so brave! Imagine what we all could accomplish if that gizmo came pre-installed on every computer 😉
Suzanne, happy to be of service! I’m finding it invaluable as well. I usually set it for an hour or an hour and a half of focused writing. As soon as I start it, the Internet goes out of my head because I know I can’t get there, so why bother thinking about it? Funny how our brains work!
Liv – For me, it’s not brave. More like desperate 🙂
Siri – I set it for the usual 45 minutes this morning and ended up with an hour. I will gradually increase my time.
Good for you, Suzanne. We all need something to keep us working, and like anything else, what works for one person doesn’t work for the next. I’m so glad you found your tool.
Sheila – You’re not one of those people who would actually reboot the computer, are you?
I’ve heard of some writers who have a dedicated writing computer – which never has any internet access. But so far FREEDOM works for me. On the mornings I am scheduled to write, I do. And it feels great 🙂
I find that I’m pretty good if I just shutdown my internet browser. This is what I do when I get desperate. Otherwise, I allocate time for getting lost in blogland etc. Once I make the decision to stop (which is when you would set Freedom, I guess) I can manage OK with the occasional quick flick to FB — but if there’s lots happening I switch it off. However, I AVOID Twitter, because I think there’s always so much more happening there, so better not get addicted in the first place. 🙂
Oh yeah, and I write in cafes too. But that’s more for getting away from other household distractions and (more recently) freelance work. Glad you’ve found a tool to assist though. Good luck!
Thanks, Ellen 🙂
So far, so good with FREEDOM. It’s keeping my mornings free for writing.
Now, I’m looking at still another tool – Scrivener. Working through the tutorial…