No self-control? Just block all distractions on your computer and phone/tablet.

We all have a lot to do.

We all waste time on distractions when we have more important things to do.

We don't have enough self-control to stop ourselves from procrastinating.

So – the most effective solution is to simply block yourself from having access to anything that isn't work-related.


HOW TO STOP PROCRASTINATING:

1) If you have distracting games on your computer, uninstall them all, including Steam. You can always install them again when you have finished your work – but for now you will decide to get rid of them.

2) On your smartphone or tablet, uninstall all apps you spend time on instead of working. Social media must go, the same with Instagram, Reddit and everything else that steals your time – get rid of everything. Remember that you will not allow yourself to waste any time on your phone.

3) The final step is to block access to all distractions, with these free apps:
* Mac: SelfControl
* Windows PC: Cold Turkey

On your smartphone/tablet, use one of these apps:
* iPhone/iPad
* Android

With these installed, you just add the websites you shouldn't visit, determine how long you should be blocked from visiting them - and click "block". Now you simply CAN'T go to these sites until the time has passed, even if you restart the device or uninstall the software.

All of these strategies work for me. With fewer distractions you will get bored more quickly, and simply move your attention to more useful stuff. Also, and very importantly, you are actively training your brain to not get distracted while you are focused on a task.

I also recommend using the "Pomodoro" technique to get a lot of work done in short chunks of time. Read more about it here.


Beware that you might find yourself going to different websites for distractions. If so, you simply add these sites to the list of "forbidden places". And if you start using other apps instead, you will uninstall them as well.

Don't allow yourself to procrastinate. You have goals, dreams, aspirations – do anything and everything to reach them. This is your life, don't waste it.


For musical inspiration, here's Raff's beautiful classic italo-disco anthem "Self Control".

A list of FREE Windows-software that can make your life easier

Here's a list I made of FREE software I use for Windows, and I can thoroughly recommend everything here. Enjoy!

(Last updated 20/9-2010.)

OFFICE:
* OpenOffice
(perfect replacement for Microsoft Office for 99.9% of the users)

WEB BROWSER:
* Google Chrome
(I recently switched to this, it's by far the fastest browser I've used, plus it consumes MUCH less resources than both Micro$oft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox)

* Mozilla Firefox

(I used this before, it has a lot of addons and functionality that Micro$oft Internet Explorer doesn't have)

Very useful add-ons for Firefox (and Chrome):

- AutoCopy

(automatically copy selected text to clipboard, no need to click Ctrl-C)
- Clone Window
(makes new windows and tabs in Firefox inherit the history and URL of the current window)
- Cooliris
("fly" through hundreds of pictures in a short time)
- Copy Plain Text
(removes formatting from the text you copy)
- DownThemAll!
(a very good mass downloader)
- Flashblock
(automatically blocks Flash-objects in pages and lets you decide which you want to see - removes 99% of the advertising on the net as you surf)
- IE View
(gives you a right-click option for opening the current page in an Internet Explorer-window)
- Image Toolbar
(toolbar for actions for images, like saving, copying and printing)
- Text Link
(allows URLs written as plain text in webpages to be loaded by just double clicking on them, no need to copy and paste)

CALENDAR/TASKS:

* Mozilla Sunbird

(one of the best calendar programs. Also available as Lightning, an addon for Thunderbird.)

Very useful add-ons for Sunbird:

- MinimizeToTray Plus
(minimizes Sunbird into the system tray)

- Provider for Google Calendar

(let's you automatically synchronize your Sunbird/Lightning with Google Calendar, you can find instructions for setting it up here. If you get any problems with appointments in Google Calendar showing ahead or behind Sunbird/Lightning, adjust your time zone in Google Calendar by that amount.)

EMAIL:

* Mozilla Thunderbird

(really good email program, and much safer and less bloaty than Micro$oft Outlook)

Very useful add-ons for Thunderbird:
- GMailUI
(add concepts inspired by GMail, like archiving mail and powerful message searching across all folders)
- MinimizeToTray Plus
(minimizes Thunderbird into the system tray, the enhancer gives it additional functionality)
- Contacts Sidebar
(displays the address books in a sidebar in Thunderbirds 3-pane-window)
- Mail Redirect
(redirect, or "bounce", mail messages to other recipients without forwarding it)

OTHER INTERNET SOFTWARE:
* Yahoo! Messenger
(nice and feature-packed IM-software, also lets you add and talk to MSN/Windows Live-users - alternately use the webmessenger when you're not on your PC)
* µTorrent
(torrent program that is fast, versatile and uses few resources)
* Soulseek
(absolutely brilliant program for downloading amazing amounts of music from other music lovers)
* JDownloader
(the best mass downloader)
* Skype
(VoIP-software for speaking with others over the net)

VIDEO PLAYER:
* Media Player Classic
(much better than Windows Media Player for all kinds of video: DVD, AVI, MKV, FLV, MPG, MOV etc. Also plays tons of audio files.)

Very useful codecs for Windows:

* FFDSHOW
(the best and only decoder you need for XviD, DivX, x264, AC3, subtitles etc.)
* QuickTime Alternative
(play QuickTime without installing QuickTime player)
* Real Alternative
(play RealAudio and RealVideo without installing RealOne Player)

MULTIMEDIA:
* WinAmp
(classic player for MP3, WAV, OGG, AAC, APE, FLAC etc.)
* XnView
(good image viewer)
* Google Picasa
(good image editor and viewer)
* Subtitle Workshop
(nice program for editing and re-synchronising downloaded subtitles, use v2.51 if you can)
* LAME
(great MP3-encoder, use RazorLame for the user interface)
* EAC
(the best audio grabber for CD's)
* Audacity
(good software for recording and editing audio)

* Mp3 Tag Tools

(good software for mass editing tags in music files, a little easier to use than WinAmp's library editing function)

MISCELLANEOUS:

* CDBurnerXP
(burns audio- and data-CD's, DVD's, ISO-images etc.)
* DAEMON Tools
(virtual CD/DVD-ROM emulator)
* 7-Zip
(decompress RAR, ZIP and more, compress ZIP etc.)
* Gmail Drive
(a very useful way of making backup of files to a Gmail-account within Windows Explorer)
* File Renamer Basic
(nice little batch renamer for files and folders)
* MozBackup
(an easy way to backup and share your Mozilla Firefox/Thunderbird/Sunbird profiles)

MUSIC CREATION SOFTWARE:

* Free Music Software is a page with an extremely good list of software and plugins for creating music.

If you have any ideas for better software or solutions, please let me know in the comments-field. Thanks!