Or to quantify it, an amount of time that still leaves you with your sanity and general well being. :D

I check Facebook several times a day. Sometimes do some research on this and that. Update online accounts and stuff. Yes, I do get distracted, but I am ok with that because I feel like I am productive even though sometimes I jump from thing to thing.

I check all of my regular non-work sites once during the day, and I don’t refresh after I’ve checked them. So Twitter, Facebook, Metafilter, etc get checked once in the morning, and that’s it. I check my personal e-mail in the morning and evening. I find that limiting the amount of times I visit sites as opposed to the amount of minutes I spend on them seems to help.

I’ve used RescueTime with great success in the past. They do track everything you do (although you can blacklist certain sites so they aren’t tracked) but it’s a nice program if you don’t mind the privacy problems. It’s especially helpful for you to determine a baseline of “this is how often I use Metafilter,” or “this is how much I am actually writing in Microsoft Word.”

Leechblock is an extension for Firefox that allows you to limit the amount of time you spend on certain sites, or you can block those sites entirely. It’s good for Internet use but not any other goofing around that you might do on your computer (like playing Solitaire or something).

I stopped tracking computer time and instead set up the rule to “Do meaningful work” a certain number of times a week. I found that the two were in direct opposition, and the days when I felt I did meaningful work were naturally the days I spent less time on the computer.

I’ve got a computer time rule, and mine are also just rough (probably under-)estimates. I guess I mostly go by how the day felt—did it feel like I hardly spent any time randomly surfing? .5-1 hour. Did I spend some time surfing but refocus quickly back to work or other pursuits, with no blocks of more than 1/2 hour at a time? 1.5 hours (which is my goal). Did I spend a couple 1/2 hour or longer blocks during the day? 2 hours. Did I get online at 8 am on Sunday and not go do anything else for the next 2 hours? I probably blow 3+ hours on days like that.

In other words, I focus on the spirit of the rule. On days when I feel like I am doing less mindless surfing that I would otherwise do, I give myself a score that reflects meeting or exceeding my arbitrary numeric goal.

GREAT IDEA!

Turn off the Internet connection. I shut off my wireless when I really need to get some work done offline.

Andrea and Stephanie Lynn – thank you so much for your responses!

Good suggestion. I’m getting better at that one.

:)