An application that many of my writing colleagues swear by is Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die. The user writes in the text box at a given rate or punishment begins, everything from pop-up prods to annoying sounds to disappearing prose (in kamikaze mode). This continues until the goal (writing time or wordcount) is achieved.
For non-writers, a timer is probably the most effective tool for rescue from the life-consuming distractions supplied by social networks, games, surfing, email and Twitter. The next best thing to that is an “off” switch (or going where wi-fi can’t find you).
When technology rushed into our homes and our lives, it was sold as both laborsaving and timesaving. Somewhere along the way, many people got lost. Labor saving? Tell that to someone who is recovering from malware or just trying to find that one file among thousands. Time saving? Not to those who are addicted to checking email, checking Facebook, checking Twitter, checking… everything all day long.
Focuswriter is an interesting application that banishes distractions from your desktop. Leechblock makes time-eating sites inaccessible via Firefox. One kind of app I haven’t explored is a task tracker (so you know how much of your time is devoted to different computer activities). Beyond time management, this has value for people who bill by the hour (like lawyers).
I myself am addicted to to-do lists, timers, and prioritizing. This is old-fashioned and takes a bit of discipline. This made me wonder, why there aren’t productivity tools integrated right into Microsoft Word or Firefox or my operating system? The complaints I hear about online and gaming “time sucks” have become familiar enough to convince me that adding a dimension of time management that takes no effort may be the next killer app.
I will add a note of caution. Companies with customer support have actually worked hard to build “efficiencies” into the job. One client I worked with was proud of pushing productivity with enough timers, blocks, tracking apps, rapid escalations, suggestions, and warnings to drive a support rep insane. What got annihilated was any consideration for the customer. Not good business. This is one reason why I don’t use Write or Die. There is no telling what I might put into an article to stop my computer from assaulting me with the sound of a crying baby.