When Will Power is Not Enough and the Internet is Sucking Your Time
Posted by este in Goal Setting, Self Improvement on August 6, 2011
Have you ever had this conversation with yourself?! The wind up… I will just spend a few minutes relaxing and look at the news and Facebook. Then I will get back to what I planned to do.
10 minutes later… I really want to read this article and then it is time to get off the computer.
30 minutes later… I should really get off. Oh, just a few more minutes…
1 hour later… Oh, sh*t!! I can not believe I spent that much time. I really want to finish writing that report.
2 hours later… Oh, well, I guess I will get to it tomorrow.
No, really, I have not been in your head, lately. I really was not eaves dropping on the conversation that you had between you and yourself.
It is just that I hear this from many of my clients who are concerned about the amount of “unproductive time” they spend on the internet. The time used is only unproductive because they would rather make other choices with how they use their time. No judgment from me!
Hyperfocus
A lot of people spend more time surfing on the internet that they claim they would like. When you have ADD, an added danger is the possibility getting locked into hyperfocus mode when your brain is stimulated by the computer and the content.
Alternatives?
1. Throw out the computer. Ok, may not a great option…
2. Just turn it off! If it were only that easy…
3. Disable certain programs. I have had clients who disabled certain programs, like Facebook, while they were working on big projects. Could work for you, too…
4. This is my favorite. Download LeechBlock, a Firefox add-on that allows you to limit the time you spend on up to six sites.
You can either limit the total amount of time you want to spend on a site each day or block the site during certain times of the day. I tried it, and it works as advertised.
If you are in hyperfocus mode, it can really help you break out of it! Can you override the program? Yes…you can, but you will have time to make a choice.
Keeping the Phone Line Free and the Computer on the Internet in the Country
Posted by este in Broadband Internet, Communications on August 2, 2011
Living in the country and having a computer often means either the phone line is busy or the need for a second phone line. Having a busy telephone line can create problems or cut down on the amount of time that you can spend on the computer or if you have a second phone line the cost of the line and the cost of the dialup Internet service.
There is a way to keep the phone line free and the computer on the Internet in the country. Living in a rural area does not mean there is only dialup service available, there is also satellite Internet. This type of Internet is a broadband service that does not use telephone lines to connect to the Internet, it does not need a phone line at any time, it is not even necessary to have a telephone installed in the house. It also means having a high-speed connection to the Internet.
This high-speed connection means that downloading email and attachments is quick, downloading pictures is instant and programs take minutes instead of hours. Uploading attachments, websites and files takes seconds instead of minutes with speeds of up to 200 kbps.
It is important to many computer users that they can see and do everything on the Internet, this includes watching videos, playing games and talking to friends or family. Having a high-speed connection means that is possible to do, with a dialup connection it is not always possible to take advantage of any of these things. That is because for watching video or for playing most games on the Internet it takes a high-speed connection for them to work properly. What can be expected is a download speed that is up to 1.0 mbps; this is a change from the dialup service that at the fastest it can be connected at 53k. It is this speed that makes a difference whether a program will work or not and with slower speeds it is just not enough to run the program.
The largest advantage other than speed for the person that lives in the country is the ability to use their telephone while being on the Internet, unless there are two phone lines in a house when dialup service is being used. Then the telephone cannot be used for making or receiving calls and that can be a deterrent for using the computer to get online. It often also means that no matter what a person is doing online, it can be interrupted if there is an incoming call. This includes downloads that can take hours, if the download is interrupted, it often means starting the download over. When using a broadband connection an incoming call does not affect anything that is being done on the computer and with satellite Internet service there does not even need to be a telephone line in the house. This is because it uses a small mounted satellite dish that sends and receives data to a large dish over the Equator.
Troubleshooting Computer Over the Internet
Posted by este in Computers and Technology, Personal Tech on July 27, 2011
The internet is a vast storehouse of information that we should use and access regularly. We can perform a lot of troubleshooting for our computer on the internet. There are fixes to almost every known software conflict on the internet. Not only are the fixes written in simple language for everyone to understand but most of the time they are really simple to apply. We should use as much of the internet resource as we can.
The first step to troubleshooting on the internet requires you to update your security program. Once you update your anti virus programs, you should scan your system for viruses. The next thing to so is to update other programs that may need an update. You can also update your operating system as sometimes there are unapplied updates that cause some issues. Once all programs are updated and the issue still remains unidentified check if there are any error messages that you get during startup or shutdown if not otherwise. These error messages can be looked up on the internet. They can reveal a lot about what the issue is with your computer. There are a lot of forums and support websites that are dedicated to delivering solutions to common issues and they should be of a great help.
You can also break down your issue into keywords and search for similar issues posted by other users. You can also post your issues in a forum if they are intermittent. There is a lot of good troubleshooting help that comes in through forums. Another good way to troubleshoot on the internet is by checking sites that offer answers to questions and posting your issue as a question there. These sites will give you good answers and most likely you will find a solution. If it is a software related issue then chances are that you will find your solution soon. Remember to backup your data before you perform any troubleshooting.