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Maybe its something to do with getting old, but I keep getting distracted by things on the internet and finding hours have gone by and no work gets done. But I do positively need access to certain sites for my work, and sometimes I have free time and am happy to allow myself to look at stuff for hours. I have considered editing/re-editing the "hosts" file to temporarily block certain time-killing sites (news/etc) but it seems very clumsy - and you can only block entire domains and not specific things within those domains. So for example I'd like to block "www.google.com/reader" but not block "www.google.com".

Any suggestions? Is there some software that would help me out?

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    Thanks for posting this - I've become distracted and found my way to this question. Now, its back to work. Thanks
    – dubRun
    Nov 13, 2009 at 21:04

4 Answers 4

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LeechBlock, for Firefox, allows you to set up time-limited, or simply block, blocking filters.

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  • Unfortunately I have (and need) multiple browsers... so its a bit too easy for me to just click on another one :-(
    – Mick
    Nov 13, 2009 at 20:16
  • Ah, truly the bane of this solution. I've found that the screen is enough to make me rethink what I'm doing, and the countdown timer is enough to make me think "I should save this time for later" :P
    – Phoshi
    Nov 13, 2009 at 21:09
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Sometimes I have the same problem, too many distractions. I am not sure a software will help us.

Maybe a book like "Find Your Focus Zone: An Effective New Plan to Defeat Distraction and Overload"

A Review Summary

"With technology exploding, the single biggest productivity challenge workers face is the ability to focus on a single task long enough to see it through to completion. Find Your Focus Zone is a seminal work in the science of attention and a must-read for every distracted professional. Focus is power."

-- Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, "The Productivity Pro®," author of Leave the Office Earlier and Find More Time

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You should be able to block subdirectories on domains with the HOSTS file, I use it to block ads..

ex:

127.0.0.1 pagead2.googlesyndication.com

-or-

127.0.0.1 content.yieldmanager.edgesuite.net/atoms/

Just disclude the http://www. in your entry.

I use Windows XP SP2.

For more info: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hostsfaq.htm

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Trusty old Proxomitron is still one of the finest and most efficient web filters available.

It just works reliable for any web browser.

You can download a recently updated configuration file here.

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