productivity and Internet surfing

Still finding Backpack immensely useful. I check my main To-Do list every day and e-mail myself a copy so I can take my laptop offline and still have access to the list. Thanks to the Backpack people for posting my cartoon in their Web log!

After posting the picture from our Nahanni trip yesterday afternoon in Blatherings, I got distracted and started fixing up some of the pages in my old trip report. Augh. I'm so bad.

I'm going to follow a tip offered by writer Jennifer Gibbs in this excellent article she has on her Web site. She warns new writers that the home computer is one of the dangerous enemies of productivity; I think her advice easily applies to many seasoned writers as well! Her advice:

"...Be sure to make an accessible list of what exactly it is you are looking for, and even better, give yourself a maximum time limit that you can spend. If you don't already have one, go out and buy an egg timer and keep it handy. This single purchase has increased my productivity and prevented me from wasting a lot of time."



Instead of an egg timer, I'm going to use the computer timer I use to remind me to take arm breaks. Whenever I start "just checking e-mail" or surfing in the middle of the work day, I'm going to set the timer for five minutes. I tried this yesterday, and I was shocked at how quickly the time went by.

When I'm working on fiction writing, I can take my laptop somewhere there's no Internet access. When working on nonfiction projects, I find the Internet invaluable for checking facts, doing market research, etc. The challenge, however, is not to let a so-called "just checking this fact for work" session turn into a "well, I might as well catch up on some blogs and HEY, what an interesting news story, must follow that up for just a bit..." tangent.

For those who work with constant Internet access, especially those who work at home and therefore aren't being supervised by anyone other than yourself...what tips do you have for staying productive and minimizing your time online? Please post your answers in Livejournal or Blatherchat (see links below). I'll compile answers and link to the results from Inkygirl as well as here.

Thanks!

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