In 2010, I intend to waste less time on websites that really don’t benefit me. Aggregate media sites tear huge chunks out of my free time, and I get very little out of that spent time. Wasted time aside, sometimes the stories linked from these sites affect me negatively. Does hearing about police brutality nine states away improve anyone’s day?
These sites suck away time that could be spent doing something worthwhile or enjoyable. Even just sleeping would be more beneficial, since they often grab me late at night, when I’m just fuzzy headed enough not to realize how much time I’m spending.
To reclaim that time for writing and other activities, I’ve blocked those sites on my computers. It can be done easily and doesn’t require you to buy expensive software.
The key to blocking these sites easily is the hosts file. Hosts is a file that Windows and Linux (and I’m going to guess Mac) use to map host names to IP addresses. Normally, when you type www.google.com into your address bar, your computer asks your internet service provider where to go. They point your computer to Google’s servers. However, when you type in an address that is in your hosts file, your computer goes where the file tells it instead.
To begin, you need to open your hosts file in a text editor. In Windows 7 or Vista, you’ll need to start notepad with administrator rights. In Windows 7, the hosts file should be found in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\. In earlier versions of Windows, it should be in a similar location. Just do a file search for “hosts” without the quotes, if you’re having trouble finding it. In Linux, you can edit hosts using gedit with super user or root privileges. The file is usually found at /etc/hosts.
Now that you have your hosts file open, you need to add these two lines at the bottom.
127.0.0.1 www.nameoftimewastingsite.com
127.0.0.1 nameoftimewastingsite.com
Now save the file, and your browsers will no longer be able to go to that webpage. The 127 IP address points your browser back at your own computer instead. If you need to unlock the site again, just delete these lines from the file or place ‘#’ symbols at the beginning of each line. A ‘#’ tells the computer to ignore this line.
If blocking the site permanently is more extreme than you’d like, you could try an add-on to your browser, such as LeechBlock for Firefox. LeechBlock and add-ons like it allow you to block particular sites for a set amount of time or a set schedule. You could have it block the affronting site during your best writing hours, but leave them available at other times of the day.
Just by blocking a few websites I often went to out of boredom, I’ve already reclaimed several hours that would have been lost to random browsing. The new year is just a week old now. By 2011, the time reclaimed will really add up.
Do you use any tools or tricks to limit aimless browsing and distractions when you’re on the computer? If you have a neat trick to share, let us know in the comments.
