We all struggle with it:  endless digital distraction.  Our productivity is gobbled up by incoming e-mails and social media messages, be it Twitter of Facebook or other forms.

I admit that I can focus too much on responding quickly to e-mail and then, since I get so many of them, I can end up responding to e-mails all day without getting any work done!  Yeah, I know.  Crazy.  But apparently many others suffer from this craziness as well.

Well, end walks two apps to help with this!

Freedom for $10

freedomformac.com 
The first app is called Freedom, an internet blocking program from your Mac or PC.  You tell the app how long you want to be productive; for example, 2-hours.  Then for the next 2-hours the internet is not accessible on your computer unless you restart your computer.  This is a bit drastic, but you’ll be very productive!

My problem with an app like “Freedom” is that I often “need” to access the internet for my job.  I also administer social media accounts for my clients, so sometimes I actually must log into Tweet Deck or directly into some of the social media apps.

Rescue Time

rescuetime.com
Then there’s also Rescue time.  A little less drastic than Freedom.  It gives you reports on how much you do what on your computer.

Learn more about both options by watching the video above!   And below is a video highlighting Rescue Time:

I will search the web for more possible apps that do this, but for right now, I’m going to try to get some work done (smile).

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If you know of other options, please let me know. I’m going to try the Rescue Time one first.  If you try either one of these, please let me know how they work out for you!