After a couple of minutes, there’s a big chance that you would stop reading and click off this blog post to browse another site. That’s how short our attention span is. In doing tasks at work, at school, or even in business, most people will most likely tend to delay their jobs to kill their boredom or quench their thirst for entertainment. When we feel exhausted, we feel a sense of need to pause. Instead of taking a break to rest, our brain, by default, chooses to do unnecessary stuff like browsing websites for some dopamine rush. People who work remotely, especially those working at home, are more likely to slack off. You have to learn the art of productivity and discover ways to increase your productivity.
Taking a break is essential when you have a lot of work. It is a healthy thing to do. But, when you take your breaks to the point where you find yourself indulging in social media instead of doing what you should be doing, then that’s the time to figure out what’s unhealthily eating your time. Imagine how fast you can accomplish your tasks when you avoid all sorts of distractions and those addictive web activities.
Aside from self-discipline, some valuable apps are designed to reduce distractions. These apps disable your chances of opening websites that take your attention away from your work… for a certain period. These are called website blockers, aka web blocking productivity apps.
Take a sneak peek at these 6 Simple Website Blockers that could save you from delayed work submissions and poor quality results caused by unproductive distractions.
1. FocusBooster
This app is specially made to create drastic changes in your school performance, work, or business. Having this app installed makes it almost impossible for you to detach your focus from the things that matter. It is not just a generic website blocker; it’s more like a productivity tracker and a digital accountability partner. FocusBooster keeps you away from feeling guilty of being lazy by pushing you to start working and use your time wisely.
Here, you can manage your tasks and even set schedules for yourself. More on this app, you can track your time and even analyze it. Knowing you’re doing a great job makes you feel more satisfied with what you do. Another unique thing about it is, it has a reward system where it rewards progress with a long break at regular intervals… you can take 20-minutes to reflect and return to work refreshed. If you’re wondering what you’ve accomplished today, you can watch the Pomodoro count increase, one task at a time. Unfortunately, some of its unique features come with a monthly price.
Starter: Free Individual Plan: $2.99/month Professional Plan: $4.99/month
2. Mindful Browsing
This free Chrome extension is one of the unique digital productivity tools you could ever use. It doesn’t block apps that are on your list. Instead, it gives you a chance to reflect and decide before opening a particular website. It instills self-discipline while pampering your freewill. Not just that, it also allows you to create a list of activities that you might as well be doing whenever the urge to visit productivity-killer apps creeps in. Whenever you need to see certain apps on the list, you’ll have 10 minutes before it reminds you to go back to doing valuable things. The downside of Mindful Browsing, aside from being limited to Google Chrome, is that it doesn’t block sites; it just reminds you of what you should be doing.
Price: Free
3. StayFocusd
The name of this app says a lot about itself. If you struggle with a poor attention span and low drive, then you have to get this app as soon as you can. Using this amazing app, you can block sites, other apps, and even notifications! Getting things done efficiently and consistently won’t be a fantasy for you anymore; you just can set a reminder with this app to make sure you have everything in place. If you want to assess how well you do in a day, you can just hit the quick overview to see your daily usage stats. With an activity timeline to keep you on track, you can review your activities and how you spend your time, allowing you to quickly pinpoint your pitfalls and setbacks. It is safe to use StayFocusd. Perhaps, it has more than 800,000 active users. It’s free, but it’s only limited to Chrome Browser. And if you’re not that strict with the amount of time you set on restricting yourself from browsing distinctive apps, you’ll end up giving in to procrastination.
Price: Free
4. LeechBlock NG
You can never take away LeechBlock NG from the list of the best website blockers. This productivity tool works like magic in turning you into a productivity beast by quickly blocking sites you perceive as time-wasters. What makes it unique is that it has extensive customization options. With LeechBlock NG, you can create 30 sets of sites to block, and you can also modify the amount of time in blocking them. One exciting feature of this excellent app is that you can set complicated passwords you have to type in before opening time-wasting websites. This tool is super-easy to use, and it is guaranteed to make it hard for you to cheat on your development commitment. One disadvantage of this app is being limited only to both Mozilla Firefox and Chrome. It also has many configuration settings, time frames, and options, making it a little more complicated than some website blockers, especially if you’re on a tight schedule.
Price: Free
5. Self-Control
This one is actually for people who aim for a massive shift in their self-discipline and productivity. This website blocker can take self-control to the next level. With the Self-Control App, you can add websites to a blacklist. You can enter an intense state of productivity by blocking your access to the websites of your choice, especially those that cause you to delay your task. One more good thing about this is that you can set a specific amount of time in blocking such distractor websites. Once you block a particular website, you can’t browse it no matter what you do. You literally can’t access blocked sites even if you delete the app or reboot your computer. Judging on those facts about it, you can say that the Self-Control App is a game-changer for your self-discipline, willpower, and productivity. The only downside of this app is that you can’t open websites that you’ve blocked permanently, even if you shut your computer down a thousand times.
Price: Free
6. FocusMe
Don’t let your time and energy be sucked out by mindless browsing of time-wasting sites. With FocusMe, you can’t just block sites; you can also cultivate better habits. If you want to stop falling victim to your distractions, you must download it before you even start working. FocusMe can shut off the monkey mind and lets you acquire a laser focus in doing your tasks. You can technically block sites, yet you also have the option to launch limits so that you can minimize the amount of time spent browsing certain websites. Perhaps, you can even browse email — a certain number of times per day. This app also allows you to set and take breaks. One amazing feature of FocusMe is that it has parental controls, allowing parents to track their children’s activity. And, when we talk about self-motivation, FocusMe has a feature that syncs your plans between devices, letting you connect your tasks with your meaningful goals and objectives. Apart from its excellent features, FocusMe is not free, which can potentially hurt your expenses a little if you’re really on a budget.
Price: Monthly – $5.99/month Yearly – $39.99 Lifetime – $149.99
7) Cold Turkey
You can’t cheat on this one. This app for real action-takers. It is a user-friendly cross-browser website blocker that works efficiently on both Windows and macOS. Cold Turkey has a free plan to create numerous blocklists and set a certain amount of time in blocking them. Once you start your timer, it is impossible for you to unblock such websites. You can also track websites and applications that you spend most of your time on. Unlike any other website blockers, Cold Turkey can block anything from websites to apps and games… literally everything — even your own computer. And, not just that, if you only want to reduce distractions, you can simply set breaks and allowances instead of blocking distracting sites completely. Another highlight of this website blocker is that it allows you to lock your blocks. Also, blocking applies to all supported browsers on your predefined lists. This app is also highly recommended by the users; it has an enormous 97% recommendation rate on surveyed customers. The downside is that you need to purchase to go pro to access advanced features such as blocking applications and games.
Basic – Free Lifetime – $39.99
An excellent way to force yourself to get into the “flow” state and work like a poster-model for productivity is to use a website blocker that suits you best. Motivation and drive will grow stronger exponentially the moment you start to develop mental toughness and self-discipline. You have to choose to improve your productivity and pick the best tool that supplements that choice.
Stop those mindless wasting of time and never be shackled by those tempting distraction-giver websites ever again. Take control of your life! Choose your website blocker app now and skyrocket your productivity.
What might be eating up your time? Sometimes, those are the little things that we do in between major tasks. In maximizing your potential and productivity, you don’t have to do things alone. This is where a Virtual Assistant comes into play. In the book titled The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris, he mentioned how a business could escalate quickly with the power of outsourcing. Save time and effort so you could pour your concentration purely on the things that you must focus on.
Are you looking for someone who can help you get more things done while doing less work? MyOwnVA can help you with that. We are top-notch in handling a variety of tasks. We have a wide array of services to offer that could elevate your business flow. We have solid experience in helping businesses run smoothly. We could help you with marketing, social media management, email management, technical support, customer service, and so much more. To know further about our services, feel free to contact us at admin@myownva.com.