We’ve all been there. We’re sat down ready to work with Microsoft Word open.
We’ve all been there. We’re sat down ready to work with Microsoft Word open. We’ve written the title of the assignment and then thought ‘I’ll just refresh Twitter and have a browse on Facebook for a couple of minutes.’
Those being famous last words as before you know it two hours have passed and you are watching the latest viral video on YouTube with your Word document still empty but minimised. (Because avoiding work with the Microsoft Word tab still open is much less of a guilt-trap than clicking the X and admitting defeat).
According to an Oxford Internet Survey produced in 2013, British people spend an average of 11.3 hours per week online at home. This doesn’t even include all those times we check up on social media on our smartphones when out and about.
For us students who spend a scarily large amount of time on computers it is difficult not to innocently open up the Internet for a ‘quick browse’ as a break from work.
However, if like me this quick browse is becoming a multiplicity of wasted evenings then here are a few tips I’ve found which may help treat social media addiction and put a curb on procrastination.
RescueTime
RescueTime is a free website you can use to track which applications and websites you spend time on. You have a personal dashboard which logs your visited websites onto a graph and shows you your ‘productivity score’. You can set goals to motivate yourself to spend less time on certain websites and if you’re feeling pretty desperate you can pay for a premium subscription which actually blocks certain websites for allocated amounts of time.
Give your passwords to someone else
To banish the temptation of social media completely there is always the option of giving your password to someone you trust and letting them change it for you. Trust being the key word here as it’s not really ideal to venture back onto your social media platforms only to find that your once trusted friend has ‘hilariously’ changed your gender on Facebook or tweeted that you’re now pregnant.
Other enjoyable activities
We convince ourselves that using social media is a reasonable excuse for a break from work. However, it doesn’t really refresh our minds much at all because we’re still in the same position looking at the same screen with absolutely no change of scenery. Different activities away from the computer for example: a spot of baking or going to the gym will not only create a feeling of accomplishment but will also increase motivation to continue working.
Light at the end of the tunnel
Thankfully, that nightmare of an assignment won’t last forever. If you’re struggling and craving some Internet browsing time just keep persevering and think of all the guilt-free Facebook stalking you can do when you have finished!
Do you think you spend too much time procrastinating on social media? How do you avoid doing so? Have your say in the comments section below.
Image: Flohuels / Wikimedia Commons
