How to stop procratinating on the internet

I was in college way before the internet. Before personal computers, actually. And I still stayed up till 3:00 a.m to do papers. Sometimes on speed (Black Beauties, actually, diet pills). Before that, in high school, I just delayed and stayed up all night to write papers. Still got an A. So I propose to you that your problem is not the internet. The internet is just a way of procrastinating. Another delaying tool, if you will. And you are worrying a lot about this. And yes, it gives you a dopamine reaction. It calms you down. Otherwise you wouldn't be here. But you are not stupid. You are smart, and you can figure out how to shut off the internet and get your work done without someone telling you how to do it.

Something I just tried that's working great: the MotivAider app for Android. I set it to make my phone vibrate once a minute, and if my phone vibrates and I'm wasting time online, I leave the internet and start doing what I want to do. The app keeps "do work, don't procrastinate" on my mind without making me feel guilty, and stops me from happily slipping into the Internet for hours. The app costs a few dollars, but the company that sells it also makes a pager-like device that they sell for 10x as much that I used for a few months many years ago on a therapist's recommendation, so I think the app's a good value. Now, watch as I turn off MetaFilter and get back to work!

Here's a thought re: desjardins: Make a guest account with permission to run productivity software for your work and access the right documents, etc. Lock down it's internet (pretty sure Windows Vista and 7 do this with "Parental Controls", and I'm sure there's a way to do it in Mac and Linux). Temporarily (or permanently, depending on how much inconvenience you can stand) give your main and/or admin account a http://www.thebitmill.com/tools/password.html as its password. Write it on a card, lock it up/hide it wherever you keep your valuables at home, and then leave for the cafe. If you can remember a 25 character long string with no rhyme nor reason, you are a certified genius and I am jealous of your success. Otherwise, there's other tricks. For example, if you're so addicted you are at the point that wifi makes it too easy to cave, you can disable it on the hardware end by opening up your laptop and disconnecting the antenna cables with a service manual you can likely find online (fun fact: The antenna wire usually goes behind the monitor on laptops, which is why built-in wifi gets a better signal than wifi cards/dongles). The card itself is probably removable. I'd say uninstall the drivers, but Windows seems to have everything baked in these days. But the biggest thing is finding a way to turn down the internet. A dedicated geek can pretty much squeeze internet from a stone, or easier yet, a locked down computer, which is a problem. And anyway you disable the internet that doesn't permanently disable it can be reversed. You need less willpower to turn down using a convoluted method to get internet as compared to just double click Chrome, but you still need some willpower.

One additional thing I'd recommend is doing your work in a really nice cafe, without internet access This is a good point. Can you actually remove the wireless card from your laptop?

I could easily have written this question when I was at university. I think it's worth mentioning that several years later I finally got treatment for my depression. I still have a little bit of an internet problem, but it's nothing like as bad. I really wish I had had the self-insight to get this sorted out sooner. The chances are that that isn't your problem; I have no other reason to think it might be. In general, however, I think it would be a good idea to think about the root causes of your behaviour. It sounds like you need to integrate a sense of relaxation and reward into your life more, so that you don't try to get your 'fix' of it from internet use. I agree with desjardins about making sure that your environment is pleasant and about spending time with people. You might think about meditation as a way to increase your tolerance for anxiety and discomfort. If there's something that's obviously making your day-to-day life worse, do something about it. And if the problem is simply that every day feels like a struggle, one you'd rather forget, then for god's sake do something about it. Believe me, you don't get extra points for struggling on without fixing the obvious problems in your life. One additional thing I'd recommend is doing your work in a really nice cafe, without internet access: somewhere where you feel relaxed and can drink coffee and eat snacks. This always seemed like a waste of money to me when I was at university, but when compared to the cost of my education it would have been negligible.

Get up at a decent hour, shower and get dressed immediately. This is the most important part. Now get out of your dorm/apartment, without your laptop, and eat breakfast somewhere else, or take a banana with you to the park. If you sincerely can't start on your project yet, take a paper book on whatever topic. The point is to increase your attention span. Get rid of your TV and game console or they will just become another distraction. Make plans with other people that don't involve computers. Movies, museum, whatever. The more social I am, the less I (mis)use the internet. Keep your environment clean. When I'm overwhelmed by the amount of housework, I distract myself with the internet. I am terrible with this now that I work a 9-5 and don't have homework, but this worked for me in college/grad school. Blockers did not work; either I'd circumvent them or I'd just waste time on "allowed" sites. Addiction is about avoidance, and the brain will find other ways to avoid what you are avoiding. If you avoid your project in more productive ways (e.g., vacuuming, reading) you will build up the momentum and confidence needed to tackle your project.

One thing that really helped me was changing my frame of reference. Don't think about studying or reading a chapter or writing five pages. Just think about starting. Make starting your goal everyday. Instead of "I'm going to write five pages of that paper" try "I'm going to start writing my paper." It doesn't matter how long you keep going, just as long as you start. I've found that once I start, I get sucked in and keep going. But if you think about this big massive thing you have to do, it can be hard to motivate yourself to start.

I agree with Marie Mon Dieu, I had procrastination problems in college (before the internets), stayed up til dawn and still got As. I still have procrastination problems. Now, I'm writing for a living, from home. I like the flexibility of it but sometimes I feel like I need the structure of being in an office with a boss. Although, certainly I know how to be a slacker in the office too. For me, when it's not the internet, it's TV. What's been working for me with TV is that I allow myself to watch certain shows during the day but I can't watch at other times. Otherwise, I'll watch every flavor of CSI and Law and Order plus Animal Planet or Say Yes to the Dress (when I have no interest in weddings, wedding dresses or the strangers who try them on). Anyway, you get my drift. So, my rule is no TV except for the couple of specific shows I want to see. I have to work at all other times. I also cannot open any browser unless it's for research related to my work. Otherwise, I will research how to get a job in France. Or how to make beurre blanc sauce or bhindi masala. So, I keep the browser closed and set time limits, 3 hours of writing and I get 30 minutes of internet. At least that's what I'm going to do as soon as this episode of Law and Order SVU goes off and I finish reading Le Figaro to practice my French...

Leechblock is awesome. I use Firefox only for personal browsing, and IE for all work related stuff - and oddly, once I do that, even though I could disable the add on or use IE.. I don't. It's just a matter of finding the best way of retraining yourself into a new habit.