Ask HN: Do you open the browser for something, and end up doing something else?

3 points·sathishmanohar··3 comments

I open the browser to check my analytics lets say, Then there is hacker news in speed dial, then I go for a quick check at hacker news, then I completely forget I opened the browser to check analytics in the first place.

Sounds familiar? If you do face this, How do you get around this distraction?

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It has been known to happen more often than I care to admit. :)

The best way to do it is to get yourself in strict working "mode". Check e-mail twice a day only - in the morning and afternoon. Read HN and everything else just in the morning or in the afternoon.

It is all about concentrating on what matters.

Another trick I find useful is to have two browsers. I use Chrome for everything and I use Firefox just for work. So if I want to check analysis, statistics or answer work related emails I use Firefox. In firefox my bookmarks are only for work related things.

Cheers

Do you close your browser? I always have at least 5 tabs open with ReloadEvery, plus standard apps (GMail, Twitter etc.) mostly completely unrelated to what I should be doing.

I bought a cheap monitor on ebay and connected it to my laptop so I can have Twitter open all the time

yea, this happens to me all the time. Ed Weissman's solution to this is to have a separate work station (qn 64, http://edweissman.com/53640595). Personally, I open separate browsers for work and general surfing (email, HN, twitter etc). For instance, all my tabs for work will be on Firefox (tab groups and tab mix plus work wonders for tabs organization BTW) while all other non-work related surfing will be done on Chrome.

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