Stopping Writing Distractions: A Life Saving Piece of Cheap Software

Writer, Dawn Montgomery, put me onto this software. If you are forever stuck on Internet sites that mean you don’t get work done, but you can’t turn off your connection for practical reasons, (she needs Skype to keep in touch with family), then this will save your bacon!

Quoting Dawn: “Let me tell you about Cold Turkey. First of all, it’s free, though it runs on donations. Don’t worry, you have the option of donating later if the program works for you (and I WILL, since I love this program!). There isn’t a version available for Mac, but if you look at the FAQs on the Cold Turkey page, it shows you what software WILL work for you guys (We’re half Mac/half PC so knowing this stuff is a big deal for us all).

Here’s how it works:

You bring up the program
Agree to the blocked website list by clicking in the check boxes
Add any additional websites or programs from your computer (WoW? Solitaire? Plants vs Zombies? Pinterest? )
Tell it how long you’re blocking it for (It even gives me the option of a 24 hour clock. That makes my heart happy)
Engage the program. It asks if you’re SURE. LOL. Smart program. When you say yes, it does exactly what you ask.

Some things to know before you begin:

You will not be able to get to those locations no matter what. So, if youtube is blocked, a gray screen with a broken link shows up where someone has posted a video. Blocked websites will show up as “Site not available”. Nice, right? Blocked Programs you attempt to open on your computer will not work.
There is no way to stop it. (Disclaimer, if you’re really talented with computers and don’t mind playing around in files you shouldn’t, you can stop the program. Or you can go back to Cold Turkey and follow the FAQs about getting rid of it). For the rest of us: Restarting your computer won’t stop it. Force-quitting the program won’t stop it. Once you set up your time, it’s done (unless you go back to the site and download the uninstall program).
Restart your computer after you install the program. I ended up having to restart mine at the end of my first session because I didn’t get the automatic popup.
Close the programs/webpages you’re going to block before you begin. Keeps it simple and prevents some *interesting* side effects.
Don’t worry about adding every program and website that distracts you. You can add those at any time in the process.”

Go Cold Turkey

Filed under: Writing Resources Tagged: author, Cold Turkey, focus, goals, novel, problem solving, procrastination, resource, writer, writing, writing distractions, writing time