a Ph.D. student writes about internet time-wasting

In response to my post yesterday where I said that’s probably where I waste most of my time, a Ph.D. student writes:

“In response to same concern (and realizing I won’t finish my dissertation otherwise) I have downloaded to ‘apps’, both from the same company. The first, Freedom, locks you out of the internet for a set period of time; the second, anti-social, locks you out of social apps (including gmail) while leaving the Times and Jstor and things like that open. I’v only used them a few days now but they seem to be just what I needed. Thought they might help you too. Sorry if this seems too personal, but it is something I have struggled with for some time…”

Very amusing. Possibly a bit drastic, but if you’re trying to finish a dissertation it’s one thing to consider.

For me, however, I think the real issue is not having email on all the time. When I can force myself to check it only X number of times per day, I am happier and more productive.

Towards the end of my Chicago years, I read an article called something like “1999 was the year that email stopped being fun.” At the time I thought that was crazy, because it was still fun to me. Not anymore. Two-thirds of email that comes in now carries some sort of work burden, however small.

And I really miss postal letters. At this point I’m sending only 5 or 6 postal letters per year, mostly to my grandmother who is 94 years old. I used to have a good Lingis correspondence going through the post, but even he has shifted to email now. That leaves almost no one.