Be Productively Unproductive Online. Without Guilt.
April 12th, 2007 (12:00pm) Judi Sohn 28 Comments
Remember when it was okay to waste time online without being social? Remember what it was like before the web started paying the bills?
When you’re stressed, a complete disconnect from work and the world for a short amount of time can recharge your batteries and get you back on track. Usually, “taking a break” means standing up and walking away from the computer. That’s always a good thing to do. But every once in a while, give yourself permission to take a break without walking away from the computer.
Some tips to make the most of being useless and solo online.
Rule #1: No guilt allowed. Web 2.0 is all about connecting with other people and their preferences through the social web. Sometimes all this effort to push what everyone else is thinking and doing into our faces can be overwhelming. In small doses, why shouldn’t it be okay to disconnect without disconnecting?
As web workers, many of us are driven by a mentality that says that any time spent with our fingers on a keyboard has to be productive. Let it go. Schedule unproductive online “me” time into your day. Don’t call it a “distraction.” That implies that your focus is misguided. Focus on the fact that you’re not focusing. If you start with a plan, that hour you’ll spend wasting your time won’t be a waste of time.
All good things must come to an end. If being unproductive is like a potato chip to you, where you can’t stop at just a few minutes, then go for measured portions. Whatever you do should have a beginning, middle and an end. Suggestion: watch a favorite television episode. NBC, CBS and ABC air their top shows for free the day after they’re on broadcast TV. Maybe watch a video podcast. Don’t do an untimed activity without setting some way to snap yourself back to productivity. Hours will go by before you know it. Pick one episode or light podcast to watch, and do just that. 40 some-odd minutes later, you’re back to work.
Be nostalgic. What was your favorite book, music or movie when you were a kid? Google it. Chances are some fans have created pages devoted to the entertainment of your youth you can lose yourself in for a little while. You can’t be thinking about work when you’re finding out whatever happened to the lead singer of your favorite one-hit-wonder band.
“Wilf” a little. What’s “wilfing”? Short for “what was I looking for,” it’s a term coined by a British study about mindless surfing. You know, click a link in the sidebar to a blog you’ve never seen, which leads you to a YouTube clip, which leads you to a comment that takes you to a blog you want to subscribe to, then you start reading feeds… The study pegs “wilfing” as marriage-destroying harm, but sites like StumbleUpon are popular for a reason. Give yourself over to random discovery for a while and get it out of your system. Go out of your way to avoid anything that has anything to do with work, at least until your pre-set “wilfing” time is up.
Wanna play a game? Sites like Pogo.com, WorldWinner.com, Shockwave.com, or GameHouse offer flash-based games. Most are free. They tend to be puzzle, casino or strategy games that are ideal for de-stressing in short doses. Keep an eye on DownloadSquad’s “Time Waster” category. They link to quick & easy web games that can kill off just the amount of time you need to refresh and refocus.
Admit it, when you’re on line at the grocery checkout you scan the headlines of the gossip rags. But you don’t dare pick up the magazine for fear anyone will see you reading that junk? If you’re nodding, then spend a few minutes catching up with Britney, Justin, and the entire American Idol gang. Read some gossip that’s far away from where your head usually is online. Go ahead, no one’s looking. WeSmirch is one-stop shopping for the juiciest trash to get your mind off that upcoming deadline for a few minutes.
Pick an activity that isn’t going to compel you to action. For example only read gardening, cooking and momblogs if it’s something you truly enjoy and isn’t related to any source of income. Be sure you’re not going to end up feeling guilty for what you’re not doing.
What’s your favorite time waster? How do you ration your “free” time online so it doesn’t impact your productivity when you need to be productive?
28 Comments Post your own comment
Michele says: April 12th, 2007 12:15pm
Fark.com is my favorite time suck.
bob says: April 12th, 2007 12:39pm
Is reading this blog considered productive? I consider it productive time… even though sometimes it just aides in my unproductivity :)
secondchancetolive says: April 12th, 2007 8:58pm
Excellent work. I wanted to also congradulate you on being among the top 4 blogs on Word Press. Very impressive. I also wanted to let you know that I have previously given you the wrong URL to my site. The correct URL is as follows:
http://www.secondchancetolive.wordpress.com/
Interesting what a . can do to a URL Thanks for taking the time to visit my site too.
Have a great day.
Craig
nomadicalloy says: April 13th, 2007 6:09am
There is a thin line between surfing for work and just surfing (like reading blogs).
John K says: April 13th, 2007 6:24am
I’ve got a list of things you can do to be productive while you procrastinate. It works for me!
http://themicrobusinessexperiment.blogspot.com/2007/04/10-ways-to-procrastinate-and-still-be.html
Parag Shah says: April 13th, 2007 6:48am
Wandering around on the web for fun and a little break away from work can be fun and also a way to de-stress, but I have realized that it is very easy to get lose track of time , which can actually cause more stress (when I realize at the end of the day that all that I had planned has not been done).
Now this is just a personal experience, but I have realized that if I do a lot of browsing, going from one link to another without really reading anything properly, it gives me an unsettled feeling and I feel neither refreshed nor satisfied. But on the other hand if I set a timer and go to some interesting page and read all the stuff there for that time, or watch a YOUTube clip or listen to a podcast, then I feel relaxed and can get back to work without feeling guilty for having squandered my time.
This is just my experience. Other’s may have a totally different view of the issue.
Regards
Parag
Catherine Carey says: April 13th, 2007 8:32am
To make:
Admit it, when you’re on line at the grocery checkout you scan the headlines of the gossip rags.
More fun when you’re stuck in line with someone else, try reading the headlines aloud as a question using the format:
“Person’s Name”, did you know that “read headline?”
Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive Cutting Down the Overload: Ask Yourself What's Important « says: April 13th, 2007 12:00pm
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Edgar says: April 13th, 2007 1:01pm
How about being unproductively productive. Like when you watch YouTube clips of something important to you but it sure as heck won’t pay the bills. Does that make sense?
David Hollingworth » Things I’ve Learnt Today says: April 14th, 2007 2:57pm
[...] Sohn on the Web Worker Daily blog posted a great article about how to be Productively Unproductive Online. Without Guilt.. I’m not sure I agree with all of the points about being unproductive being ‘OK’; [...]
Mark says: April 15th, 2007 10:54am
For me I go through my list of usual sites, which cover entertainment scoops about movies and TV (Heroes rocks!), a few news sites. But then I inevitably gravitate toward whatever links I find there and use StumbleUpon. I could literally spend hours surfing, but it’s hard to do it without feeling guilty. Still working on that, but need to find a balance to help me get there.
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Allan says: April 16th, 2007 12:17pm
The best time wasting sites are albinoblacksheep.com and newgrounds.com
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Dirk Gently says: April 16th, 2007 4:17pm
This was why porn was invented….if you have a secluded office spot with no security cameras of course……otherwise that could be a quick way to get fired. lololol.
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Jay says: April 16th, 2007 5:31pm
Lifehacker in Google Reader, and stumbleupon.com. I just sit there for ages hitting that stumble button keeping myself amused.
Scubophilus Thistler » Blog Archive » links for 2007-04-17 says: April 16th, 2007 7:28pm
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Mchilly says: April 16th, 2007 11:51pm
Unproductive for me if I didn’t learn something new and interesting, I’m not guilty in whatever I do online because its my choice wink!
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