Stay Focused with "SelfControl"
Thursday, June 17, 2010 by Shep McAllister 
Have serious attention issues and want to block out the world? This may just be for you.By and large, we here at Hackcollege think that doing your college work on a computer is generally preferable to older more traditional methods. This of course isn't always the case, but bear with me. The problem is, if you spend most of your study time on the computer you'll be coping with all sorts of distractions.
If you get easily sidetracked from your school work, and are the kind of person who would be willing to cripple your own computer to narrow your focus, well then SelfControl may be just the Mac application for you. The premise is simple: you tell SelfControl what websites and email accounts you want disabled on your computer, and for how long. For example, I could have used SelfControl at work the other day to keep myself from filling out the pre-order application for the iPhone 4 seven million times. I didn't, but I probably would have gotten a lot more work done if I had if I had.
If you find yourselves two hours deep into a writing session and suddenly get desperate to watch a Youtube video, you're just totally out of luck. Restarting the computer, or even deleting the program won't make a difference. Obviously there are better ways to stay focused (true self-discipline being chief among them), but for the student on a deadline with some attention span concerns, SelfControl may do the trick.
Reader Comments (11)
This program saved me in graduate school. It's pretty intense for the inability to end the blockade, but it's a lot more effective than simply turning off your wifi.
I used it sparingly unless it was crunch time, and more routinely relied on a timer (Thyme or Lumina for OS X) and Isolator to keep me from getting distracted while studying PowerPoint slides. The timer keeps you accountable, and Isolator gives you a visual reminder that you're clicking away from an application you should be focused on.
Such a smart app! I get distracted soooo easily.
haven't tried it out but i guess i should because i am so easily distracted. i can't concentrate when i am online.
Self control is a really helpful program when trying to study. It's so hard to have self control when you have the whole internet at your fingertips. How can one possibly study while videos of skateboarding dogs sit in cyber space waiting to be watched.
Fantastic app! It would be awesome if there were a self-control app for iPod/iPhone/phone/mobil device to prevent undo distractions there as well.
Fantastic app! It would be awesome if there were a self-control app for iPod/iPhone/phone/mobil device to prevent undue distractions there as well.
Oops! Sorry for making two posts. My bad.
Ah, procrastination. It's the one thing that really stops (or at least slows) a person's ability to get things done. No matter how hard we all try, it's hard to get past that mental rut and start concentrating on the thing at hand! While SelfControl is a great app (and I wish it was around when I was in college a year back), there are some other things that help.
Basically, what I do is find media on the internet to boost people's emotional wellbeing. I think I found a video that might help you, along with anyone else, get out of that mental rut and get back on track. It's a really humorous video about Jessica's daily affirmation - www.pepfly.com/a/6560
Hopefully this helps!
^CP
(jeremy@pepfly.com)
Too bad i don't have a Mac :(
Maybe it was user error, but when I used SelfControl a year and a half ago, it totally crippled my Macbook Pro. I couldn't access the websites that I blacklisted even after the timer finished. Only after I took it to the Apple Geniuses (who had some trouble figuring out the problem) could I use Facebook, etc.
Just be careful! I think it had something to do when the app crashed during the timer.
Is there a Windows version of this by any chance? Because I would really love to use it.