A while back I heard of a program which let parent allot a fixed amount of time for the computer to stay logged in via a particular username. Alternatively parents could set the amount of time spent on the internet by the computer. What these measures ensured was that these concerned parents’ children do not end up wasting a lot of time on the computer/internet; the time saved on needless browsing and chatting could be utilized on homework or the great outdoors.

That program made me wonder if there were any such restrictions I could impose on myself to save time which I frequently waste on Facebook and Digg. If there were such a way then not only I but countless other computer users could benefit from it. We turn on our computers with the intention to work but end up spending hours on the internet. There should be a tool that helps us fight the addictive social networking websites and other time wasting sites. And upon searching for it, I found this tool – it is called StayFocusd.

StayFocusd is an extension for Google Chrome that lets us set specific times for particular website. This how the icon looks

Say we are browsing Facebook and we want to set the time we spent on the site. With Facebook open, we click on the extension’s icon in the Address Bar:

In the resultant menu that appears we can set the time for the site, or block/allow the site completely.

We can also access the ADVANCED options for the extension and choose to block on certain pages of a website.

In this way by setting our daily quota for the websites we waste time on, we can increase our productivity on our computers remarkably. If you are a Chrome user, try out StayFocusd – it will help you stay focused.