How do you ration your internet usage?

[LBR]

How do you portion out your internet time? Have you found it eats up more of your life than you really want it to? Or that you fiddle around on the darned thing, when you'd really enjoy doing something else?

How do you set your self limits and stick to them?

I live alone and have slipped into being on the internet, at times, when I could be most usefully occupied elsewhere.

Thanks, everyone.

[sara]

hiya i have never had to ration myself but i guess you could use an alarm clock set yourself a 1 hour limit or log on when you know you only have say 30 mins before you have to go to work or to meet a friend so are forced to log off or be in trouble with boss/friend. discipline is the key to it all , i mean show me chocolate and you wont be seeing any discipline! i guess you have to balance your life to fit in all your interests. now where did i put that chocolate!!

[richyboy]

I suppose any of us could sit and tap away for hours. I find myself spending more and more time on t'web especially since me and herself have begun making a conscious effort to only turn the TV on when there is actually something we want to watch on.

I guess, with everything, as mentioned it just takes a little planning and self-discipline. Log-on, do what is needed and then turn it off. But then again, if that was really the case for everyone, noone would subscribe to forums such as this...

So, having talked myself round in a complete circle, I'm off to give my two cents to someone else.

T'ra!

[Annpan]

We only have a laptop and though I do need to switch it on most mornings to check the things that I do (Along with being a mod here, I run a freecycle group and have other online chores) I often just close the screen down and that is it. It is more of a hassle to switch it on again, so it is a physical barrier.

The best deterrent is to leave the computer upstairs when E goes for a nap, then I have to get up off my bot and do some work. I wouldn't dare climb the stairs when she is asleep, the peace and quite is just too precious.

But I don't ration the amount of time, and I have wasted many days, but it is on 'ish, so it isn't wasted time really.

[prison break fan]

My time on the internet is rationed for me by our really lousy broadband! BT tell us we have an "historic" exchange and noth can be done about it! pbf

[Milims]

You mean we are supposed to limit ourselves? Erm...... ok then...... I go and cook food, have a bath, go to work, knit (although I am perfecting the art of multi tasking ), hang out laundry - in fact anything that I really MUST do rather than sitting here on my bum talking to you lot!

[Jobi1canobi]

Ration? Internet usage? In the same sentence?

[barefootlinzi]

i am so guilty of this. i have a list as long os my arm of Things To Do today, but what am i doing? mooching on the internet at nothing particularly interesting or important!

[mrsflibble]

if you find a way to ration it, can you let me know please?!

[AXJ]

if you find a way to ration it, can you let me know please?!

Here area few tongue in cheek ideas.
1. Use a dial up account on a modem, that'll focus the mind, and significantly reduce the variety of content available in a reasonable time !!

2. If you use a laptop, you could charge it up once a day (or at night) then give the charger to anyone who will be leaving the house for the day to take with them. That would do it.

3. Take out an account which has a limited bandwidth each month, choose the lowest tariff, i.e. lowest bandwidth. Be prepared to be fined money if you go over it, that should concentrate the mind.

4. Switch off your firewall and / or anti virus, your computer will frequently stop working altogether, when you least expect it. You can enjoy your screen time reinstalling the operating system, most of which does not require you to be sitting at the machine**

5. If you have computer age children, only have one computer in the house, and sign them up to all the best kids games sites etc. It will be survival of the fittest, and you know you will have to give in to that pester power, relieving you of the Internet so you can do other things.

** If you do let your children use the computer online, make sure they have administrator access, so they can download Trojan horses etc from infected websites while they are looking for hacks and cheats for their favorite games. (see 4)

6. Install OpenDNS and block all the sites that you know very well waste your time, unblocking them will be more trouble than it is worth and you can do something else not connected with the bum on seat. (useful tip for restricting children access BTW)

I am sure there are many other ideas, but that's all I can think of the moment.

[mrsflibble]

Here area few tongue in cheek ideas.
1. Use a dial up account on a modem, that'll focus the mind, and significantly reduce the variety of content available in a reasonable time !!

HELL NO WAY ON EARTH! I use my computer for work, which invariably includes uploading photos to photobox to be printed by a professional and on dialup I'd be spending enough to negate working at all!!!

2. If you use a laptop, you could charge it up once a day (or at night) then give the charger to anyone who will be leaving the house for the day to take with them. That would do it.
[/quote]
nope, I own a desktop.

3. Take out an account which has a limited bandwidth each month, choose the lowest tariff, i.e. lowest bandwidth. Be prepared to be fined money if you go over it, that should concentrate the mind.
[/quote] already done, unfortunately talktalk's package is more than enough for my needs

4. Switch off your firewall and / or anti virus, your computer will frequently stop working altogether, when you least expect it. You can enjoy your screen time reinstalling the operating system, most of which does not require you to be sitting at the machine**
[/quote]
did I mention using the computer for work?

5. If you have computer age children, only have one computer in the house, and sign them up to all the best kids games sites etc. It will be survival of the fittest, and you know you will have to give in to that pester power, relieving you of the Internet so you can do other things.
[/quote]
sophie knows about cbeebies and bbc iplayer but that's about it.

** If you do let your children use the computer online, make sure they have administrator access, so they can download Trojan horses etc from infected websites while they are looking for hacks and cheats for their favorite games. (see 4)
[/quote]
omg done that myself, nightmare.

6. Install OpenDNS and block all the sites that you know very well waste your time, unblocking them will be more trouble than it is worth and you can do something else not connected with the bum on seat. (useful tip for restricting children access BTW)
[/quote]
again, been there done that. grrr.

but hey, thanks for the tips hahaha! I'm currently using an egg timer.

[AXJ]

LoL ... Sorry I couldn't be of more help, obviously a tongue in cheek set of suggestions. None of them would work for me. Like you I need the computer for work, that has been my source of work since the late 80s. I have too many damn computers in the house, children have a laptop and a mac between them, plus a desktop occasionally available. OpenDNS screwed my system (or at least I thought it did, may have been something else). As I have more or less a terabyte of data which is work related, dropping the security is definately a no no.

One suggestion to help notice how time is passing by listening to Radio 4, most of their programs other than Today, PM and afternoon play run to 30 minutes. If you use listen again, when the programme ends you've been doing what ever for half and hour at least. Works for me when I have a siesta!

Egg timer... good as any, but not very assertive

[StripyPixieSocks]

Ration... internet? What kind of hideousness is this?

We have three PC's and a Laptop here lol OH is a Techy-bod and I work online so there's no getting away from it, aside from which we have no TV so we spend any free time that would would have been watching the goggle box catching up with friends or researching stuff so it's time well spent imho and I wouldn't want to ration that :)

[AXJ]

I watch hardly any TV either, it's the house work that suffers!

[tiggy]

Ration the internet, I hide in here to escape from the telly so no rationing here