Great article! Recognize though that time is not fungible. For example just because you stop watching tv from 9pm to 10pm doesn't mean your going to be productive <insert task> in that same block of time after working a full day at your day job.
Based on a lot of our responses, I think a lot of us are just substituting web surfing for watching tv (self included). So how do we keep from just substituting another time sink for tv? How much time do we waste "web surfing" in the evening when we could be doing something else more generative?
> So how do we keep from just substituting another time sink for tv? How much time do we waste "web surfing" in the evening when we could be doing something else more generative?
It's not necessary. I personally just do what I want, whenever I want, and don't concern myself with "productivity". If I feel like watching TV for days, hell, I do. Other times I feel like creating something: well, I just take out my Emacs and start coding for hours. If I feel like working, I'll work and earn money, if I don't I just quit and spend money.
That's the good part of being a grown-up. You get to do what you want :)
Life is too short to waste it on meaningful things. And usually meaningful means "following what other people say" anyway :)
Well, taking your dedicated work machine off the internet - or maybe at least blocking it on the router with a script every hour or so, forcing you to make a conscious decision about going online seems to work for lots of people.
Then again - reading tech news, for example, isn't all that bad, so how about just mapping Youtube and similar time-sinks to 127.0.0.1 in your hosts file?
Based on a lot of our responses, I think a lot of us are just substituting web surfing for watching tv (self included). So how do we keep from just substituting another time sink for tv? How much time do we waste "web surfing" in the evening when we could be doing something else more generative?