by Emil Hunefalk

Created on: April 22, 2010

The Internet has created a wasteland of blogs, social networks, news sites, sports results, instant messaging and other types of distractions easily keeping people from working efficiently. However, there are also a number of useful tools to be found, to help you become more efficient and structure your work.

To start with, there are tools you can get for keeping tabs on the activity on your computer - personally I use RescueTime (which is however downloadable software) to keep track of my productive time. For a similar purpose, I have installed LeechBlock as an addon in my browser, setting it up to effectively block any site I shouldn't be visiting during the hours I have set (between 8:30-18:00, except for lunch). This makes me stay away from reading news for too long, going through updates on Twitter or Facebook or any other distraction website out there. It also holds me accountable to myself (in my case, although some would argue giving others the chance to peek has some positive sides to it).

Even if you don't have any problems with visiting too many websites unrelated to your work tasks, there are a number of tools in the cloud to help you. For example, RememberTheMilk is a popular todo-list manager, with their easy integration with other systems, although it's worth mentioning you should probably look at a few different list managers to see which suits you best. There are also a number of online calendar providers out there, helping you keep your appointments collected and out of mind. Keeping a system with tasks and appointments online lets you access it all from anywhere while letting you focus on the current task with a relatively free mind.

Other tools you can use online sometimes depend on what type of work you do. For example, web developers are often helped by installing a number of addons in their browser (e.g. Firebug, Greasemonkey, MeasureIt), while some may want to keep their documents online for easy access from anywhere you can find a connection (of course, it's wise to consider security before you put those documents online, but that would be drifting from the subject at hand). 

A final important note to make is that to be efficient, you must sometimes allow yourself to be less productive - it is often recommended to walk away from the computer for at least 10-15 minutes per hour, letting your mind drift away for a couple of minutes to freshen up.

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