Whether you’re pulling an all-nighter to finish that 10-page paper or cramming for finals, distracting websites — such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter — can be your worst enemy.
We have distractions prying into our free time now more than ever, including websites, text messages, TV shows and video games. Mostly, though, our time is better spent getting work done.
How can we try to tune out these factors so that we can crank out that last page or study just a few more notes?
Enter FocalFilter. FocalFilter is a downloadable program developed by David Gelbart, Shan Naziripour and David Gong designed to “block” distracting websites.
The program, available for download at FocalFilter.com, is free and easy to run. By clicking the download link and following the installation steps, you will be on your way to blocking your favorite websites from taking up your precious time.
The program allows you to create a “Site List,” which is simply a list of websites you wish to block. By just typing the URL address into the textbox, FocalFilter will disable the site on your internet browser.
You can choose the time length for which you want the block to be in effect, ranging from five minutes to a full 12 hours. Once the time is up, FocalFilter will notify you and ask if you want to extend. Note, however, that if you restart Windows, the block will be removed (sorry Mac users—this one is for PCs only).
Junior, DeAnna Maple, a MIS and marketing major, says that she has to do a lot of homework on the computer. “I always come up with something I have to research, whether or not it’s for class,” she said.
Maple admits that, although she attempts to work on her assignments, she finds herself distracted by online games. Her latest victim is Candy Crush Saga, a puzzle game available on Facebook as well as smart phones.
“I end up doing research just for fun and logging onto social networking sites,” Maple says. Pinterest, a website which allows users to “pin” objects to their page for viewers to see, is her social networking site of choice.
Junior, Terry Davis, a history major, has started to feel the pressure of finals week looming overhead. “By the end of finals week,” he says, “I feel fatigued from the semester’s work.”
Davis feels he is pretty strict on himself when it comes to deadlines. Still, he says, “I check a gaming and sports forum probably five times a day.”
FocalFilter will hopefully be able to help out students, like Maple and Davis, who feel obliged to check websites unrelated to schoolwork.
FocalFilter can prove useful to the easily-distracted student, but keep in mind that it won’t turn off your TV during the latest episode of “The Big Bang Theory.”
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