Do Netbooks Help You Work Distraction Free?
Last week Farhad Manjoo wrote in the NY Times about the troubles of working on “the most distraction machines ever invented”, providing links to many different tools to “tame” your digital distractions.
Some of the biggest distractions users like myself face when connecting to the Internet to get work done are time-sucks like Hulu, Instant messaging, Twitter, Flickr, and any number of flash games. It seems that Farhad is right, this blasted notebook is the most distracting machine invented.
While I find myself drawn to these time-wasters as soon as I sit down at work in the morning or drop in behind a widescreen monitor at home I noticed there’s one place where I don’t feel the same pull; on my netbook.
It’s not that a netbook can’t handle these activities, well mine struggles playing an episode of The Office on Hulu, but the small screen and tendency to heat my lap up to an uncomfortable temperature means I’m more likely to focus on getting one thing done.
Even with Windows 7 and the additional advantages it brings to my small screen when I sit down with my netbook it’s all about extremes. I’m either in full work mode which means a Firefox browser with only a few tabs and an open window for Write or Die or I have Skype, Trillian, Tweetdeck and tabs full of Google Reader links open.
Not only does the small size of my netbook mean it’s with me all the time, it also means I’m more likely to actually work when I open it. Of course if you aren’t dependent on the Internet to work you could turn off Wifi to cut out distractions and save battery life.
So, how about you? Does your netbook help you avoid digital distractions?
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It didn’t bother me, but with the netbooks with ion on board coming out…
It didn’t bother me, but with the netbooks with ion on board coming out…
They always blame fantasy football and March Madness on lost productivity but little do they know it’s because our computers are always getting better at playing games and watching online video!
They always blame fantasy football and March Madness on lost productivity but little do they know it’s because our computers are always getting better at playing games and watching online video!
It didn’t bother me, but with the netbooks with ion on board coming out…
They always blame fantasy football and March Madness on lost productivity but little do they know it’s because our computers are always getting better at playing games and watching online video!
The reason I am looking into buying a netbook is so that I can escape my noisy family and work somewhere alone, free from the arguing and yelling! Its nice to not have to stay glued to a desk at all times. So I think it will definately help me work distraction free.
The reason I am looking into buying a netbook is so that I can escape my noisy family and work somewhere alone, free from the arguing and yelling! Its nice to not have to stay glued to a desk at all times. So I think it will definately help me work distraction free.
The reason I am looking into buying a netbook is so that I can escape my noisy family and work somewhere alone, free from the arguing and yelling! Its nice to not have to stay glued to a desk at all times. So I think it will definately help me work distraction free.
I have been saying this for a while and fully agree. I have a 24-inch iMac that sports a secondary 20-inch Cinema display. While I have good productivity on the iMac, I often get distracted.
On the other hand, the netbook with the small 10-inch display often helps me to sit down and focus completely on work because I do not have as much open (due to small screen and limited power).
I have been saying this for a while and fully agree. I have a 24-inch iMac that sports a secondary 20-inch Cinema display. While I have good productivity on the iMac, I often get distracted.
On the other hand, the netbook with the small 10-inch display often helps me to sit down and focus completely on work because I do not have as much open (due to small screen and limited power).
I have been saying this for a while and fully agree. I have a 24-inch iMac that sports a secondary 20-inch Cinema display. While I have good productivity on the iMac, I often get distracted.
On the other hand, the netbook with the small 10-inch display often helps me to sit down and focus completely on work because I do not have as much open (due to small screen and limited power).