Can internet be both…. a productive tool & a distraction tool??

My mind is like a web browser… I always have so many tabs… Sometimes even if I try to freeze some tabs I am not able to do it. While watching the video, I had so many things on my mind but for a minute I tried to ignore all and concentrate on the video… my mind thought of keep listening to the video and starting to do some house chores. But while I was preparing for my lunch, my mind was wandering somewhere else and I lost track of the video. Then I sat again and watched that video. This video is for me… I try to multitask a lot but most of the time I fail. I think I am good at multi-tasking… but most of the time I am not.

About the internet, is it really a productivity tool or merely an endless series of distractions? 

I love what the internet has offered us… I am not talking about the darker side of this but yes… I know the internet is helpful to me in one way or another. As we all know that everything has its positive and negative sides, and the internet also has its pros and cons. For instance, right now I am living in Montreal, Quebec and I am learning French but I am not a native french speaker. So, the internet (especially the translator tool) helps me to communicate with people, it helps me to understand the world that is around me all the time. But yes… I would like to mention this as well. Staying focused on your tasks while using the internet is a tough task. It requires a lot of self-control and focuses.

An article named – A distracted planet talks about the concern of growing attention on phones, television and other electronic devices. The writer mentions that it’s not just about the ringing and buzzing of this device, it is about the information behind that noise. That information is begging for our constant attention. It is begging to be refreshed, rewatched and shared/reshared. I believe this is the reason why the internet and electronic devices are considered an endless series of distractions. Indeed internet has created multi-tasker but it has provided these multitaskers with distractions as well.

So. let’s move on to the remedial part of this. The Internet is a productivity tool if it is used in the right way… but what is this right way? Do we actually have a correct way to make the internet more of a productivity tool and less of a distraction? When I searched for this question on the internet the first tip was to STOP MULTITASKING…… I think this is not an easy tip, but we can plan and complete our tasks one by one. Despite trying to do everything at a time and frankly speaking, that’s impossible… we should try to do one thing at a time.

Now, I am going to ignore the productivity tips which are given on the internet and I will write a few tips which I think are helpful to enhance our productivity.

• Take breaks whenever needed
• Try to keep your cellphone or keep it on DND mode
• Keep separate browsers for your work and entertainment
• Use a specific time to focus such as some people are more productive in the morning and some prefer night
• Try to stop multitasking
• Plan your work priority-wise, not difficulty wise

Multi-tasking is considered an asset in some places but I think being able to focus on one task at a time is an asset. To conclude, I would just like to mention that in my view the internet is both a productivity and a distraction tool. Indeed notifications are a distraction. This feature of scrolling and providing something new every time to watch is a constant source of addiction which in turn results in distraction. It depends on the person who is using them. I think having self-control is important and this self-control will help us to be focused on our tasks. As a result, we can try to be more productive through this.

— Thank You