I often find that the wonderful world of the web can be far too distracting.  You know how it is, you make a quick visit to the BBC site to catch up on the news and the next thing you know it’s midday and you’re reading about how starfish control their body temperature (they pump up with cold sea water before exposing themselves to the sun). Like all good procrastinators I also find that I like to do this sort of displacement reading when I have something unpleasant to do, like my VAT return. 

So in an effort to be more productive, I’ve  taken to the Pomodoro technique, which is basically the concept of working in short 25 minute focused sessions.  I find it works really well and you can get a tremendous amount done in what seems a relatively short amount of time.   You can find out more about this at www.pomodorotechnique.com .  

If you’re not so keen on this idea but would like to know if you are wasting time online, there are plenty of ways to find out.  I like Manic Time which just
tracks the active windows on your PC and gives you a detailed breakdown of where your day has gone.  It can make interesting reading.