Do you have trouble remembering what you're meant to be doing? Are you one of those people who, when trying to just look one small fact up on Wikipedia, emerges 2 hours later with a dazed look because of all the irrelevant new knowledge you accidentally gained?

It's such a common problem xkcd even wrote a comic about it:

The topic can be funny, but if you are actually trying to get things done it's also a big problem. We've previously covered using Isolator and Menu Eclipse to hide distractions on your screen, and using the Freedom preference pane to block internet access.

Those two techniques try to take away irrelevant things that may distract you. Here's another very simple technique that works on the opposite principle - reminding you of what you want to focus on: use Stickies. Here's a picture of what always sits near the top right of my screen:

Stickies is a program that comes with OS X, you can find it in the /Applications directory. It's essentially just an on-screen version of sticky notes, but Stickies have some useful attributes that the real thing don't have:

• Transparency - You can make the sticky note partially transparent, so you can still see anything on the screen under it.
• Stay on top - You can set the note so it'll almost always stay on top of all the other windows. This means you can always see it.
• Editable - You can update what's on the note to always be relevant!

I find having the sticky note there at the corner of my screen near the clock - which I glance at frequently - helps me to remember what I'm trying to get done. When I've finished writing this article, I'll just click on the note to edit it so it says "replying to email" and it'll help me stay on track with that. I try to keep it updated all day with whatever I'm working on.

Do you have tricks you use to keep yourself on track? Please share them in the comments!

- Ricky Buchanan

Do you have problems with getting distracted by the other windows on your screen, but you don't want to hide them completely from view? Isolater and Menu Eclipse might be just what you need.

Isolator
Isolater hides all the windows except the ones in the application you're currently using.

When you're working on a document, and don't want to be distracted, turn on Isolator. It will cover up your desktop and all the icons on it, as well as the windows of all your other applications, so you can concentrate on the task in hand.

You can configure Isolator so that the hidden windows are completely invisible, greyed out, or blurred in various different ways, and it's easy to turn its effects on and off with the menu extra.

Menu Eclipse
This one greys out the menu bar itself, at the top of your screen.

Gain better focus on your work and play, and away from the menu bar.

I configured it so that the menu bar switches back to being completely visible when the mouse is over it. The option for this is confusingly named with a double negative, "Don't hide the eclipse when cursor is over" but luckily it's the default setting anyway. You can switch Menu Eclipse on and off with a menu extra too.

I set Isolator to hide my background windows with a black tint of about 75% strength:

And then opened the Menu Eclipse preferences and just fiddled with the slider for "Eclipse Amount" until it was not quite as dark as the background and generally looked right to me. It turned out to be 70% strength:

Together these two applications make a great deal of difference to how distracting the space around your active windows can be. And they're both free to use, so price needn't be a problem.

- Ricky Buchanan

The internet brings freedom to people with disabilities in various ways, but sometimes we all need freedom from the Internet. For those who have trouble with concentration, attention, or staying on task, being able to easily disable networking for amounts of time can be a great idea. This could also be useful for educators to make sure students are doing their class work instead of playing online!

Freedom is an application that disables wireless and ethernet networking on an Apple computer for up to three hours at a time. Freedom will free you from the distractions of the internet, allowing you time to code, write, or create. At the end of your selected offline period, Freedom re-enables your network, restoring everything as normal.

Freedom enforces freedom; a reboot is the only circumvention of the Freedom time limit you specify. The hassle of rebooting means you're less likely to cheat, and you'll be more productive.

You could do the same job by simply unplugging the modem but this is easier which makes it more likely to be used, especially by those with mobility problems. It also has the great advantage of not messing up myyour flatmate's internet connection!

- Ricky Buchanan

(Via Mac Tips And Tricks.)

ChatterBlocker plays soft sounds designed to reduce distraction from nearby conversations. The website claims that as well as blocking distraction from talking it can also be useful for:

• Masking highway & airplane noise, etc.
• Tinnitus (ringing ears)
• Hyperacousis (sound sensitivity)
• Asperger syndrome (with sound sensitivity)

The website describes how it works:

ChatterBlocker does not use noise cancellation; instead, it blurs recognizable speech with a soothing blend of nature sounds, music and background chatter. Intelligible speech is often the most distracting sound in the workplace. ChatterBlocker lowers the intelligibility and reduces the distraction.

I have hyperacousis but I found that the ChatterBlocker noises were themselves distracting, on balance it made things worse rather than better for me. I have talked to others with similar problems though and some of them found that the program was helpful to them. Everybody is different - download the demo program and see if it's for you. It has been suggested to me that it works best when used with headphones and when the user adjusts it to the lowest volume possible.

I think that ChatterBlocker could also be useful for anybody who has trouble concentrating or is easily distracted for other reasons, such as those with attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD), those with head injury (ABI), and those with disorders like cerebral palsy which makes them inclined to startle easily.

- Ricky Buchanan

Limit your attention to one application - any application - at any time, bring other apps up quickly if you need them, but put them out of sight again just as quickly.

Let's rediscover how to focus, and get back to thinking.

I usually just enlarge apps manually to fill the whole screen to cut down on the visual clutter, but some apps won't do that and some people prefer things smaller. Think could be a useful app if visual clutter is a problem for you.

- Ricky Buchanan