My week of digital detox and the apps that increased my productivity

THE internet can be a dangerous distraction. It is is designed to tempt us and this is a problem if you work online.

For the last few years, I’ve worked from home, unsupervised, with the weapon of mass distraction that is the internet at my fingertips. Many mornings (usually Mondays) I’ve allowed myself a strict, 15-minute time-limit to ‘check the internet’. All of a sudden, it’s lunch-time, there are 57 tabs open, and I’m 28 potatoes into a ‘33 potatoes that look a bit like Enda Kenny’ list, with no idea of how I’ve gotten there.

I’m self-employed, so the time I spend looking at Taoiseach-shaped potatoes doesn’t just cause me to question my sanity, it also costs me money.