By Sarah Ang from Mashable.com:
You’re doing it again — spending too much valuable time on Twitter and Facebook.
So we’ve narrowed down seven free and convenient browser plugins and extensions to help you stop procrastinating — now.
Ed.: I’ve picked out a sound-masker, a page-blocker, and of course positive reinforcement with kittens. Other tools have names like Self Control and Productivity Owl(!).
1. White Noise
Image courtesy of White Noise
You may have impeccable taste in music, but all that bass dropping can be distracting. User-friendly White Noise lets you drown out background chatter. Play around with other noise “colors,” like gray, pink and blue.
2. Strict Workflow
Image courtesy of Strict Workflow
Strict Workflow employs the Pomodoro technique: Focus for 25 minutes, then reward yourself with a sanity-saving five minute break. A simple click on the tiny tomato starts the timer, which sits unobtrusively in the corner of your screen. You can also blacklist and whitelist specific sites during sessions.
And skipping ahead to #7: Written? Kitten!
Image courtesy of Written? Kitten!
Clearly, we saved the best for last. Written? Kitten! isn’t a plugin or extension, but rather a helpful tool if you respond well to positive reinforcement. Each time you reach a goal (for example, you hit 500 words in your essay), the site rewards you with an adorable picture of a kitten, generated from Flickr. Meowww.
