Data point: I believe the amount of time I spend on LW/Internet conversations has gone down after I’ve started beating some akrasia issues. Also, the causality seems to go in both ways. (Less time online leads to getting more done, while getting more done means less time-wasting online.)
Amusingly, Google Plus has helped eliminate the time lost to Facebook usage, though in an odd way. After I started using G+, I would cross-post all of my links and status updates to both services. Now, to limit my Internet usage, I have intentionally avoided getting a broadband connection to my home: my primary Internet access is the GPRS in my phone. GPRS is too slow to use G+ with: the page simply won’t load well enough to allow for the posting of updates. I can still update Facebook with it, but since it would feel wrong towards my G+ followers to make an FB post without cross-posting it to G+, I don’t do that either. As a result, I don’t post anything on FB/G+, and don’t get stuck in checking my FB/G+ updates for likes and comments every couple of hours. This helps considerably in getting things done. I now update them only once a week or so, when I’m at the university.
Data point: I believe the amount of time I spend on LW/Internet conversations has gone down after I’ve started beating some akrasia issues. Also, the causality seems to go in both ways. (Less time online leads to getting more done, while getting more done means less time-wasting online.)
Amusingly, Google Plus has helped eliminate the time lost to Facebook usage, though in an odd way. After I started using G+, I would cross-post all of my links and status updates to both services. Now, to limit my Internet usage, I have intentionally avoided getting a broadband connection to my home: my primary Internet access is the GPRS in my phone. GPRS is too slow to use G+ with: the page simply won’t load well enough to allow for the posting of updates. I can still update Facebook with it, but since it would feel wrong towards my G+ followers to make an FB post without cross-posting it to G+, I don’t do that either. As a result, I don’t post anything on FB/G+, and don’t get stuck in checking my FB/G+ updates for likes and comments every couple of hours. This helps considerably in getting things done. I now update them only once a week or so, when I’m at the university.