One of my coworkers attended a productivity presentation a few months ago. This person came back fully convinced that Facebook, Yahoo!Mail, and other social networking sites were primary causes of procrastination. At this person's request, I created a bunch of firewall rules. The rules blocked access to these social sites during business hours. Access is granted outside work hours, from 4:00pm to 8:00am. I also permitted access during lunch (11:30 - 1:00) and on weekends. But access is blocked all other times.
My coworker has been thrilled with the results. By blocking access to social networking sites during office hours, my addicted coworker is forced to focus on the task at hand.
Working Smarter
I have many different filtering rules in place. For example, the local DNS server intercepts requests for domains associated with pop-up marketing sites and malware. My router blocks other sites that are frequently used for banner ads. The result is that web pages load significantly faster if you don't have to wait for ads.
Another great time saver is the NoScript plugin for Firefox. Most flash, javascript, and ads on sites are not needed. If the site requires it, then you can always add that specific site to the whitelist. It takes seconds to permit sites and by not adding in things like Google Analytics, banner ads, and quick-links for posting to Digg, Facebook, and ReddIt, most sites load almost immediately.
As a side-effect of NoScript, phishing sites are no longer an issue. Your bank should be in your NoScript white-list, but phishing sites are not. One of my associates actually remarked that NoScript saved them from compromising their bank account. "Why doesn't my bank's page look right? Why is NoScript blocking my bank? Oh! It isn't the correct URL!" I can only wonder -- how many malware sites have been blocked over the years because NoScript wouldn't load that portion of the page?
Time's Up!
Unfortunately, this week I've received a number of complaints about the router's configuration. "It's 11:45 and I can't get to my Facebook page!" (The sign of a true addict. Remember: my coworker asked for the router block; I didn't impose it without permission.)
The problem turned out to be related to the router itself. You see, the date when Daylight Savings Time occurs changed in 2007. Unfortunately the router, a D-Link DI-604, has no means for updating when DST occurs. The clock was off by an hour. Making matters worse, the DI-604 is
no longer supported by D-Link; they dropped support in 2008, before fixing the timezone information.
We didn't notice this earlier because we had not used time-sensitive router rules before.
My solution? I changed the timezone on the router (was MST, now CST). Now, I just need to remember to set the router's timezone whenever DST rolls around. That's going to be easier than waiting for my coworker to overcome a serious Facebook addiction.
