Like probably most of you, I need an Internet connection to do my legitimate work. Though some of these productivity guards do allow granular control of their blocking, it's too much work to keep them in sync with my changing projects and reference needs.

I read an interesting article recently, discussing the idea of "habit fields". Basically, their assertion was that our bad habits, like checking email or refreshing HN, are tied to physical location as much as anything else. The idea isn't new or unique, but is interesting when applied to this issue of the digital shallows.

So, I've been trying to tackle the problem from that angle instead. I force myself to use an iPad or laptop for casual reading, only in the same physical areas I would normally read physical books for leisure. If I see something interesting while I'm at my development machine, I send it to Instapaper for later and close it immediately.

It's hard to quantify, but seems to have had at least some positive impact on my ability to sit down at my development machine and easily focus on productive tasks.

What's really scary is how large a majority of Internet users are being exposed to the same brain drain we are, but aren't as acutely aware of it because they're refreshing Farmville instead of HN.