Effective time usage on the Internet
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Many Internet users are familiar with the situation in which they surf more than planned. Even when it is not considered an addiction, wasting time is a common problem. This situation is common on shopping sites, news or forums, but not only. This page will review existing solutions from NetFree or external sources, in order to extract maximum profit from the Internet with minimum damage.
NetFree solutions
Block categories or websites
The most recommended solution is to block categories or websites that you know are a waste of time (e.g. Addictive websites category). This can be done in My Dashboard's Filter Settings[1] (or using the free software URL Disabler). However, in some cases these are sometimes needed sites, and in these cases you can use one of the following solutions.
Profiles
Via NetFree's profiles settings you can customize your settings by closing specific websites/categories by set hours and more. For example, you can set that part of the day only email should be open, while in the rest of the day all or part of sites should be open. For details, see Personal filter settings.
Time limit option
A suggestion that is on the voting page list for development is an option to limit browsing time on a specific site or category. That is: a user will be able to set that on a particular site, he can browse for example an hour and a half a week, and if he exceeds the limit he has chosen, a contribution to NetFree will automatically be deducted from his credit card, either a fixed amount or per time of deviation, with a prominent alert before limit is reached.
To vote for this suggestion go to idea number 7 on the voting page.
External solutions
InternetOff (software)
InternetOff is free software from Crystal Rich. The software allows scheduling of Internet activation - you can set certain times when the Internet will be disconnected.
Pesek-zman (software)
Pesek-zman is a free Hebrew software from "Lev Avos", designed to set clear times for Internet use. Users must be set, and then a browsing time limit is set for each user.
Unlike InternetOff software which has no time limit (how many minutes of browsing) but only what times of day you can surf, the "Pesek-zman" software works the opposite: you can not set times per day, but set minutes of surfing. You can combine these 2 programs to achieve a combination of the 2 features.
For a comprehensive explanation and installation guide (in Hebrew) click here
freedom (Paid software)
Browser extensions
Screentime (Chrome extension)
With the Screentime plugin you can set browsing time for specific sites. For example, you can set up 30 minutes of daily browsing in Prog or AliExpress. You can also set surfing time by days, for example that on Friday there will be only 10 minutes for surfing. The limit is set for each site individually, and not for the whole Internet.
Free download from Chrome extension store.
Limit (Chrome & Firefox extension)
Limit is very similar to the Screentime extension.
Advantages: Allows browsing time count (timer) for each site. To enable this, click on "Show timer" on the settings page.
Disadvantages: Does not allow restriction by days of the week.
Free download Chrome extension store or Firefox Extension Store.
WasteNoTime (Chrome extension)
WasteNoTime is a high-functionality extension, with more options than previous plugins. Respectively, it is also more complex to use.
Among its features:
- White list and blacklist for limiting the minutes of use of the site, with the option to set that the links from the page will also be calculated in the site's minutes bank.
- Surf Minutes (Timer).
- Option to set working hours and according to this set minutes of use of a site during working hours and during none working hours.
- Alert before blocking a site.
- Instant one-time blocking (i.e., disconnect browsing from this moment for as long as you define, one-time).
Free download from Chrome extension store.
Password Setup (Appendix)
Even if you have done one of the solutions offered above, you will encounter a problem: in the moment of truth, when you are blocked from surfing, you may cancel the restriction or add surfing minutes.
For this reason, most extension and software, as well as the Personal Filter Settings of NetFree, allow password setting. However, this option will not help you if you know the password. The recommended option is to ask a family member to set a password for you. Alternatively, you can set a shared password. That is, one knows only the first half of the password, while the spouse knows only the other half.