Via my sister-in-law Miranda via Boing Boing via Lifehacker, I just learned about an application that I’ve been specifically looking for:
Freedom serves a simple purpose: It disables all wireless and Ethernet networking on your Mac for up to six hours at a time. After the time you specify is up, Freedom re-enables your network adapters and display a confirmation.
The genius part of it is, once you set it up to disable your connection for a certain amount, you cannot restore it without rebooting your computer. So, you decide you want to work without distractions for 2 1/2 hours until lunchtime, and set Freedom to 150 minutes; an hour later you develop an irresistible urge to check email; tough luck, unless you want to go to the trouble of rebooting.
I felt slightly humiliated to find this comment on the Lifehacker site: “Someone who needs this has much larger problems in their life.” I definitely need it. There was a point this spring when I was trying to work at home and my email/web compulsivity got so bad that I hit upon the solution of going down to the basement and turning off the DSL modem. Unfortunately, it turned out that we get DSL from a neighbor, so this didn’t really work. (Btw, starting Moonraking was conceptually related to this web compulsivity issue: I had been thinking of starting a blog, but worried that doing so would be fueling the fire; I eventually decided that blogging would be more constructive than the random emailing and surfing I’d been doing. Maybe that was the false logic of an addict, not sure.)
Seriously, I’m excited about this. It’s true that there may be occasions when I actually do need to check something quickly online, but overall I think it will be really helpful for me to cut myself off semi- irrevocably. Thanks Miranda!
Ivan Kreilkamp 
“Freedom” may be called just that, but it sounds like a straitjacket! Hmm. Well, just like in art, working in a strict form may lead to a new kind of freedom. It’s a paradox.
Well, it’s a straitjacket if you see the internet as freedom. It’s freedom if you see the internet as a compulsive addiction, as I sometimes do when I’m trying to work!
i sometimes feel like a ridiculous human because of my obsession with the internet. i don’t have a tv but you can watch pretty much anything on the computer- and writing does get severely interrupted when there’s email to check and the huffington post to read! i like the idea of freedom, although i’m scared to be “that person” that needs it…
I think maybe you need it, Laura! Don’t be ashamed!