How Web History Analytics Helped Me Curb My Internet Addiction
I was fed up with the habit of my internet addiction. So I started exploring my web history to find where I am spending the most time and If it is not productive I can curb it or block it.
That is the thing I love about being an analyst, converting a problem into data and then using that data to find out the findings(As our mind is not suitable to handle that many variables. A simple 4–5 findings and you are good to go for the next steps you need to take.
I browse mostly on chrome, I found a chrome extension where I can export my web history in a CSV format. being an analyst that’s all I need😁.
(This is mostly for websites, I am sure I will be doing it for apps as well.)
Most websites I visited are informative and entertainment related. But I also found some websites which were distracting me from actual work. And some websites that I visited were not relevant at all.
On exploring further I analyzed the day and timings at which I visit the websites. I found out that I am visiting those distracting websites while I am working or when I am stressed out.
Whether I was unconsciously typing out the websites and exploring because I am bored or it is just reflex.
We do not realize this nowadays when we start typing,(typically true for knowledge workers), we unconsciously type out the websites we often visit. Press enter and the loop starts again. (Cricbuzz, google news, youtube, and Twitter) in my case.
This Link count(Number of visits last month) gives you an idea on how unconsciously I was visiting websites and that’s where the main problem lies.
Thus from my web history analytics, I got a clear picture of my internet addiction. I can now take conscious steps to reduce my addiction and also block those distracting websites whenever I need to concentrate on work. This can help you as well to be more self-aware of your usage and take informed decisions about how to curb or block it if needed. It is also important to be mindful of your usage and take conscious steps towards choosing productive activities instead of being distracted or addicted to the internet.
That’s It. I hope it helps you in you in curbing your internet addiction.
If you have any questions or any inputs you want to share, just comment or hit me up on LinkedIn or Twitter. I am pretty much active there.
All the best.
Please Start. You will not regret it.
Thanks,
Piyush Jain
