Self-Restraint

Have you heard about the Sirens? These are mythical oceanic creatures that lure sailors who can hear their enchanting voices - to approach them - only to the sailors own demise!

A wise king, Odysseus, got to hear the sirens and escaped unharmed.

Odysseus and the Sirens (1891) by John William Waterhouse.

He had all his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast. He ordered his men to leave him tied tightly to the mast, no matter how much he would beg. When he heard their beautiful song, he ordered the sailors to untie him but they bound him tighter. When they had passed out of earshot, Odysseus demonstrated with his frowns to be released (Wikipedia)

Maybe we can learn something from Odysseus. Yesterday I discussed our hyperlink addiction (aka Internet ADHD) and the potential brain mechanism behind this phenomenon. Maybe there's a way to manage our behaviour of clicking one link over another aimlessly.

Let's have some self-restraint. Keep a minimum number of opened tabs (pages). Keep your hands away from the mouse once a new page is loaded (so we can't immediately click on a link to open yet another page). Turn off the computer when it's time to do so, even when there's some work left to do. And most of all, avoid (or at least minimize) trivial internet uses such as 24hr social networking, 9gags, stumbleupon, etc.