Can't touch that!

I am talking about barriers not the MC Hammer song. In my attempts to stop my browsing behaviors I have found that barriers work fairly well. However, the truth is that none of them are fool proof. The thinking behind this is that it gives you a second chance and makes it a little bit tougher to get there. Since humans are by nature lazy creatures this works to help discourage this behavior by creating extra work.

There are several tools to help and several tools to avoid. The first tool is the one right in front of you. I am talking about your web browser. Most web browsers allow you to block certain websites. These are the sites you most commonly go to exercise your habit. Here's how to do this using the two most common browsers.

For Internet Explorer, got to tools. Click on the Security tab. Click on the Restricted sites icon towards the top. Then click sites. Start adding the sites here.

For Firefox it is a little harder, but still easy. I have found that the best tool is the add-on called LeechBlock. To add it to firefox just click on tools, then add-ons. Next click get add-ons then type in Leechblock in the search bar. Then install the add-on. Next under the add-on menu again, click options under Leechblock. Then enter in the domain names. This one is very powerful because it can use a wide range of wildcards. Lets say I want to avoid any site with teens in the url. Just enter in *teens* and there you go.

Just for the record there is a browser to avoid if you have bad habits on the internet. Google's Chrome. It is wicked fast, but it has no blocking ability and in stealth mode seems to be able to ignore some of the download limits that companies like rapidshare use. I say avoid it because the last thing you want to do is to make your habits easier to do. This was by the way my latest downfall. But I have taken if off my computer and hope that this time I will not fall back into the habit.