Mac Freedom

Where would I be without friends? The reason I have a Mac is because my friend Chris Laney insisted I would be happy with nothing less. He was right. I have an ongoing love affair with my never-locks-up-or-breaks-down-or-pops-up-a-million-annoying-windows Mac laptop. And now Chris has introduced me to the best Mac application ever.

Mac Freedom. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways . . .

 In a nutshell, Mac Freedom "... is an application that disables networking on an Apple computer for up to eight hours at a time. Freedom will free you from the distractions of the internet, allowing you time to code, write, or create. At the end of your selected offline period, Freedom re-enables your network, restoring everything as normal."

 When you open the program, it asks you how long you wish to remain offline. Today, for example, I entered 120 minutes and hit BEGIN. Boom! I was offline, and the only way I could get back on would have been to reboot my computer. That's the key, for me at least. I can disable e-mail but I know with a click of the button, I can be right back on. There were a couple of times while working this morning that I wanted to toggle over to the web and look something up. But not enough to restart my computer. Instead, I made a note for later and kept working. And got so much done. I left my desk for a few minutes at one point and when I sat back down, I started to check email--out of habit--before realizing I didn't have the option. So I jumped right back into my work. 

The program is free, although a $10 donation is appreciated if you like the app. I can't speak for other professions, but I think it's a must for every writer. Thanks Chris, for the heads up. 

Cheers,

Dena