Timed Restricted Use

There's a lot of useful information there and that is definitely a start... But let me explain the situation a little further. I'm a college student who is VERY easily distracted. I think it would be really helpful to have a laptop but I like to play video games and surf the web and I KNOW I would do this during class. So what I'm trying to do is allow myself to use programs like microsoft word or excel but no internet or video games. My girlfriend is wonderful and she's willing to hold a password to enable and disable this feature but I still want to retain total access to the computer other than this single feature... In other words I don't want to make an administrative account for my girlfriend on my laptop and then have a secondary account for myself being that it's my laptop. I know this is a complicated problem but I thought maybe there'd even be some software I could download that would make this possible... Any other thoughts?

for your school work. Do not put any games on this account. Just for your school work. If you have Word & Excel, if NOT download Open Office @ http://openoffice.org/ It's FREE. Remove the internet connection for this account, if it would help. There are programs, but they cost, so do your classes. Since you're in college, it's time you learn about self control. You are strong, you can do it.


Rick

***If you feel you cannot do it, have your girlfriend set up the block listed above in your unrestricted account.

You're looking for a technological solution to what is essentially a social, or psychological, problem. As such, it is doomed to failure before you even begin.

What you need to do, is remove the temptation completely. Start by not putting any games at all on your laptop. If you want to play games, get a desktop or a console. That way, you can't play games during class. For that matter, there's little point in having a laptop in class. Particularly if you have something like ADD or ADHD. Leave it home, or in your bag during class.

Another option is to use campus labs to do homework. No games, no access to install games, it's an atmosphere that promotes schoolwork, and you will, over time, create a mental association with the labs and schoolwork which will make things easier later on.

The other thing you should do is look into any sort of counseling services the school may have to offer. While often they are ill equipped to handle serious disorders, something such as yours shouldn't be too difficult. Mostly, you just need someone to help you figure out some workable goals and a plan to help you achieve those goals. They may even be able to put you in touch with a physician who can prescribe some medication to further help manage your condition.

You've already taken the big first step in recognizing there's a problem and deciding that something needs to be done about it. That's probably the hardest part already over and done with. Now you just need to regulate your time. Through a lot of hard work, you need to set it up in your mind so that specific times of the day are for doing homework, and nothing else. Any time you don't have homework during that time period, you should be studying to keep the mental association going. It will be very difficult at first, but it will gradually get easier.

One last thing... Having someone like a girlfriend hold onto a password isn't a great idea. If you go through an ugly breakup, she may not want to give it to you, and then you're stuck trying to deal with that on top of everything else. Better to have a parent charged with such a task. Someone you can bet will always be willing to talk to you no matter what your relationship may be like at the time.

Perhaps I wouldn't have gone so far as suggesting specialised or medical help, but what you are seeking is a technological solution to what is, in essence, a personal and sociological problem.

You have joined, (or are joining), a student community, and life will now be very different. You're in charge of your education now, not your tutors or other college officials, and you are facing problems every student will face to a smaller or larger degree. Whether you study or not is up to you, and whether you turn up for lectures, or take notes when you are there, is your choice. The rigid regime of school life has ended for a more relaxed, but more personally responsible, life at college.

If you are serious about your studies, and I would assume you are because you have got this far and recognised your problems, then you will sort them out as and when they arise. There will most likely be distractions, all students face them, and have a whale of a time in the process, but most, (if not all), solve them and succeed with their studies.

Good luck. I'm sure you will have a great time.

Mark