I have gained two hours a day in productive time - for free.  It was free and has made my life a lot easier. If you habitually waste time in the same way I do: spending time on websites (political sites, various "interesting" forums that have nothing to do with your goals, etc.), you will find this solution a godsend.

While reading Tim Ferris' Four Hour Work Week blog, he mentioned a very cool productivity tool called called LeechBlock, a Firefox plug-in. As I read about it, I realized I needed this plug-in. I liked what I saw and installed it.

Now when I want to visit a politics website during times I should be busy working toward my goals, the site is blocked and I am given an opportunity to be productive. I've gone from being my own worst boss to being, well - a better boss.

Here's what LeechBlock does:

• lets you create up to 6 blocks of time during which it prevents Firefox from visiting sites that you designate, presumably because you believe that they are wastes of time when you ought to be productive.
• lets you create an alternative website to visit if you do go to one of the forbidden websites.
• lets you specify a certain amount of time that you can visit these websites outside the specified times, after which the prevention kicks in.
• within any one block, you can designate any number of domains or pages that LeechBlock will actively block.

How I use it:

One of my biggest nemeses is politics. If I could be paid for getting all ticked off about politics, I'd be wealthier than God. But, of course, I don't get paid a dime. Moreover, after I'm temporarily done with it, the emotions that have been stirred up can take awhile to reduce, thereby costing me even more time.

So I have designated the hours of 7am to 11pm blocked. I have also set 15 minutes as the most time I will spend on sites in this block outside of the designated time.

I have already found this to be powerful. I tried to visit a one of "my" political sites this afternoon, and was immediately redirected to this blog's log-in page, which serves as a reminder that I have content to develop.

One more thing: I also use Google Chrome. I want the same productivity with that browser as I have with Firefox. While LeechBlock doesn't exist there, Nanny for Chrome does. And it works pretty much the same way with equally good results.

Status for both tools: Highly Recommended