Big topic of discussion lately: people turning off their Facebook accounts so they can get some work done.

Need help disciplining your online time? Try this Firefox Add-on called LeechBlock, which shuts you off when you need it to.

But before you log off, read Jackie's take. (And, if you like it, link to it on your Facebook page, lol!)

by Jackie Brousseau-Pereira

I'm trying something new and it may take me a while to get it right.

Between my job and my doctoral program, my workload is at a tipping point. If I add one more project I will be completely paralyzed and unable get anything done.

At the end of the day, I joke to a colleague, "Well, I'm going to put this wedge under the boulder I've been pushing uphill all day and just come back to it tomorrow."

I know that if I miss one day, or lose even an hour or two, it might tip over the pile of work that I imagine is balancing precariously on the very corner of my desk.

One wrong move and it will spill to the floor in a heap.

Thank God I'm not dealing with matters of life and death in my work. I hope that I'm making some kind of impact, but honestly, if I disappeared tomorrow, things would go on. (But  people would be really pissed that I wasn't there to finish what I started).

The problem is that I have to modify my work style. For too long, I have been able to work more-or-less effectively by multi-tasking through the day. I have my email constantly open so that I can respond quickly to any messages. I chat online while proofreading a report or check the local news while reading scholarship applications.

People constantly stop by my office to chat about our latest crisis. When I am home reading for class or writing a paper, I always have email and Facebook open.

This no longer works for me. The truth is, I have to start tuning out unnecessary things out so I can focus on what matters.

First, I dumped Twitter. I hardly ever used it anyway, so this was easy to do.

My next step will be to close my email and check it only a few times a day. This is going to be more difficult.

Facebook is another distraction and it is one of those things that I know I could live without. But I would miss hearing what my punk-rock friends in Providence are up to. I know I can't completely abandon it, but at least I can have rules around when I am on.

Keeping these distractions to a minimum is much harder than I ever thought. I am addicted to being online and reachable. I have become used to the instant gratification that comes with our digital lives.

I need to know now who is sending me e-mail and who is commenting on my post.

When did this happen? It makes me wonder whether I have always had a short attention span or if this is a side effect of trying to do too many things in this life.

If I want to be more thoughtful in my work and with my family, I have to find a way to focus on what is really important.

I'm trying to see if I can use my online distractions as a "reward" for staying focused for longer periods of time. But really, this is a slippery slope. It's so easy just to spend half an hour or an hour surfing through the latest non-news posted by my closest 300 friends, leaving witty comments here and there.

I've tried to narrow down my friend list but it's harder than you'd think. So, here I am back to square one, trying to find a way to focus on what is important while simultaneously justifying my online addiction.

Perhaps I'll give myself a month to try cutting back on the online distractions. If, at the end of March, I am still just as sidetracked by the virtual world, I may just give it up in favor of live-only interactions.

Of course, I'll still have to keep e-mail, you know. For work...