How often do you find yourself ready to start a new task or project - for work or school - with the best intentions of staying productive and completing the task in a timely manner, and then find yourself scrolling through random websites and social media 3 hours later? The truth is, you’re not alone. Statistics show that procrastination affects over 20% of the population and that procrastination has more than quadrupled in the last 30 years simply because of the world wide web.
On average, internet users worldwide spend 415.5 minutes everyday online- that’s nearly 7 hours a day online. And that’s just the internet. On average, we spend between 4.5-5 hours a day just on our phones. This alone can be reason enough why you might have thought of, or decided to start blocking distracting websites. Or maybe your decision has nothing to do with wanting to spend less time online and you simply want to be more focused and productive in your everyday work and tasks. In this article, we’ll cover blocking websites on Chrome for desktop, Android and iPhone so you can achieve exactly what you set out to do.
Today, with technology being so available to us in our everyday life, we need to make sure we put strict boundaries in place to control our screen time if we want to learn how to avoid digital distractions. These distractions can range from notifications on your phone when you’re trying to complete an assignment, or just wanting to check the latest updates whether on social media, news websites, new sales - these distractions live everywhere. It can feel very challenging to stay focused when our attention is constantly being pulled elsewhere.
Even in the workplace we face distractions while completing tasks. The tools typically used at work also tend to take our attention. With notifications from Google alerting us about new calendar invitations, to websites and browsers pinging us with ‘breaking news’ updates.
So what’s the solution? Here are some of the top ways you can block websites.
Blocking a website on Chrome is easy. All you need to do is download the BlockSite extension and launch it on your desktop. Open the settings and select the ‘Block Sites’ option. To start creating your custom block list, enter a web address and then choose if you wish to block this site permanently or by schedule. Schedule mode lets you set specific hours and days for BlockSite to kick in and block - or not block - the sites of your choosing.
Once you have typed the web address, click enter and click on the green + icon to add the site to your block list. You can also block a website via the right-click button. To do this, simply right-click on the website page to see your options, then from the menu, select ‘block this link’ and that will add the site to your block list.
We can’t talk about daily digital distractions without bringing our smartphones into the conversation. The good news is that if you’re looking to avoid and block specific and distracting websites on Android or your iPhone, it’s never been easier than with BlockSite.
With the BlockSite Android or iOS app, you can choose specific websites to block or block in bulk with category blocking. And whether you use Chrome or Safari, you are able to block distracting websites on both platforms on your mobile phone.
Let’s say you need a break from checking news websites on your phone. You can choose to block only CNN.com or you can choose to block by category where you can avoid all news outlets. The BlockSite app is available on both iOS and Android and enables you to remove distractions while on the go.
Blocking websites on your iPhone requires 3 small steps.
Blocking websites on your Android phone is simple.
We’re all used to typing ‘f’ in the Google search/browser bar and having autofill complete ‘Facebook’ and send us straight there. But imagine if it could be blocked with the click of a button so that every time Google sends you to your favorite social media site, you’re blocked from viewing it. That would be great right? You can do exactly that with BlockSite. Simply download BlockSite to your desktop and/or mobile phone and start adding websites that you want to temporarily block and voila - you’ve blocked a distracting website.
With BlockSite you’re able to decide if you want to block websites for extended periods of time, specific periods of time per day, or per week with our Focus Mode feature. With Focus Mode you decide how long each website should be blocked for. You can even schedule your breaks to stay on track.
Our mobile apps, available on Android and iOS include features like: Schedule Mode, Adult Content Blocker, Category Blocking, Keyword Blocking and so much more.
Download here to get started and try them for yourself!
Unblocking websites is just as easy as blocking them when you use BlockSite. And you can find where to unblock them in the same section as where you block them. Simply head to your list of blocked sites and click on the ‘trash’ icon on the right side of the list and that website has been removed from your block list.
With apps and extensions such as BlockSite, it is totally possible to block websites on different browsers. With its availability on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, you can avoid whatever websites you like on each of those browsers.
For example, if you want to stop accessing Facebook on Chrome and Twitter on Firefox, you can. Just download the extension to your browser and get started with creating your block list.
BlockSite helps you avoid digital distractions so you can stay productive and focused on what’s really important.
With BlockSite you can sync your blocked websites with your mobile device on Android making it easy for you to stay focused even while on the go.
Investing in BlockSite is an investment in yourself and putting you that much closer to meeting and achieving the goals you make for yourself. So many of us are losing valuable hours of productivity and focus to digital distractions, it’s now time to reclaim those hours and fill them with things that really matter. Download today and start taking back control of your time.
Why is it important to block websites?
On average, internet users worldwide spend 415.5 minutes everyday online- that’s nearly 7 hours a day online. This alone can be reason enough why you have decided to start blocking websites as it has a direct effect on one’s focus and productivity. Blocking websites lets you stay focused without outside distractions.
How to block websites on Chrome?
Blocking a website on Chrome is easy with the BlockSite extension. Download and install the extension so it is active and launched on your desktop. Open the settings and select the ‘Block Sites’ option. To start creating your custom block list, enter a web address and choose if you wish to block this site permanently or by schedule.
How to block a website on iPhone and Android?
With the BlockSite app, you can block specific websites or block in bulk with category blocking. Simply open your Blocked Sites list and add websites there. The app is available on both iOS and Android and enables you to remove distractions from the device we seem to be on the most.