As a student, I often hear my peers complaining about how difficult it is to complete essays. Their primary nemesis? Procrastination, or so they claim. Further inquiry reveals that the true enemy is actually a variety of distractions.

These distractions often range from television, to video games, to internet browsing. The biggest culprit appears to be frequent and impulsive use of the internet. How many times have you checked your email today? If you just realized that you spend more time than you’d like on the computer, you’re probably not alone.

Whenever I’m confronting a mountain of work, I do my best to isolate myself from the internet. If at all possible, I keep my computers off completely and work with pen and paper. If I need to work on the computer, I simply rip out the Ethernet cables. I know my willpower in resisting the allure of the internet is low, thus I physically remove access to it. Usually, this is enough. I don’t appear to be the only one taking this approach.

My editor recently spent several days removed from the internet completely. When he returned, he explained that he had removed himself from internet access in order to concentrate better. That was the moment when I realized I was surrounded by people who are always distracted.

So what has us so preoccupied? What are we doing on the internet? If you really want to find out, take a long piece of paper and write down every single website you visit in a day. More importantly, write down why you’re on that website to begin with. You’d be surprised at how little you actually aim to accomplish by visiting your favorite websites. For my part, I found I was often checking my email accounts, cruising through forums, or seeing if any of my friends had posted anything on social networking sites. What would I gain from seeing what other people were doing? Not a thing.

What can you do about your internet obsession? For one day, I only used the internet whenever it was absolutely necessary. If I caught myself beginning to stray, I would immediately walk away from the computer. You’d be surprised at how much extra time you have in a day.

The internet, with all its wonders, might actually be a serious inhibitor of normal life.