PURPOSE:
We live in an age in which online distractions are everywhere. We all know there are much more important things than what your friend posted on their Facebook wall, but many lack the perseverance to stay focused on the tasks that matter.
Fear no longer! Watchful Protector is an extension designed to be your fellow warrior in the battle against procrastination. It lets you add sites to block and makes you set how much time you are allowed on those sites each day. Once the daily allotted time is used up, you will be blocked from each of those websites. What's more, the extension records how much time you use each blocked website every day, and outputs data graphs so you could figure out which habits to work on stopping. Additionally, you may find hidden gems of inspiration scattered throughout the extension (to help you internalize what really matters).
It's a smart extension. It knows you will try to remove blocked sites or increase how much time you are allowed each day, no matter how determined you are to stop initially. That is why it features security protocols to prevent changing settings. Different levels of security require different levels of challenges to pass in order to change the settings. They range in difficulty from annoying to extremely tedious (but always doable in case you must use a blocked site for some reason).
And as an incentive not to remove the extension all together, the beautiful statistics and graphs that the extension saves would be lost forever. You would not want to lose that precious data. Isn't your goal to stop unnecessary procrastination anyway?!
Watchful Protector is your ticket to greater productivity. As good old Ben Franklin says, "Lost time is never found again."
Lastly, to end with an ode to batman: "Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A WATCHFUL PROTECTOR. A dark knight.
Good luck with the battle!
Download in the Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/watchful-protector/konhmmbcghkjjlnbpmioknbjpdnhlefb?hl=en
INSTRUCTIONS:
Once downloaded, the extension appears as a circular icon near the search bar (you are being watched over by your friendly AI protector, HAL). Clicking on the icon will open a popup with a clock. Clicking on the settings page below the clock leads to the settings pages, comprising the main body of the extension.
This extension has seven main pages:
- The popup: The popup displays a clock that shows the amount of time left for the user to go on websites that the user has blocked. The clock ticks down if the user is on a blocked website, and stops clicking when the user is not on one. Once the clock goes to zero, It displays “Out_of_Time.” If the user then attempts to go to a blocked website, the page will be redirected to a the redirect page.
- The Redirect page: This is the link the user is redirected to if the time spent on blocked websites has exceeded the time allowed each day. The content of this page was chosen carefully in order to best inspire the user not to procrastinate.
- The Set Time page: Here the user can change how much time is allowed each day on blocked websites. If the user wishes to decrease the amount of time, the extension allows it. But if the user tries to decrease the amount of time, it will require clearance. To get clearance, the user must go to the clearance page.
- The Add/Remove page: If the user wishes to add or remove websites to the blocked sites list, the user can do so here. Only proper website names work. Website names must include either a “.com”, “.org”, “.net”, “.gov”, or “.edu”. So entering “facebook.com” blocks facebook.com and all urls that include “facebook.com” anywhere in the url. If a user wishes to block all websites with “.com” for example, just enter in “.com”. If the user wants to remove a website, it will require clearance. Once clearance is obtained, the user just has to click the remove button next to the corresponding website.
- The Security Page: On this page the user can specify which level of security the user wants. Security here means the amount of work required to get clearance in order to remove websites or increase the amount of time allowed each day. There are four levels. Level 0 is equivalent to no security, it just gives the user an option to feel determined without needing to go through a challenge. Levels 1, 2, and 3 each require a challenge to get clearance, with increasing levels of difficulty. The user would also need security to go from one level of security to a lower level.
- The Clearance Page. Here is where the user goes through the clearance challenge once the user clicks the “Get Clearance” button. The task is to enter each word presented exactly as it is given. Slowly the user builds up a paragraph. Level 1 has a short quote. Level 3 has a very long paragraph. Once the last word is entered, the user gets clearance for exactly one minute.
- The Statistics Page: On this page, the extension outputs a graph for each website on the blocked websites list. Each graph shows how much time the user spent (in minutes) on that website each day the user owned the extension. This is meant for the user to easily compare and analyze his/her search habits, and focus efforts on avoiding certain sites.
Hope you enjoy!