Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

using aPPs To avoid disTracTions 
Tere are several ways in which you can use apps to help reduce 
the impact of distractions while studying. Staying focused is not 
always easy, especially when studying at home. However, there are 
several digital options available to you that can help you remain 
focused. Tey can also let you analyse your working pattern so 

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206 Coping online 
that you can see what distracts you the most, and therefore be able 
to deal with that issue. 
Tere are several apps that help with online distractions. One that 
will help you analyse your personal situation is called Rescue Time 
(www.rescuetime.com). Tis detects all of your computer and on-
line activities and can prepare charts and graphs to show you how 
you are spending your time. Often, people think they have only 
spent “a few minutes” on their favourite social media site. Te data 
collected by Rescue Time could show you that this is far from the 
case. Indeed, in test results that I was shown, people who said 
they had been on a social media site for three minutes turned out 
to have been there for around 18 minutes – six times longer than 
they thought. Published research shows that there is the poten-
tial for time distortion when using social media (Turel, Brevers, 
and Bechara, 2018). So, Rescue Time can reveal just how much 
time you are spending on social media sites, for example. It could 
be signifcantly more than you think. According to data collected 
by the website We Are Social, we are now individually spending 
almost two and a half hours on social media every day (Kemp, 
2021). Tat’s a great deal of time out of your study day. Of course, 
this is an average fgure, so there is a chance your social media 
usage is a lot less. Equally, it could be a great deal higher. Getting 
Rescue Time will help you fnd out. It will also show you your pat-
tern of use. Te app will help you see how frequently you “drop-in” 
and for how long; you could be surprised. Having this knowledge, 
though, enables you to see what issues need fxing and so you can 
work out what you need to do to remain focused. Rescue Time 
itself can help by allowing you to focus during particular periods, 
even blocking access to sites that could distract you during your 
study time. 
Tere are also apps which work by switching of access to specifc 
sites to help you to remain focused. Even if you decide to check a 
social media page, these blockers will prevent you from going there 
until a specifc time has elapsed. Tese apps are collectively known 
as “distraction blockers”, and you can fnd a list on the website I have 
created to accompany this book, https://studyingonline.tips. 

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