If you need to get something done by constantly feel bombarded by distractions around your computer, there's no need to block programs from running—you can just shut down your taskbar so you can't reach them.
If distraction-free writing tools just aren't doing it for you, you can make nearly any app distraction-free just by closing explorer.exe. Reader Я Ξ √ Ω L U T ↑ ☼ N $ explains:
Gotta do something that doesn't require Firefox or Chrome, but keep getting distracted by the interwebs? Close
explorer.exefrom the Process Manager, and keep only the window you need open. I was writing something long in Word recently, and I would continuously go back to Firefox to check my email or the news even though I didn't need to. Closing explorer.exe prevented me from going anywhere until I opened explorer again.
It's an incredibly simple way to rid yourself of potential distractions (in fact, we're surprised we hadn't thought of this before). Sadly, this doesn't seem to work on a Mac, which relaunches the Finder and Dock every time you quit them (though you could hide the Dock from System Preferences—just having it out of sight may help keep you from distractions).
Update: A few of you have mentioned a better way to stop the explorer.exe process: just open up your Start menu, Ctrl+Shift+Right Click on the menu and choose "Exit Explorer". This will close it without killing the process, and all your information will be saved for when you come back.
[via #tips]
You can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook.