Has your productivity declined due to the Internet?

Photo by Josh BancroftI’ve spent some time lately thinking about personal productivity. How much work do I really get done at work?

How much could I get done without so many distractions?

E-mail, the Internet, and phone calls all peel me away from what I was really hired to do. At work I’ve began using my Outlook calendar to schedule out my tasks for the day. Reminders pop up reminding me of what I really wanted to do that day.

My personal life is cluttered with things that have to be done (laundry, cleaning, dishes)  and things I want to do (writing, reading, and watching). I’ve started to use teamly.com to track my tasks each day, week, month, and quarter. I’ve started to use Google docs to track my writing schedule and progress.

Recently, I came across a tool that locks you out of the Internet for a specific period of time so you can do more of what you are supposed to do. I admit, I’m tempted. But, do we really need a tool to tell us what we should and shouldn’t be doing? Have we lost all self-control?

What tools are you using to increase your personal productivity? What does your typical daily workflow look like? Join me on twitter to discuss.