InternetOff takes back your time (and life)

You’ve work to do. And lots of it. But you just need to check your email, first. And Facebook. And Twitter. And a few websites, and your RSS feeds, and the latest news, and the list goes on.

Sounds familiar? If you’re really busy and could do without the usual lengthy list of online distractions then InternetOff may be useful, as the program does just what its name suggests -- turning off your Internet access at a click.

To get started you must first install the program. We’re not entirely sure why -- it’s such a simple task that a portable tool seems more appropriate -- but InternetOff is at least compact and compatible, running happily on Windows 2000 and upwards (both 32- and 64-bit editions).

The program then runs in the background, which also seems slightly unnecessary (we’d have preferred something portable which could be pinned to the taskbar). InternetOff uses less than 6MB RAM, though, and it’s certainly straightforward: click the program’s system tray icon, click “Turn off the Internet”, and that’s it, Windows and your applications will now behave as though they’re offline.

And if you later begin to suffer withdrawal symptoms (or you’ve finished your real work) then relaunching the program and clicking “Turn on the Internet” will restore normal service. (Although InternetOff does also provide the option to ration access, by only turning the internet on for a fixed period – 15 minutes, say – before blocking it again.)

We’re not entirely sure whether InternetOff will really help most people get any more work done. If you just can’t resist all those online restrictions then probably you won’t be able to resist clicking the program’s “Turn on the Internet” button, either.

It does provide a quick and easy way to disable your internet connection, though, which could be useful for other reasons (security, for instance). And as it’s also small, free and doesn’t include any annoying adware, InternetOff just might be worth adding to a quiet corner of your PC.

Photo Credit: Sukharevskyy Dmytro (nevodka)/Shutterstock