Help, I can't switch off!

If you're anything like me, you are probably reading this with five other tabs open, you're listening to music, and your mobile is within easy reach, natch. We are digital natives, the iGeneration, and we are always plugged in, always connected, always on. You probably check your phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night (or is that just me?) 

So when reports come out that the Internet could be rewiring our brains, rendering us unable to concentrate, making us less empathetic and more prone to depression, you've got to wonder, why do we feel like we can't switch on and off as we please? Even when we are overstimulated, overwhelmed by the online world and underperforming in the real one, we keep craving the fast pace and neverending entertainment technology gives us. To our detriment, apparently.

Source: http://www.onlinecollege.org/Multitasking

According to a survey conducted last year, 20% of Australians have checked their Facebook whilst in the bathroom, and almost 3% have checked it during sex! Something has gone terribly wrong...

Would it be possible to regain control over the way we use technology, without totally shutting ourselves off? I decide to outsource my self-control to a handy app called StayFocusd (download it here), which allows me to block my biggest sites of time-wasting at particular times of the day when I need to concentrate. 

If you attempt to change the settings, the app issues you with a challenge

It even provides a suggested list of sites to add, proving my patterns of procrastination to be embarrassingly typical. There is even the 'nuclear option', useful for approaching deadlines, which can block the entire internet for a set length of time. 

Unfortunately my new-found productivity was short-lived, and I found myself downloading a different browser just so I coul check my Facebook. Yikes. Maybe I really am an addict. Is a total techno-detox the only hope for me?

What do you do to take control over your technology usage? Do self-imposed restrictions work or does your addiction need something more drastic?