I suspect that many of us find it hard to concentrate when we really need to put in a sustained effort to prepare a report or a presentation, read a document, write a script, create or edit media assets, generate code or assemble an e-learning module - in fact, all the things that e-learning people do most of the time. These tasks require single-minded concentration, sometimes over many hours, even days. How unfortunate, then, that in those times when we are less busy, we choose to install a whole load of apps that focus almost entirely on interrupting us - email, Twitter, Facebook et al.

I was amused, therefore, to read in The Economist (Stay on target, June 10) that it is now possible to buy software to protect you from other bits of software:

"Some programs fill the whole screen to keep disturbing alerts hidden; others disable specific websites, such as Facebook, or even cut off internet access altogether. The idea is similar to parental-control programs that prevent children from accessing inappropriate content: but these are controls that grown-up users deliberately impose upon themselves."

Examples include Freedom, Isolator and Think. As an example, Freedom cuts off your internet access for the number of hours that you plan to keep focussed. Once set up, the only way of over-riding this constraint is to re-boot.

Without the benefit of this software (and I'm not sure I would have the courage to turn it on, any more than an alcoholic would voluntarily go on holiday to Saudi Arabia) then there is an alternative, at least for me. I've always found trains to be the perfect places to concentrate and get things done - that's where I'm writing this post and probably a good half of all those that came before. The reason is that you tend to get really patchy cell phone coverage on a train journey, so even if you're armed with a smart phone and a 3G dongle, you'll be lucky to get more than a few periods of decent signal. Rather than let this bother you, it's easier to shut out the rest of the world and get your head down.