How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?

... or go without checking the web?

At work, I'm on my browser all day. Lots of open tabs, clicking here, typing there, it's a frenzy of webby goodness. During the day, I find myself checking Twitter, Instapundit, the WSJ and more. Why? It's fun, that's why. Why not?

Therein lies the problem of willpower. I've been re-reading (re-listening) to Willpower. In it is a description of some dude who is an endurance artist. An endurance artist is another word for a mentally ill person who does things to such extremes that it makes you want to lie down with a cool washcloth on your forehead. In one case, this lunatic held his breath for more than 17 minutes.

That's nuts, but his training was interesting. He built up his willpower through acts of self-denial that simulated the insane stunt he wanted to attempt. I waste a lot of time on the Internet in the mornings. It's my time, but I find myself simply burning it on nonsense. Let's see if disciplining myself during the day can help my self-control in the mornings.

General Burkhalter would tell me that I just need some good, old-fashioned, German self-discipline.