How To Read Twice As Much On The Internet While Having Ninja Focus
There’s another web out there, a better web, and it’s hiding just below the surface.
A web with no ads, no endlessly scrolling pages, and no annoying modal windows begging you to share the site on social media or sign up for a newsletter.
The best part is that you don’t need to be a hacker or a computer wizard to access this alternate reality.
All you need to do is change one little setting in your browser. Just untick the checkbox that enables “JavaScript” and off you go, to a minimalist web.
Believe it or not, back in the days when the internet was developing, the web was very limited — a few menu buttons and mostly text, more like an e-book than today’s wonderland.
Fortunately, early internet companies such as Netscape, Sun and Microsoft went into an early race to create a more attractive browser.
And so, everything had changed with the introduction of JavaScript language.
Have you wondered who verifies that you are not a robot? Who reminds you the login password is wrong? Or why Google Maps works so smooth by clicking and dragging the mouse?
Javascript is your swift messenger who delivers an instant response to all of the above. And it has more in store for you.
The premise of JavaScript is to make web pages dynamic and interactive for the user. If we think of all the text boxes, social media buttons, and bright animations that build up the website it would be hard to imagine reloading the page after pressing each button. Therefore, data is loaded in the background for later use without refreshing the page.
Text boxes, smart buttons, animations and anything you can describe as “interactive” on a webpage are Javascript based. All the elements are pre-loaded in the background so you can enjoy every feature without interruptions.
JavaScript is currently being used by more than 94 percent of all the websites. Hooray! More entertainment per square pixel on the internet wonderland.
I love it. Now take it down.
Spending a few minutes glaring at the beautiful animations of a website is pleasing, especially when it’s done really well.
Part of the reason why so many web developers spend countless hours on such details is to make you spend as much time as possible on their page.
My plea for disabling Javascript is not aimed at such websites. As previously mentioned, more than 94 percent of all websites use JavaScript, and they have a good reason for doing so.
Things get different when we have more serious tasks that require our undivided attention.
Do you know why one hour of studying on the web usually takes two-three times as much?
The answer has to do partly with productivity and a lot more with the layout design of the page.
For example, articles and news pages tend to attach external videos and images to enrich their page. Some of them are relevant for the piece of writing, but the background can be ignored for the better.
One link click leads to another and before you know it, the night ends up with 2 hours of Minecraft Playthrough videos.
This phenomenon can be described as going down the rabbit hole in the opposite direction. Instead of getting deeper into our initial subject, we spend more time entertaining ourselves to oblivion.
Truth be told, we’ve all been in this situation — especially when we have an important task to do. It is the main reason why I’ve shifted to a cleaner digital workspace.
A minimalist web saved my life.
Internet without Javascript can be simple.
Plus, if you’re accessing different sources at a time, your eyes will thank you.
You can do it too.
Before you go into the minimalist browsing mode here are a couple of things you should know:
- As you can see, some elements still appear on the website. It simply means they have been added without using Javascript.
- Some features may not work or pages may not load properly unless Javascript is enabled. Since Javascript is the backbone of interactive websites, pages based on written content are not affected (which also adds to a bunch of mobile data saved).
Remember, the aim is to clean your digital workspace from distractions and to be able to easily switch back to the wonderland when the work is done.
Javascript On/Off
If you want to disable JavaScript in Google Chrome, click Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Privacy > Content Settings.
In the window that opens, select Do not allow JavaScript. If you want to add exceptions, you can do so by clicking the Manage Exceptions button. Click OK and restart Chrome.
If you want to disable JavaScript in Firefox, click Options > Content > Enable JavaScript, enter about:config in the address bar and press Enter.
Locate and double-click on javascript.enabled to switch the value to False. Restart Firefox.
To enable JavaScript again, set javascript.enabled value to True.
Keep the Javascript switch at the tip of your finger.
There is a much easier way to turn Java off which doesn’t require any knowledge about the browser settings.
Are you onboard? Join Online and download the ad-blocking extension for Chrome and Mozilla.
