That Green Again

Some tasks are better done in isolation. Why do I do my best editing and fact-checking with a printed copy of an article? Why is reading a book more pleasant than reading the same text on a computer screen?

A Windows equivalent of this program, the free DarkRoom ( http://they.misled.us/dark-room), quickly emerged after WriteRoom's release. Other programmers have written utilities that force you to focus on a single program by blanking everything else on the screen.

A few mainstream, name-brand programs have picked up on this trend as well. Apple's iPhoto, for example, offers a full-screen mode for browsing, viewing and editing pictures.

These applications aren't just curmudgeonly exercises in computing nostalgia. Computers really were worse 20 or 30 years ago, and reverting to a DOS or Apple II program will not make you more productive.

But programs sometimes throw information at us, rather than help us process it. Some only magnify the problem with pushy behavior, like when an application throws an alert or dialog in front of whatever you are doing.

Even well-mannered software can do little about the ceaseless temptation of the Web, where there's always something new to read or look at -- not least during a presidential campaign and March Madness.

Fortunately, we don't need to throw out or rewrite all of our existing programs to start treating this collective bout of attention-deficit disorder. Our old software already has options that can help focus our attention--the "maximize" button that blows up a program's window to fill the screen in Windows, or the "Hide Others" command that makes every other program on a Mac vanish.

Or you could just remember that you're allowed to close your e-mail program and your Web browser.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrobp@washpost.com. Read more athttp://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/