Internet-the place where the majority of the youth spends a major chunk of their day. Also dubbed by the parents as the place that’s making the youth lazy, anti social and causing their brains to rot. After all, how many times have you logged on to check your mails, and realized about two hours later that you are watching a bunch of funny cat compilations and thought to yourself “I don’t even like cats!”?

While that may be true in most cases, there are a select few people who actually sign off the internet feeling prolific and satisfied. So what are they doing differently?  Instead of browsing an array of random videos and stalking their old colleagues on social networking websites, they log on with a specific objective in mind, go to a specific website meant for fulfilling it, and refrain from visiting any website other than the one.

The social networks and video channels are very effective in getting people hooked, because they keep on suggesting ‘things you may like’ and ‘related videos’. To avoid this, set out a particular time frame you are allowed to spend on each network and stick to it. Meanwhile, here is a list of some websites which could help us all be productive when spending time on the internet :

10. www.vocabulary.com

While there are many other vocabulary building websites out there, none could be as efficient and fun as this! Instead of a normal and vague method of selecting your current vocabulary level : beginner , mediocre , expert; it asks you a variety of questions , makes a model of your knowledge, and then predicts the words already present in your vocabulary, and the ones that aren’t. Then, every time you log in, you are presented with a set of vocabulary questions. When you answer incorrectly, you are presented with a definition and a fitting example to help you remember the word.

9. www.quora.com

Quora is like a personalized store-house of knowledge, in the form of questions and answers. Inquisitive people post questions on any topic of their choice, ranging from philosophy to academics, and get answers in the form of personal experiences and theories. You can choose the topics of your choice, the people you want to follow, or the questions that interest you. Upvote the answers you like to show support and to share them with your followers.

8. www.coursera.com

Always wanted to do a course on a topic outside your field ? Wait no more ! Join 10,672,135 Courserians, learn from 887 courses and all of this for free! Coursera is an education platform that partners with top universities and organizations worldwide, to offer courses online for anyone to take. Learn on your own schedule and get assessed by the computer or by peer assessments. For a minimal fee, receive a verified certificate on completion of the course.

7. www.Ted.com

TED is a global set of conferences run by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan “Ideas Worth Spreading”. The videos of the best talks are posted on the award-winning website and you can enjoy them for free. Speakers of the TED talks include big names like Bill Gates, Larry Page and Margaret Stewart. In the creator’s own words, it contains knowledge in small and addictive doses!

6. www.duolingo.com

They say that learning a new language is like getting an insight to a culture. It enables the bridging of social barriers. From boosting your brain power to expanding the career potentials, the benefits are many. But it can be a daunting task. Duolingo aims to make it easier and fun, with bite sized lessons which are effective and addictive. Earn points for correct answers, race against the clock, level up, and become multi-lingual in no time!

5. www.howstuffworks.com

Become Mr.Know-it-all in no time! HowStuffWorks helps you know about how everything works. It has various blogs and videos on topics of automotives, home and garden, culture, lifestyle and money. Choose a topic of your interest and let the website enlighten you about the latest developments in that area, and the most interesting stuff about it.

4. www.lumosity.com

A human cognition project, lumosity helps you challenge your brain with scientifically designed training. You can log in and build a personalized training program for yourself by selecting various aspects of  different areas of your brain that you want to challenge, train and develop. The areas include memory, flexibility, attention, speed and problem solving.

3. lesswrong.com

Interested in improving your reasoning and decision-making skills? Then Less Wrong is the place for you. It is an online community for people who want to apply the discovery of biases like the conjunction fallacy, the affect heuristic, and scope insensitivity in order to fix their own thinking. Here, the users aim to develop accurate predictive models of the world, and change their mind when they find evidence disconfirming those models, instead of being able to explain anything.

2. www.lifehacker.co.in

A collection of unusual , witty and extremely useful articles, life hacker can cause you to improve the way you live in small simple ways. Know about “How Interest Rates Will Affect Your Finances In 2015” , “How To Better Retain Information From Books, Articles, And More” , “The Proper Way To Make Your Bed” and more.

1. www.ego4u.com

The importance of a good grammar cannot be overestimated. Grammar is the glue that holds a language together. Whether you are preparing a speech or writing an e-mail, perfect grammar goes a long way in making a good impression. Incorrect grammar hampers communication because it can make your sentences meaningless or their messages unclear. Ego4u (English Grammar Online) consists of various lessons, tips and quizzes aimed at helping you hone your grammar skills. It is fun, interactive and extremely efficient.

The internet is a pool of knowledge, waiting for you to dive into it. But it is also a time-killing monster, waiting to pull you in. The choice is yours!