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Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

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Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#41

Post by mattwdelong »

watty wrote: post #36
edw519 wrote: post #25

If what you're working on is important enough and you love it enough, you would never need this. If not, then maybe you're working on the wrong thing. Let's stop treating the effect of poor work habits and deal with the cause: find something better to work on. [EDIT: I'd stay and reply to your great responses guys, but I'm not here anymore. As compelling as this discussion is, the real-time CRUD/robot interface I'm w…

This is poor advice. First off not everyone has the opportunity to work on something important and that they love. Sure, it's ideal and probably a goal of everyone but sometimes it takes steps to attain that goal and sometimes people sacrifice their 8-5 hours to provide for their family. Secondly, not everyone has the ability to get kickstarted each day to 100% productivity. You're very lucky if you do but I don't. I…

I had a response written out, but took a step back to see what other people had to say. You've pretty much summed up what I had to say in fewer words. I absolute deplore the parent comment, which is the typical response to these kinds of "hacks". While they're not ideal to actually solve the problem, they may mitigate the symptoms until they can solve the root cause. To each their own, and what works for one will not work for another. Keep on keeping on.

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#42

Post by minikites »

yoasif_ wrote: post #24
minikites wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you. I've been listening to Merlin Mann's podcast Back To Work and he talks a lot about things like this and things like "distraction-free writing environments". His philosophy (that I tend to agree with) is that if these tools work for you - great. But you might be solving the wrong problem. Procrastination might be your brain telling you something about the task you're putting off doing. http://www.43f…

I expected something interesting or insightful from your link, but it just completely seems to sidestep the idea that procrastination exists. The Wikipedia definition is "act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time". This clearly exists, and completely disavowing it with some (semi)feel g…

Part of it might be a confusion of terms. I would argue that if you really wanted to do something you'd be doing it or it would already be done (by definition of the word "want"). Same with "care". The very first episode of the podcast I listened to was Merlin and his co-host discussing the word "priority". He was giving a talk at a company and someone in the crowd claimed to have "27 high-priority items" which Merlin thought was completely insane. He says you can tell something is a priority in one of two ways: you're doing it or it's done. Calling something a priority when it's not obscures the real problem. I think it's the same here. Calling something a thing you care about but never do doesn't solve anything.

I wrote down Merlin's definition of procrastination: procrastination is what happens when you temporarily forget who you are, what you should pay attention to, and what your options are for doing something about it.

Do you need an alarm to remind yourself to play video games? Do you need a "distraction-free gaming environment"?

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#43

Post by alagu »

jsm wrote: post #37
edw519 wrote: post #25

If what you're working on is important enough and you love it enough, you would never need this. If not, then maybe you're working on the wrong thing. Let's stop treating the effect of poor work habits and deal with the cause: find something better to work on. [EDIT: I'd stay and reply to your great responses guys, but I'm not here anymore. As compelling as this discussion is, the real-time CRUD/robot interface I'm w…

I absolutely agree with this sentiment. However, my real goal for this project (apart from learning to code it) was to place a slight barrier between me and a bunch of mindless consumption. It's pretty easy to wake up in the morning, check email, check HN, etc. I just wanted something to slow me down each morning and bring the focus back to producing. I also have it block me at about 6pm so I have to reflect on my da…

I have been trying to use tools (Stayfocusd, Rescuetime, /etc/hosts) to enforce self-control and discipline. Didn't work.

Realization - it seemed like trying to shut your eyes when there are lot of pretty girls in the town. It requires lot of mental training for self-control. Still trying.

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#44

Post by ruswick »

This seems like it would be more of a hindrance than a help. Implementing anything to force yourself to code is a good indicator that you really don't want to code in the first place, and is just going to encourage you to write perfunctory code. It will probably also just make you more upset and contemptuous towards work in general. After all, who want's to be forced to something they don't want to do through negative reinforcement?

If you need this, there's most likely a bigger problem and you probably should be doing something else. Additionally, even if this gets the job done, it's going to piss you off to a large extent.

Lastly, this method is antithetical to coding in general. You most likely NEED the internet to code. Without things like Stack Overflow, you won't be able to solve problems as quickly and your productivity is going to go down.

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#45

Post by dj_axl »

edw519 wrote: post #25

If what you're working on is important enough and you love it enough, you would never need this. If not, then maybe you're working on the wrong thing. Let's stop treating the effect of poor work habits and deal with the cause: find something better to work on. [EDIT: I'd stay and reply to your great responses guys, but I'm not here anymore. As compelling as this discussion is, the real-time CRUD/robot interface I'm w…

> If what you're working on is important enough and you love it enough, you would never need this.

If what you're working on is important enough and you love it enough, you can afford a second desktop/laptop/tablet/smartphone that is designated "work only" and so offers fewer distractions than your primary device.

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#46

Post by programminggeek »

You know what works well? Just write some code. I use the metaphor "paint every day" which I took from a HN comment years ago, but how does an artist get good at painting? You paint every day.

How do you get stuff done? Code every day. Fix a small problem, big problem, whatever. Just take steps forward every day.

It's how I got http://reme.me off the ground. I do something every day. In a couple short months I built the API, site, iPhone, and Android apps all by myself. I only get an hour or two a day maybe to get stuff done, so I just try and do something.

Lately I've been giving myself a list of tasks and either a week or two deadline to hit a "release", but really, that doesn't get stuff done. Just coding something each day does.

Paint every day.

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#47

Post by calinet6 »

edw519 wrote: post #25

If what you're working on is important enough and you love it enough, you would never need this. If not, then maybe you're working on the wrong thing. Let's stop treating the effect of poor work habits and deal with the cause: find something better to work on. [EDIT: I'd stay and reply to your great responses guys, but I'm not here anymore. As compelling as this discussion is, the real-time CRUD/robot interface I'm w…

As anyone who's worked on anything for any period of time knows, "and then reality walked in."

We all want to believe that working on projects we love will keep us going nonstop for 18 hour days. Please, avoid the cognitive dissonance if you fail to live up to this unrealistic idealism, and give yourself just a modicum of slack. Don't burnout because of the unrealistic unbalanced life of the stereotypical startup guy you feel like you have to become.

If something's not working, catch yourself, correct, and move on. If it is working and you're working hard and moving forward despite your flawed humanity, then don't worry about it. No need to be overly critical or absolutist about it.

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#48

Post by engtech »

I saw it on HN a while ago, but I've been liking morphine: regulate distractions

You configure the websites to block, and when you try to access a blocked site it lets you create a 1, 3, 5 minute window to access the site.

really good for a 5 minute break.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fbnpehpbojenlldmfc...

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#49

Post by ptrklly »

_sentient wrote: post #3

I personally use the Chrome Nanny extension to block certain websites during specified hours. This goal-oriented approach is interesting though, as it seems to get at the core issue: "to create more than you consume".

I think that's a good observation about how this approach differs: it's not just a technical hack, but a behavioral one as well--the user experience with the tool is to simply do the warmups that they want to be doing anyway. I like that a lot, but it still feels like the tool is missing something to really successfully accomplish that.

Re: Show HN: Block yourself from the Internet until you write or code each day

#50

Post by ptrklly »

A bit of a tangent but: I like Earnest Hemmingway's advice to only stop your work when you know exactly where to pick up again. I don't do great but when I follow the advice I find that it helps me get into flow more quickly.

"You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again."

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