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Noprocrast (2010)

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Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#81

Post by lucumo »

saagarjha wrote: post #11

Hacker News also has a noprocrast feature that’s designed to keep you away from the site for a while if you’ve been using the site for too long. It’s a little buggy with how it does detection, though, so I have it turned off.

10 years and some months ago I used that setting to try and permanently remove myself from this site. I set it to 1 visit in 10 years.

It did stop me posting; I still wasted my time reading the site though. You can visit the site anonymously. A half win, I guess.

10 years felt like such a long time back then, nearly forever.

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#82

Post by Darmody »

I added Reddit and some other sites to my uBlock blacklist because most of the time I would end up there unwillingly.

Control + t (new tab), red (autocomplete to reddit) and enter. Muscular memory.

Now uBlock tells me that the site is locked, I realize what I'm doing and I close the tab. That muscle memory is now gone.

Sometimes duckduckgo returns me some useful reddit links and uBlock gives me the option to allow it temporally which is a few minutes. So even if I start messing around after a while it blocks me again.

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#83

Post by FPGAhacker »

Darmody wrote: post #82

I added Reddit and some other sites to my uBlock blacklist because most of the time I would end up there unwillingly. Control + t (new tab), red (autocomplete to reddit) and enter. Muscular memory. Now uBlock tells me that the site is locked, I realize what I'm doing and I close the tab. That muscle memory is now gone. Sometimes duckduckgo returns me some useful reddit links and uBlock gives me the option to allow it…

I had to do the same with a number of my favorite news sites, including hacker news, while I’m working.

It was shocking how many times I would open the browser to Google something and find myself reading stupid political news instead of working.

I also installed a cli google searcher. That was helpful too.

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#84

Post by dugmartin »

vsskanth wrote: post #5

Can someone please help me with how to achieve the same thing on windows that works on any browser ? I tried some DNS blocking programs and can't get anything to work properly.

I've been using this for years, both to block sites and to setup local dev servers: https://hostsfileeditor.com/ - its free and open source.

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#85

Post by rikroots »

Apocryphon wrote: post #37

I don’t know if the OP is even on Facebook, but I it noteworthy that it’s not on their list of sample blocked sites. I don’t find FB to be addictive either, unlike a lot of people. Usually when I check it, I find myself a quick skim of notifications and the newsfeed to be sufficient, really just a minute or two a day. It runs counter to the popular narrative of Facebook addiction. Anyone else feel that way? I wonder…

I have a Facebook addiction. I post something; I crave feedback. When I get feedback, it's like a little jab of oxytocin to my system.

Twitter, Linkedin - I don't have the same problem. I post something (when I remember, which isn't often) and then forget about it. I can go weeks without checking LinkedIn. I tried Instagram and just didn't 'get it'. Reddit annoys me. TikTok scares me - I tend to avoid mirrors at the best of times, so the thought of short video clips of me floating in the aethers ... it's never going to happen.

I'm probably a little addicted to HN; I have no desire to cure myself of the site just yet. I'm not convinced that blocking the site in my browsers/devices would help me if I wanted to cure myself - I'd probably end up spending time trying to subvert the blocks (as a learning exercise, of course).

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#86

Post by tambourine_man »

puttycat wrote: post #66

The only no-procrast tool that is absolute and unforgiving enough to actually stop me from procrastinating is Self Control [1] (MacOS only afaik). Anything else which offers an escape hatch will always be useless for professional procrastinators. [1] https://selfcontrolapp.com/

Oh my god, this is hilarious:

Q: How do I disable SelfControl once it has started?

You can't. That's the idea. Just wait.

"But, but but..." you say.

Seriously, chill out. It's not the end of the world.

The timer will run out and the internet will come back again. In the meantime, you may find comfort in curling up in a ball under your desk and rocking back and forth for a while.

---

The whole FAQ is worth reading, but that one just cracked me up.

https://github.com/SelfControlApp/selfcontrol/wiki/FAQ

“Until that timer expires, you will be unable to access those sites—even if you restart your computer or delete the application.”

That’s… intense.

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#87

Post by dmix »

baxtr wrote: post #72
TeMPOraL wrote: post #35

I've been trying various "noprocrast" approaches over the years, including /etc/hosts and HN's own noprocrast settings. The one that finally worked for me was disabling distractions directly on the router - it covers all my computers, as well as my phone. I set it so that distracting sites are disabled during work hours (Monday-Friday, 08:00 - 18:00). More details about implementation: http://jacek.zlydach.pl/blog/20…

You could still change to LTE on your phone. Just sayin...

I find some phone use to be fine, the worst productivity breaker is tabbing to Reddit/HN/etc when you were focusing. Switching to your phone is already enough to a break from focusing where it's not a big deal. Plus you could just leave it in another room.

It's like what doctors recommend for bad sleep habits is to keep the bedroom/bed for sleeping only - don't spend hours using screens or eating in bed, then your body will have an easier association with sleeping + the mental habit. Likewise laptop + work hours = worktime. If you want to take a break stand up and check your phone or whatever.

"Perfection is the enemy of good" anyway, you don't need to go all out.

The primary point is using editing /etc/hosts (with `sudo chattr +i /etc/hosts` write locking to go further) is enough of a hassle for most of the time to break a negative loop. No need to make it impossible, the larger goal is self-discipline.

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#88

Post by unicornporn »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #35

I've been trying various "noprocrast" approaches over the years, including /etc/hosts and HN's own noprocrast settings. The one that finally worked for me was disabling distractions directly on the router - it covers all my computers, as well as my phone. I set it so that distracting sites are disabled during work hours (Monday-Friday, 08:00 - 18:00). More details about implementation: http://jacek.zlydach.pl/blog/20…

Doesn't that break with DNS over HTTPS (default on Firefox these days)?

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#89

Post by jwally »

henearkr wrote: post #31

Anything requiring sudo or su is not enough: too easy to just take the habit to type the password very fast. What I've found that works is using the command "lockout" with some weird modification of the sudoers file in order to allow only certain commands with sudo (or other commands with only certain arguments not matching forbidden patterns).

I actually built a password manager for myself that charges me $$ every time I want to access an addictive site (addictionlocker.com) literally because I'd do just this.

Re: Noprocrast (2010)

#90

Post by jgilias »

Fwiw, I've found that the inversion approach of fighting procrastination works considerably better for me. So, instead of trying to not do something I try to do something instead. In more detail this means focusing on achieving a certain amount of deep work hours per day. First this means that I have to condition myself to want to do deep work in the first place. Rereading the first few pages of the book from time to time helps with this part.

Also, if the last thing I think about before falling asleep is about what it is that I wanted to do next, then the next day starting to do meaningful work is a lot easier, as I actually feel like I want to try this thing I thought about. Keeping a work logbook is another good method in being able to start up easier, as you can just pick the easiest item in the list and do that. Once the ball starts rolling and you get deeper in the zone, then procrastination is rarely much of a problem.

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