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Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

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Re: Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

#51

Post by euroderf »

Casteil wrote: post #14

> When I look at my computer, I see a device not designed to help me with these goals. I constantly check email, messages, read toxic forums which I guess is partly because of being alone and lonely. Hard to make friends after college. Seems impossible to make good ones. This doesn't sound like a computer problem so much as an attention / habitual problem (perhaps even addiction to the noted distractions). That said,…

Does this entire window/desktop arrangement set itself up automagically after a reboot ? Or do you have to manually arrange everything ?

Re: Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

#53

Post by Flankk »

godDLL wrote: post #31
Flankk wrote: post #16

A bad workman always blames his tools.

A good workman has opinions on his tools that are deep, and profoundly negative. Also always. So maybe not a good heuristic, and not a helpful thing to quip.

I'm not going to stop giving advice because someone doesn't like it.

Re: Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

#55

Post by godDLL »

Flankk wrote: post #53
godDLL wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good workman has opinions on his tools that are deep, and profoundly negative. Also always. So maybe not a good heuristic, and not a helpful thing to quip.

I'm not going to stop giving advice because someone doesn't like it.

What is your advice then? It's not clear. That's what I didn't like.

What does one do, where does one go?

You did not say nothing.

Re: Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

#56

Post by Ancapistani »

euroderf wrote: post #51
Casteil wrote: post #14

> When I look at my computer, I see a device not designed to help me with these goals. I constantly check email, messages, read toxic forums which I guess is partly because of being alone and lonely. Hard to make friends after college. Seems impossible to make good ones. This doesn't sound like a computer problem so much as an attention / habitual problem (perhaps even addiction to the noted distractions). That said,…

Does this entire window/desktop arrangement set itself up automagically after a reboot ? Or do you have to manually arrange everything ?

I’m not 100% sure, but from memory I believe most or all apps remember their previous window placement when re-opened. I know Kitty (the terminal I use) will open full-screen if it was full-screen when I closed it.

Re: Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

#57

Post by Flankk »

godDLL wrote: post #55
Flankk wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not going to stop giving advice because someone doesn't like it.

What is your advice then? It's not clear. That's what I didn't like. What does one do, where does one go? You did not say nothing.

Can't read between the lines? That's a shame.

Re: Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

#58

Post by georgewsinger »

Partial solution[1] that may be of interest: working in VR instead of a laptop https://simulavr.com/blog/why-vrcs-are-better-than-pcs-and-l...

There are two reasons VR computing can be less distracting than PCs/Laptops. The first is that they block out external distractions:

> VR Computers are like "high-quality, noise-cancelling headphones for your eyes". They're especially good for distracting work environments, and when you want to signal to you and your coworkers that you're "locked down and focused".

The second is that VR UX (at least for Simula) is very bare-bones and simple at this stage of its development. There aren't a ton of bells and whistles and notifications built into the OS to distract you from your core work.

[1] Working in VR isn't a total solution to distraction (it doesn't prevent you from browsing Twitter all day, etc). But it does have some nice features built into it that can make it less distracting.

Re: Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

#59

Post by ladino »

1.) command + option + d to hide the dock

2.) Camouflage App to hide desktop elements: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/camouflage/id445264274?mt=12

3.) https://selfcontrolapp.com/ - to block sides like Facebook system wide for some time!

4.) https://heyfocus.com/ to play the complete game :)

Re: Ask HN: How to make my macOS less distracting?

#60

Post by Casteil »

euroderf wrote: post #51
Casteil wrote: post #14

> When I look at my computer, I see a device not designed to help me with these goals. I constantly check email, messages, read toxic forums which I guess is partly because of being alone and lonely. Hard to make friends after college. Seems impossible to make good ones. This doesn't sound like a computer problem so much as an attention / habitual problem (perhaps even addiction to the noted distractions). That said,…

Does this entire window/desktop arrangement set itself up automagically after a reboot ? Or do you have to manually arrange everything ?

For the most part, they seem to stay put after reboots. There might be some exceptions if an app has an auto-update or strange startup process, however.
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