[misterman101]

What's worked for me every time I get in that routine is to force myself to do one to five push ups every time I think about switching tabs.

During that time I think about what it is that I really want to be doing. After a while I automatically skip to this step without having the desire to refresh HN.

[Scarblac]

The problem is that I don't think about switching tabs anymore, it's really completely brainless.

To the point that I sometimes do it in the middle of talking to people (while sitting behind my desk), who will point it out to me, and then I will close the tab. And then re-open it a few seconds later while still talking to them. ctrl-T O enter, for old.reddit.com. It's really a true habit.

There is an extension where you can limit the number of tabs you have open, I'm going to try that again. Limiting myself to 1 should lead to some conscious thought, after those keystrokes fail a few times.

[Bootwizard]

I used this to quit Facebook. It's an almost Pavlovian trick. You start to associate your habit with a negative connotation because you know that a short workout will follow.