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by TeMPOraL 2159 days ago
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/2020-05-25-blocking-distraction....
2 comments
baxtr 2159 days ago
You could still change to LTE on your phone. Just sayin...
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dmix 2159 days ago
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.

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roywashere 2159 days ago
+1! Six months ago I added reddit, hacker news, Twitter and two of my favorite news sites to /etc/hosts mapping to localhost. I use those sites exclusively on mobile. I still accidentally open a tab out of habit from time to time, but go back to productive matters quickly.
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unicornporn 2159 days ago
Doesn't that break with DNS over HTTPS (default on Firefox these days)?
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eddyg 2159 days ago
Not if you run pi-hole (which to be clear, runs in Docker just fine...) which includes the canary domain to disable this when it’s on by default:

https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/pull/2915

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unicornporn 2157 days ago
OK, but DoH is a pretty good thing to have. Disabling it comes with its own downsides.
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