Ask HN: Air gapped computer to avoid distractions when being creative?

[grnrnm]

Curious if anyone has tried this. I'm considering an air gapped computer not for security, but for creative hobbies. The benefits being less distractions and no updates getting in the way or breaking things.

Software tools to temporarily remove distractions haven't been successful for me. I just turn them off in frustration.

I'm often using ~50 individual software/plugins, so it can also be frustrating to open a project and see update notifications or that a plugin somehow broke since I last opened it. It's rare that any of these updates provide any meaningful value, too. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

In general, I imagine a separate desk and device could be beneficial for getting in the zone as well.

[vineyardmike]

So it seems from comments that this is a thing others do, but I have a question for you OP:

What’s to stop you from just reconnecting internet? If you went through different tools to accomplish this already, and you bypassed them all, why will this be the successful tool?

Not to be too much of a downer, but I think you will fail if you try it. You already said that you see notices that you recognize aren’t helpful and you don’t ignore them today. Not to be critical, but what you need is self control, or a recognition that maybe you should find different hobbies. I know it’d not an answer you want and this is tech where there’s a solution to all human problems.

I have ADHD and that makes it extremely hard to focus. On work or on play. By the time work is over I’m tired and more easily distracted. I used to beat myself up trying to focus on “productive” hobbies. What can I build. What can I make. Etc. except I too was quickly distracted by notifications on my computer and phone and things going on in my house… at some point I just realized that my desire to accomplish something with these hobbies wasn’t serving me.

Idk if this actually applies to you, only you can know. It’s really hard to accept that maybe a productive hobby isn’t for you - it was for me - but it could set you free. HN is full of stories of people who turned a hobby product into a lucrative business or a famous open source project. The internet is full of YouTubers who make crazy contraptions in the weekend. It’s so easy to get FOMO and feel that you’re just as capable.. if only you can focus on the evenings and not be distracted. But some people (like myself) will be distracted. I know if I just turned the internet off, I’d just get up after a while and find a distraction that isn’t a broken Plug-in.

If you’re easily distracted, you need to manage yourself, not your environment, because there will always be a source of distractions. I hope you find happiness with your hobbies and yourself.

[Nomentatus]

The research seems to show that those who seem to have self-control are actually just good at creating an environment with fewer temptations. Air gapping works for me, although it's now 2PM and was 'sposed to have switched to my offline comp hours ago. I've been using a comp with hard drive slots so I just switch hard drives, reboot and go.

Making it hard for yourself to be bad, is good, generally. For catastrophic temptations, like alcoholism, I have heard that some keep a full sealed bottle around so that temptation is unvarying, however; and find that keeps them from starting again.

[vineyardmike]

> The research seems to show that those who seem to have self-control are actually just good at creating an environment with fewer temptations.

I think the actual notion of “self control” is kinda fake but I also don’t believe there exists research to defend your point.

There are lots of people who all have brains that work very differently and lots of type of “work” to be done that requires wildly different environments. If it was true that controlling distractions was straightforward through environmental management then everyone’s office would be a strike while room with no seams or windows.

[Nomentatus]

Maybe before calling someone a liar next time; do a little googling. There are literally decades of studies here. Start with this one, and it's bibliography:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioral-and-brain...

Dig in further by googling "pubmed" and then entering your terms for a search. Stop fantasizing about what peer-reviewed studies do and don't exist: there's an internet, now; you can find them in seconds.

[Nomentatus]

I don't recommend the hard drive slot solution though, I've lost a few hard drives along the way; too easy to short 'em out accidentally I would guess.

[grnrnm]

Great write up, thank you! I know there's a much better chance you're right on the nose than not. I have ADHD as well (diagnosed and medicated), so I empathized with your comment. I also have my 9-5 day job so these hobbies are usually done after and on the same desk I work from; I just undock my work laptop and dock my personal laptop.

The thing that would stop me from reconnecting to the internet is I'd build a custom-built desktop PC that doesn't have a Wi-Fi card (although it seems these days more motherboards have Wi-Fi built in than not). The only way I would be able to connect it to the internet is buying and installing a Wi-Fi card or finding an Ethernet cable to run to my router. It would be a much higher resistance and more time to catch myself and reevaluate.

I definitely have lightened up as far as criticizing myself for not being as productive as others despite having the capabilities. I'm confident I've made really great art in various forms but doing it consistently and making it a long-term habit is where I struggle.

Thanks for your comment!

[jonas-w]

Thank you both for posting these comments. I see myself in both of them and feel somewhat spooked, because those are my problems and the things I do (especially the laptop docking part and trying to do a productive hobby after work). And to hear from other people that they also have these problems and also do these things, is kind of cool (although i don't wish anyone these problems).

Airgapping would have too much friction for me to be a feasible solution. But i still need to get away from this time/brain capacity/energy wasting thing called internet.

Literally every blocker i try to implement is just another time waster, first I need to spend time thinking of a blocker, implementing/setting up the blocker and then last but not least bypassing the blocker.

I don't really have "hobbies" that don't include using a computer. So there is not much time i spend doing the fun things but instead doing the things that just happen when i'm trying to do my hobbies.

[churnedgodotdev]

I read Donald Knuth does this. He uses a USB flash drive to transfer data to and from his main book-writing Linux workstation. Air gapping has the added bonus that the constant distraction and breakage risk of never ending app updates and security patches is mitigated. As Knuth is someone from the computing era before even floppies and network cards were a thing, when fast data transfer between sites meant mailing a deck of punch cards or reels of tape, it probably doesn't feel that slow to him. He also essentially quit email on January 1, 1990, after using it since 1975, because it was such a distraction from getting stuff done.

Also, George R. R. Martin uses WordStar 4.0 on a DOS machine:

  https://www.cnet.com/culture/george-r-r-martin-writes-with-a-dos-word-processor/

[PaulHoule]

Turn off your Wi-Fi.

All of those notifications about new features in product like Photoshop are a bummer because they always show up when I feel I am under the 8 ball and really need to finish something quick. Many of these apps take too long to load already and it just adds insult to injury.

I sometimes do software development when I expect to be disconnected from the net and assemble all the tools I need, local copies of documentation, make sure I have added dependencies ahead of time, etc.

[Jugurtha]

I wrote about this here a few times, but it works.

You don't need "airgapped", just disconnect from the internet with the kill switch or something and disconnect your laptop from the charger.

Your mission is to ship whatever you need to ship on one laptop's charge and without internet access.

You'll have time to refine later. It's great for proofs-of-concept and prototypes.

It is a self-imposed, artificial, constraint and it works.

[marssaxman]

I used to keep a separate laptop exclusively for DJing which contained nothing but my track library and music software. This helped ensure that nothing unexpected would happen while performing, but also gave me a distinct environment to play in. A hardware wifi switch was nice, but just turning it off in software works fine too.

[smoldesu]

Many recent machines (including Framework iirc) have socketed wireless chips. If you wanted, you could pop out the internet module and be forced to use it offline until you bother yourself to get a screwdriver and reboot your machine.

If a new laptop isn't in your budget range, there are a lot of used machines with hardware-based wireless modules that you can disable. Shop around, you'll certainly find something that fits the bill.

[odomojuli]

This is common among musicians.

To your point, to preserve stability for their plug-ins of choice. Especially if they're interested in a specific version of Pro Tools or Logic.

Airgapping is simple if all you have is ethernet. Just remember to backup your hard drive.

I say do it.

[NackerHughes]

You already know full well this will be a boon to productivity.

Your resolve to publicly ruminate about it and ask what people think instead of, you know, just going and doing it, speaks volumes of your actual level of desire for reducing distractions by working on an airgapped computer over receiving attention and praise for your ingenious idea from random strangers on the internet.

Saying "I've been thinking of <doing thing>... what do you guys think of that?" instead of actually making the effort to do it it is nothing more than theatre.

[grnrnm]

That feels like an unfair assumption considering building an air gapped computer would cost potentially over a thousand dollars and take time to build. Plus potentially acquiring furniture and/or reorganizing existing furniture to accommodate a new build.

[muzani]

Addiction is when one doesn't want to do what they know is best for them. When they tested dopamine on rats, the rats would die of starvation as they triggered dopamine. Knowing the right thing to do doesn't come with the desire to do it.

[wkat4242]

I have yes. I often use my old VT520 when working on textual material. It's great. Not so great when you need online reference material of course.

There's also something really comforting about that soft orange glow. And it's the one display device where the brightness and contrast controls aren't hard to find. Just two analog dials. It can also regulate from barely legible in a dark room to eye-wateringly bright. In some ways LCD still hasn't caught up.

[nashashmi]

For me it was a Start with baby steps. Setup work place disconnected from everything. Assign the workplace for just one simple task. Then build on that.

Started with simple journal writing. Then went on to do some creative works. Then got offline copies of books to help me do creative works.

[muzani]

I don't think a separate desk works if you turn off your tools. You likely have to climb up a mountain or at least a cave with no wifi.

[e-_pusher]

I do this as well. The easiest solution I found is to unplug my modem when I am working from home.