[sheepmullet]

"If you want to quit smoking, do you ban yourself from entering all places that sell cigarettes, and cut off contact with all your friends who smoke?"

Yes, actually that's a great way to quit. Find out what triggers you and avoid it. Changing your environment is incredibly beneficial.

"It may not be pleasant but being able to do that == being able to truly control the problem"

Who cares about controlling the problem? It's not a drug addiction where a single relapse can ruin your life. If a simple environment change allows me to spend 2 hours learning each night instead of on hackernews... Well that's a win.

[davnicwil]

> Who cares about controlling the problem?

Well, if procrastination is liable to hinder you in buckling down to learn things, it's pretty important to find a way to really control it. Otherwise HN/the internet will be just be replaced by some other distraction offline.

How likely is it that your procrastination is really limited to whatever manifestations it currently has on the internet, rather than being a general problem you have to correct?

If it really is limited to certain sites, then getting offline or blocking those sites is a reasonable productivity hack, but otherwise you're just sidestepping the real issue and it'll only come back to bite you in other ways later, no matter how many times you change your environment.

[sheepmullet]

"Well, if procrastination"

I don't think procrastination is the problem with most people spending time on learning. Personally, I've found it is simply an issue with distraction/focus/energy/motivation like going to the gym.

I've spent an hour learning per work day for the last two years simply by going to the park after work and reading books/writing in my notebook. I've missed maybe a dozen days in the last year. Yet, if I get on my computer at home intending to study... i hardly ever end up doing anything useful.

[rabbyte]

Is it sidestepping an issue if a person needs a gym membership before they'll exercise? I really don't see a difference here. Environments play into disciplines directly and everyone has their own idea of the perfect space for any given activity.

Going without internet can be a great way to dim the lights and regain focus. It also eases your dependency on convenience and encourages you to plan ahead.