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It's a nice sentiment, but the products/sites/apps that aim to suck our attention are designed to exploit human weaknesses via dopamine release, variable reward

It's a nice sentiment, but the products/sites/apps that aim to suck our attention are designed to exploit human weaknesses via dopamine release, variable reward etc. (see the book Hooked), making it exceedingly difficult and potentially expending your finite store of willpower on things you could much more easily avoid altogether. Personally, cultivating the self-control to avoid checking facebook.com is less interesting to me than editing my hosts files to block it, and using my willpower for more rewarding tasks (exercise, learning piano etc.) With that, I'm turning my block back on HN :)

anotheryou 10y ago
I kinda block my facebook newsfeed via CSS, but just to be able to access chat without having to read the feed if I don't want to (remaining just one click away from toggling it back on). (you can also do that my typing an invalid url and setting it as your facebook bookmark, e.g. https://www.facebook.com/asdfgwhatever https://www.facebook.com/asdfgwhatever )
- sevenironcows 10y ago
  News Feed Eradicator is really good for this. You can also use messenger.com to access chat without any other notifications - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicator-for/fjcldmjmjhkklehbacihaiopjklihlgg https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicat...
  - anotheryou 10y ago
    oh thanks, the web version looks good. I just tried the windows metro app and it failed to notify on new messages all the time...
- jasikpark 10y ago
  Just use http://messenger.com http://messenger.com
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Seconding that; this is what I keep open instead of Facebook for most of the time. For those who didn't click yet, it's an official Facebook Messenger, in-browser version. Only chat, without the rest of the Facebook.
- wodenokoto 10y ago
  Facebook runs the Web version of messenger on messenger.com This is just the chat function - no need to edit CSS or anything.
hosh 10y ago
Concentration and willpower are not the same thing. Concentration rests on a foundation of relaxed awareness. Concentration states include flow, zone, etc. Willpower is usually thought of as having to force your way through things. However, there are disciplines that reframe and retrain that. For example, the Taoist principle of Wu Wei is a good example. Wu Wei is usually applied in the West as Fk It, but it's more that you become the person whose will is naturally aligned and in harmony with the environment and the universe, and as such, you naturally (Zi Ren) do the things. There is a similar idea in classical, medieval Tantra from India. Having said all of that, I had removed the Facebook app from my phone years ago, only access Facebook through incognito mode without the benefit of passwords. I used to look at it once or twice a month, but now I kinda forget. Sometimes I want to level up my work and not level up my concentration skills.
greendragon 10y ago
Just a comment, the research on willpower as a finite resource does not replicate well. The latest I've heard is that it seems that willpower is like a finite resource if you believe it is, it is not like a finite resource if you don't believe so.
- ALocalMan 10y ago
  I think you're half right. Willpower is bolstered by a belief that it is infinite, but in reality, it is finite. To go even further than that, those who believe they don't have a willpower limit are more likely to continue challenging it and developing it - paradoxically increasing it. Those who believe they have a limit may exercise it less. The same effect can be seen in sports psychology. Those who believe themselves indomitable can squeeze out extra force/endurance in physical trails, whereas those who believe themselves fragile perform at a weaker state.
ams6110 10y ago
Yes. Whether you have self control or not, a bouncing widget on your screen, accompanied by sound effects (or not), is distracting. I do several things to help me maintain focus at work: - No email notifications. Not even a visible count of unread messages. I check email at natural stopping points in my workflow. - No social media notifications at all. - No chat programs. Those simple things really work to help minimize distractions that could break my focus. The only one I haven't managed to kick is the habit of people to just walk up to my desk and interrupt me (the biggest downside of an open office plan).

anotheryou 10y ago

I kinda block my facebook newsfeed via CSS, but just to be able to access chat without having to read the feed if I don't want to (remaining just one click away from toggling it back on). (you can also do that my typing an invalid url and setting it as your facebook bookmark, e.g. https://www.facebook.com/asdfgwhatever https://www.facebook.com/asdfgwhatever )

sevenironcows 10y ago
News Feed Eradicator is really good for this. You can also use messenger.com to access chat without any other notifications - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicator-for/fjcldmjmjhkklehbacihaiopjklihlgg https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicat...
- anotheryou 10y ago
  oh thanks, the web version looks good. I just tried the windows metro app and it failed to notify on new messages all the time...
jasikpark 10y ago
Just use http://messenger.com http://messenger.com
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Seconding that; this is what I keep open instead of Facebook for most of the time. For those who didn't click yet, it's an official Facebook Messenger, in-browser version. Only chat, without the rest of the Facebook.
wodenokoto 10y ago
Facebook runs the Web version of messenger on messenger.com This is just the chat function - no need to edit CSS or anything.

hosh 10y ago

Concentration and willpower are not the same thing. Concentration rests on a foundation of relaxed awareness. Concentration states include flow, zone, etc. Willpower is usually thought of as having to force your way through things. However, there are disciplines that reframe and retrain that. For example, the Taoist principle of Wu Wei is a good example. Wu Wei is usually applied in the West as Fk It, but it's more that you become the person whose will is naturally aligned and in harmony with the environment and the universe, and as such, you naturally (Zi Ren) do the things. There is a similar idea in classical, medieval Tantra from India. Having said all of that, I had removed the Facebook app from my phone years ago, only access Facebook through incognito mode without the benefit of passwords. I used to look at it once or twice a month, but now I kinda forget. Sometimes I want to level up my work and not level up my concentration skills.

greendragon 10y ago

Just a comment, the research on willpower as a finite resource does not replicate well. The latest I've heard is that it seems that willpower is like a finite resource if you believe it is, it is not like a finite resource if you don't believe so.

ALocalMan 10y ago
I think you're half right. Willpower is bolstered by a belief that it is infinite, but in reality, it is finite. To go even further than that, those who believe they don't have a willpower limit are more likely to continue challenging it and developing it - paradoxically increasing it. Those who believe they have a limit may exercise it less. The same effect can be seen in sports psychology. Those who believe themselves indomitable can squeeze out extra force/endurance in physical trails, whereas those who believe themselves fragile perform at a weaker state.

ams6110 10y ago

Yes. Whether you have self control or not, a bouncing widget on your screen, accompanied by sound effects (or not), is distracting. I do several things to help me maintain focus at work: - No email notifications. Not even a visible count of unread messages. I check email at natural stopping points in my workflow. - No social media notifications at all. - No chat programs. Those simple things really work to help minimize distractions that could break my focus. The only one I haven't managed to kick is the habit of people to just walk up to my desk and interrupt me (the biggest downside of an open office plan).