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Utilize laziness: It works like this: 1. Realize that most of the world is out to distract you. 2. Realize that part of the way to do this is to make distrac
by sanj 8y ago
Utilize laziness:
It works like this:
1. Realize that most of the world is out to distract you.
2. Realize that part of the way to do this is to make distraction, and access to distraction, as easy as possible.
3. Actively set up "friction" to reduce that ease.
In practice: I don't install FB on my phone; I have to use the crappier web version. I block reddit on my laptop, so I have to use my phone. Just by making stuff not ubiquitous, you add a little mental friction to using it that dissuades it usage.
One more: I always log out of FB and any other "easy-to-use" distractions. The act of logging in is costly enough (given my long passwords) that even if I open up the tab, I'll bail because I'm too lazy.
- katuskoti 8y agoI also recommend doing this with finances. Don't save your payment methods on websites. Don't use Amazon one-click checkout. Set up a pin on your Amazon devices for purchases. Make everything a little harder to buy.
- sanj 8y agoI use this around junk food too: place stuff in an upper cabinet. I'm usually too lazy to go get it.
- jcutrell 8y agoWorks great with beer. Leave it out of the fridge so you literally have to ice it. Make it a rule to never put more than one in the fridge at a time.
- all2 8y agoI don't display the bookmarks bar in my browser. Suddenly I'm not visiting 6 different websites for 30 minutes every day. Adding friction is an awesome hack. One can also 'grease the rails' (the opposite of friction) for difficult to get-to tasks. Set out gym clothes and bag the night before, or meal prep on the weekends (so that during the week, the easiest thing to eat is what you want it to be). This is front-loading executive function, and I find it very effective in my life.
- afarrell 8y ago> don't display the bookmarks bar in my browser For an even more powerful version of this, I recommend: 1) The chrome plugin Momentum 2) Internet-blocking apps like SelfControl, Freedom, or ColdTurkey.
- smichel17 8y agoI took this one step further and disabled history based autocompletion in the url bar of Firefox. If I want autocompletion, I bookmark the site. This lets me avoid accidentally getting sidetracked on entertainment sites (reddit, etc) just because I typed the first character. And it still allows me to search my history if I need (though I do this surprisingly little).
- Diederich 8y ago> Adding friction is an awesome hack. Somewhat related: that's the only way I've been able to get myself to exercise with any consistency. I set things up so that the only way I could get to work is by riding my bicycle.
- NicoJuicy 8y agoI bought 2 monitors and a docking station because of this. There is no friction between my background music playing ( instead of tv in the past) and me working. Best excuse ever
- jcoffland 8y agoWhy not set the clock 5mins forward.