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Hey HN, I've been working on a Chrome/Firefox extension called Intention to help me stay focused and not get distracted, and for me and my friends, we've found

Hey HN, I've been working on a Chrome/Firefox extension called Intention to help me stay focused and not get distracted, and for me and my friends, we've found it more effective than other tools we've tried. The idea behind it is extremely simple: Commit to a time limit before using a distracting site. This prevents the two most common ways that we get sucked into distractions online: 1. Habitual navigation: Throughout the day, we reflexively type t/f/r <enter> and immediately start scrolling through Twitter / Facebook / Reddit / etc. Intention stops you before you start browsing and gives you the opportunity to decide not to get sucked in. 2. Mindless browsing: Our willpower is no match for the endless stream of personalized content optimized to keep our attention for as long as possible. Intention pauses your browsing after your intended time limit and restores your focus. You can set a daily limit to know how much time you've spent across all distracting sites, and for every day you stay under your limit, you'll grow your personal streak. I designed Intention with privacy as a core priority, and here's what that means: - Intention requests access only to the sites you select, not all sites. - Intention gives you full control over the data you share. - Your browsing history stays in your browser and is never transmitted. Intention is part of a suite of tools I'm developing to help people spend their time well, and I'd love to hear your feedback. DK P.S. If you'd like to read about the process behind developing Intention, I've been publicly writing a daily journal at https://roadtoramen.com https://roadtoramen.com

mattwad 6y ago
I really like this idea! The setup was also very easy too and honest about permissions (using Firefox). I 'enabled' Hacker News for 5 minutes so i could leave you a comment :) Next I need this for my phone.
- dkthehuman 6y ago
  Yay! Honored you'd spend part of your daily limit to leave me a comment. :) Intention actually works on Firefox for Android so you can use it on Android today! Planning to build something special for iOS (the OS limitations make it challenging) in the future.
  - el_benhameen 6y ago
    I don't have a lot to add here, but an upvote didn't seem like it fully expressed how much I like this. I really like this! If you do decide to make something for iOS, I would definitely pay a few bucks for it.
    - dkthehuman 6y ago
      Yay, thanks! Appreciate it. :)
- nougatbyte 6y ago
  You could try kiwi browser or Firefox mobile, they are compatible with some desktop extensions (not on iOS)
hjek 6y ago
> for every day you stay under your limit, you'll grow your personal streak. So this is using gamification to game gamification? Interesting. > immediately start scrolling through [...] Facebook There are some other interesting add-ons in this area. I'm a big fan of safebook[0]. > - Your browsing history stays in your browser and is never transmitted. That sentence worries me. If I told you "I haven't stolen anything from your living room," you'd probably start to think what other room I'd looted. [0]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/safebook/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/safebook/
- dkthehuman 6y ago
  > So this is using gamification to game gamification? Interesting. You got it! > There are some other interesting add-ons in this area. I'm a big fan of safebook[0]. Oh, safebook does look interesting. Do you ever turn it off to look at real content or simply use it as a blocker? > That sentence worries me. If I told you "I haven't stolen anything from your living room," you'd probably start to think what other room I'd looted. Yeah, I want to be super clear about how I handle user data, especially since Chrome extensions can often be pretty sketchy and scary: (from my blog: https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-4-The-Danger-of-Chrome-Extensions-af93b84006ed48c18b807f512b6c0a07 https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-4-The-Danger-of-Chrome-...). I decided to be explicit about it even though there's the downside you pointed out.
rubenbe 6y ago
I really like this property: > Intention requests access only to the sites you select, not all sites. Very few add-ons implement it (talking about Firefox) but it makes the add-on much more trustworthy.
- oldtapwater 6y ago
  I didn't know you could do it that way and I really like it as well. I'd love to implement it in my DelayWebpage firefox extension as well!
stared 6y ago
I like this a lot. What I've found that: - No breaks is bad. - It is even worse when a 10 min break turns out to be a 2h rabbit hole. But most of the current software does not address that. For example: - I use social media after midnight, and it does not stop me then but cuts the limit for the next day. - There is a nasty surprise when an app kicks me out, with no warning. So nasty (especially when I am in the middle of writing a long comment) that it may prompt be to uninstall it. - To strict limits. Sometimes I know that a given day I need more social media. In your case, it solves all. Also, I see that the timer is at 23 sec, so I click "reply". :) Thanks!
- kibwen 6y ago
  I've yet to check out the OP's extension, but I've used a Firefox extension called LeechBlock before which (with some creativity) can achieve your bullet points as well. For the first I would set up one blocking profile to apply through early morning and a different profile (with the same sites) for the rest of the day; for the second LeechBlock lets you put a countdown timer in the corner of the screen so that at all times you know how much time you have left; for the third it lets you set up an "Override" which will resume blocking after a certain amount of time. (Sorry if this is distracting from the OP, I aim not to shill but to help more people make use of productivity tools in this era of endless distraction.)
  - dkthehuman 6y ago
    No need to apologize! I enjoy trying other tools in this space and learning from all the different practices they use. Will check out LeechBlock — thanks!
  - fragmede 6y ago
    I use Crackbook Revival (Chrome) which is similar in purpose. However instead of giving you a countdown timer (because "but 5 more minutes, mooooom") it never actually stops you from browsing, but instead slows down select sites with every page load. First loading a page is instantaneous. 100th time takes seconds which is frustrating enough to cause me to go off and do something else, but without the same anxieties that Leechblock causes.
phalangion 6y ago
This is great. I think it'll fit better with the way I want to control my impulse browsing than others I've tried (StayFocused and manually editing /etc/hosts are the other mains ways I've tried). Thank you!
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
andy_ppp 6y ago
This is absolutely amazing, thank you so much, and also thanks for being clear about the data you are using and privacy up front. Because of this, I'm definitely up for paying you, let me know where to send my dollars.
- dkthehuman 6y ago
  Wow, I really appreciate that! My aspiration is to work on this sustainably full-time and expand to mobile, etc. so I do plan to eventually come up with a paid model for Intention (and would love your support when I do!). For now, it'll be free while I work out a lot of the kinks and make the product truly excellent. Thanks for your comment — really heartening to get this kind of feedback.
aroberge 6y ago
First look: I like this. I like that it will help raise awareness of time I waste on some sites, but that I can easily bypass it if and when I need to. I like that I can choose to have it work only on some sites. I've tried to use other somewhat similar extensions or tools in the past but removed them as they often "got in the way" of what I needed to do. Right now, this seems to be just right for me. Thanks for doing this. Normally, I immediately delete any unsolicited emails. However, if you want beta testers for any other creation, feel free to email me (username at gmail) mentioning that you created intention. I promise to have a look at what you create and to give you some feedback.
- dkthehuman 6y ago
  You got it. Really appreciate that!
stared 6y ago
Also: any plans for making it for other apps, e.g. Steam?
hinkley 6y ago
I also get sucked in by depth first searches that never end. And while it'd be cool to have an addon that made me check in on, you know, are you still trying to figure out that statistics problem you were looking at or are you relearning linear algebra instead... Firefox doesn't seem to have a reading list, at least not out of the box, and I don't end up using it on Mobile Safari anyway. Having a way to 'get out' of a loop by saving it for later, and ideally have them randomly show up on the landing page I think would help me, possibly others.
- bocklund 6y ago
  Software could totally do this. A common trick to check yourself is to set a timer for every $x minutes or so [1] and then when the timer goes off see what you are doing. Software could definitely address this problem by giving you a little popup and changing the time interval so you can't cheat it. I'm sure some os-level apps already supports this feature. [1] How long the timer is depends on yourself, i.e. how much data you want and badly you need to keep focused (tends toward shorter timer) vs. how much you pay every time the alarm sounds and you need to mental check yourself, causing a loss of focus and context switch (tends to longer timers)
- friendlybus 6y ago
  Interesting perspective to discuss. I think DFS that goes on forever reveal how poorly the internet organised information. There is never any certainty you have searched all available information. The internet’s knowledge base routinely gives 4-5 semi solutions for any given problem and it’s not always clear if transforming a vaguely similar solution is going to work better than reinventing the wheel from the ground up. The internet’s search functions can’t meaningfully refine or redirect your search beyond spell check and popularity. Organising scattered forum posts and exhaustive api documentation into centralized and vetted problem solving tracks would be the next conceptual step for reducing search uncertainty in the face of infinite streams of posted information. There must be a better way of tackling the infinity of knowledge beyond string searches and documentation trees.
- asdff 6y ago
  You at least can use pocket, bookmark, or email yourself a link.
ddrmaxgt37 6y ago
Nice job! This is great. Exactly what I've been looking for. Have you thought about blurring the background in the modal? I find that for news sites, the modal still lets me read the headlines
- dkthehuman 6y ago
  Thank you!!! I've been trying to figure out a way to obscure the background without hiding it entirely (which would make the popup feel a bit too obstructive) and blurring the background is the perfect solution. Expect to see this in an update soon!
ddrt 6y ago
I’ll use this as soon as there’s an override my aggressive reward system that rwmequites double or triple the amount of dopamine to reach the same satisfaction as neurotypical individuals? until then I’m a slave in the sea of my own mind, and a wiki walk is in progress.
pgt 6y ago
Just want to say thanks for this. I was using Leechblock before, but it would frequently navigate away from in-progress forms while I was writing longform comments and lose work, whereas Intention offers a modal prompt to extend the period. Also appreciate that it only requires access to the sites I'm blocking. Some stats I'd like to see on the prompt would be: how many times this hour/day/week/month I've extended the unlock period. This would help me nudge myself to stop doing it. Good luck and never sell out!

mattwad 6y ago

I really like this idea! The setup was also very easy too and honest about permissions (using Firefox). I 'enabled' Hacker News for 5 minutes so i could leave you a comment :) Next I need this for my phone.

dkthehuman 6y ago
Yay! Honored you'd spend part of your daily limit to leave me a comment. :) Intention actually works on Firefox for Android so you can use it on Android today! Planning to build something special for iOS (the OS limitations make it challenging) in the future.
- el_benhameen 6y ago
  I don't have a lot to add here, but an upvote didn't seem like it fully expressed how much I like this. I really like this! If you do decide to make something for iOS, I would definitely pay a few bucks for it.
  - dkthehuman 6y ago
    Yay, thanks! Appreciate it. :)
nougatbyte 6y ago
You could try kiwi browser or Firefox mobile, they are compatible with some desktop extensions (not on iOS)

hjek 6y ago

> for every day you stay under your limit, you'll grow your personal streak. So this is using gamification to game gamification? Interesting. > immediately start scrolling through [...] Facebook There are some other interesting add-ons in this area. I'm a big fan of safebook[0]. > - Your browsing history stays in your browser and is never transmitted. That sentence worries me. If I told you "I haven't stolen anything from your living room," you'd probably start to think what other room I'd looted. [0]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/safebook/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/safebook/

dkthehuman 6y ago
> So this is using gamification to game gamification? Interesting. You got it! > There are some other interesting add-ons in this area. I'm a big fan of safebook[0]. Oh, safebook does look interesting. Do you ever turn it off to look at real content or simply use it as a blocker? > That sentence worries me. If I told you "I haven't stolen anything from your living room," you'd probably start to think what other room I'd looted. Yeah, I want to be super clear about how I handle user data, especially since Chrome extensions can often be pretty sketchy and scary: (from my blog: https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-4-The-Danger-of-Chrome-Extensions-af93b84006ed48c18b807f512b6c0a07 https://www.notion.so/dkthehuman/Day-4-The-Danger-of-Chrome-...). I decided to be explicit about it even though there's the downside you pointed out.

rubenbe 6y ago

I really like this property: > Intention requests access only to the sites you select, not all sites. Very few add-ons implement it (talking about Firefox) but it makes the add-on much more trustworthy.

oldtapwater 6y ago
I didn't know you could do it that way and I really like it as well. I'd love to implement it in my DelayWebpage firefox extension as well!

stared 6y ago

I like this a lot. What I've found that: - No breaks is bad. - It is even worse when a 10 min break turns out to be a 2h rabbit hole. But most of the current software does not address that. For example: - I use social media after midnight, and it does not stop me then but cuts the limit for the next day. - There is a nasty surprise when an app kicks me out, with no warning. So nasty (especially when I am in the middle of writing a long comment) that it may prompt be to uninstall it. - To strict limits. Sometimes I know that a given day I need more social media. In your case, it solves all. Also, I see that the timer is at 23 sec, so I click "reply". :) Thanks!

kibwen 6y ago
I've yet to check out the OP's extension, but I've used a Firefox extension called LeechBlock before which (with some creativity) can achieve your bullet points as well. For the first I would set up one blocking profile to apply through early morning and a different profile (with the same sites) for the rest of the day; for the second LeechBlock lets you put a countdown timer in the corner of the screen so that at all times you know how much time you have left; for the third it lets you set up an "Override" which will resume blocking after a certain amount of time. (Sorry if this is distracting from the OP, I aim not to shill but to help more people make use of productivity tools in this era of endless distraction.)
- dkthehuman 6y ago
  No need to apologize! I enjoy trying other tools in this space and learning from all the different practices they use. Will check out LeechBlock — thanks!
- fragmede 6y ago
  I use Crackbook Revival (Chrome) which is similar in purpose. However instead of giving you a countdown timer (because "but 5 more minutes, mooooom") it never actually stops you from browsing, but instead slows down select sites with every page load. First loading a page is instantaneous. 100th time takes seconds which is frustrating enough to cause me to go off and do something else, but without the same anxieties that Leechblock causes.

phalangion 6y ago

This is great. I think it'll fit better with the way I want to control my impulse browsing than others I've tried (StayFocused and manually editing /etc/hosts are the other mains ways I've tried). Thank you!

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

andy_ppp 6y ago

This is absolutely amazing, thank you so much, and also thanks for being clear about the data you are using and privacy up front. Because of this, I'm definitely up for paying you, let me know where to send my dollars.

dkthehuman 6y ago
Wow, I really appreciate that! My aspiration is to work on this sustainably full-time and expand to mobile, etc. so I do plan to eventually come up with a paid model for Intention (and would love your support when I do!). For now, it'll be free while I work out a lot of the kinks and make the product truly excellent. Thanks for your comment — really heartening to get this kind of feedback.

aroberge 6y ago

First look: I like this. I like that it will help raise awareness of time I waste on some sites, but that I can easily bypass it if and when I need to. I like that I can choose to have it work only on some sites. I've tried to use other somewhat similar extensions or tools in the past but removed them as they often "got in the way" of what I needed to do. Right now, this seems to be just right for me. Thanks for doing this. Normally, I immediately delete any unsolicited emails. However, if you want beta testers for any other creation, feel free to email me (username at gmail) mentioning that you created intention. I promise to have a look at what you create and to give you some feedback.

dkthehuman 6y ago
You got it. Really appreciate that!

stared 6y ago

Also: any plans for making it for other apps, e.g. Steam?

hinkley 6y ago

I also get sucked in by depth first searches that never end. And while it'd be cool to have an addon that made me check in on, you know, are you still trying to figure out that statistics problem you were looking at or are you relearning linear algebra instead... Firefox doesn't seem to have a reading list, at least not out of the box, and I don't end up using it on Mobile Safari anyway. Having a way to 'get out' of a loop by saving it for later, and ideally have them randomly show up on the landing page I think would help me, possibly others.

bocklund 6y ago
Software could totally do this. A common trick to check yourself is to set a timer for every $x minutes or so [1] and then when the timer goes off see what you are doing. Software could definitely address this problem by giving you a little popup and changing the time interval so you can't cheat it. I'm sure some os-level apps already supports this feature. [1] How long the timer is depends on yourself, i.e. how much data you want and badly you need to keep focused (tends toward shorter timer) vs. how much you pay every time the alarm sounds and you need to mental check yourself, causing a loss of focus and context switch (tends to longer timers)
friendlybus 6y ago
Interesting perspective to discuss. I think DFS that goes on forever reveal how poorly the internet organised information. There is never any certainty you have searched all available information. The internet’s knowledge base routinely gives 4-5 semi solutions for any given problem and it’s not always clear if transforming a vaguely similar solution is going to work better than reinventing the wheel from the ground up. The internet’s search functions can’t meaningfully refine or redirect your search beyond spell check and popularity. Organising scattered forum posts and exhaustive api documentation into centralized and vetted problem solving tracks would be the next conceptual step for reducing search uncertainty in the face of infinite streams of posted information. There must be a better way of tackling the infinity of knowledge beyond string searches and documentation trees.
asdff 6y ago
You at least can use pocket, bookmark, or email yourself a link.

ddrmaxgt37 6y ago

Nice job! This is great. Exactly what I've been looking for. Have you thought about blurring the background in the modal? I find that for news sites, the modal still lets me read the headlines

dkthehuman 6y ago
Thank you!!! I've been trying to figure out a way to obscure the background without hiding it entirely (which would make the popup feel a bit too obstructive) and blurring the background is the perfect solution. Expect to see this in an update soon!

ddrt 6y ago

I’ll use this as soon as there’s an override my aggressive reward system that rwmequites double or triple the amount of dopamine to reach the same satisfaction as neurotypical individuals? until then I’m a slave in the sea of my own mind, and a wiki walk is in progress.

pgt 6y ago

Just want to say thanks for this. I was using Leechblock before, but it would frequently navigate away from in-progress forms while I was writing longform comments and lose work, whereas Intention offers a modal prompt to extend the period. Also appreciate that it only requires access to the sites I'm blocking. Some stats I'd like to see on the prompt would be: how many times this hour/day/week/month I've extended the unlock period. This would help me nudge myself to stop doing it. Good luck and never sell out!