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Ask HN: What apps do you use to focus?
As I find myself distracted this morning on this very website...
Do you have a favorite app that cuts out distracting websites, helps you stay on task, helps you avoid lots of task switching, etc?
I use OSX, but really I'm curious what people find useful.
- gtirloni 3y agoNextDNS parental control / denylist
- ssd532 3y agoI use this. At this moment I am in the process of writing a wrapper on their API to manage access control rules (time based, group based, etc.) for me and my family.
- surprisetalk 3y agoI made a CLI called nowify that might help: [0] https://taylor.town/nowify https://taylor.town/nowify [1] https://github.com/surprisetalk/nowify https://github.com/surprisetalk/nowify It’s pretty janky, but it might give you some ideas :)
- puttycat 3y agoThese two helped me the most: 1. SelfControl - with complete block of all social media, news sites, etc. (took a while to compile a very long and thorough list, but now it's pretty solid) 2. News Feed Eradicator extension for Firefox - to prevent being distracted when I intentionally go on social media for specific info.
- ZunarJ5 3y agohttps://getcoldturkey.com/ https://getcoldturkey.com/
- revskill 3y agoWebpack ! It requires focus to details to debug.
- brudgers 3y agoI am focused right now. Focused on HN. Of course that means I am not focused on one of the projects I am working on. It doesn't mean I am not focused. Recognizing the difference between being focused and working on a project is useful...or rather, I find recognizing the difference to be useful. Distractions are relative. A hobby project is a distraction from paying work. Email is a distraction from hanging out on HN. Updating Firefox is a distraction from Gmail. Gmail is a distraction from a hobby project... Interruptions are what break my flow states. Flow is about rhythm. For me, flow might be: focus a bit on the project, a bit on HN, a bit on the project, and so on. Anyway, the way I get more time focused is by working more hours. Thinking about efficiency is a distraction. Good luck.
- r-physicist 3y agoI am using Firefox extension "LeechBlock" . Free and very flexible. Also for better analysis, my laptop time spending using activity watch - https://www.proginosko.com/leechblock/ https://www.proginosko.com/leechblock/ - https://activitywatch.net/ https://activitywatch.net/
- nicbou 3y ago- SelfControl to block whole websites for up to a day. It's very effective and I have no idea of how to disable it once started - uBlock Origin rules to block feeds and other distractions. - Some redirect extension that takes me to the notifications page, skipping the feed - Unhook to hide anything I don't want on YouTube: sidebar, comments, recommendations in search etc. Now I just have the videos from channels I'm subscribed to. I list a few more things I've done to reduce distractions and make technology calmer: https://nicolasbouliane.com/blog/silence https://nicolasbouliane.com/blog/silence
- rickcarlino 3y ago“Freedom” is a good paid option on Android. I am not satisfied with their iOS support as it did not integrate well with Firefox mobile but the experience was good overall on desktop and Android
- kirubakaran 3y agohttps://crushentropy.com/ https://crushentropy.com/
- achempion 3y agoMy best focus app is Spotify and the same playlist I play everyday. Second best focus app is Apple Reminders, basically, when I have an urge to check something, I put it on a list and get back to the list once I have time in the evening.
- softwaredoug 3y agoI just made my own CLI that gives me a higher score if I don't switch apps in OSX. Kind of a different take on the problem https://github.com/softwaredoug/attend https://github.com/softwaredoug/attend