Steve Lambert

SelfControl[0] is an OS X application that lets you set up a black list. It's free, and works great for me. [0]: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

One of my favorites is "The Most Awkward 404 Not Found Page on the Internet"[1]. It's basically just a video of a guy awkwardly holding a one-sided conversation for several minutes. [1]: http://visitsteve.com/404.html

If you're on a Mac, check out Self-Control. Great application. http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

I also recommend using a program like Self Control[1] to blacklist distracting websites for really bad cases where you're not consciously opening a distracting website because it has become muscle memory. In addition to using Self Control, I also like to run a small local web server to display a page like http://phylab.mtu.edu/~nckelley/Focus/ whenever I try to visit a distracting website. I plan on experimenting with some negative reinforcement by building an Arduino device that shocks me whenever I visit a distracting website when I should be working :D. [1] Mac: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/ Linux: http://svn.jklmnop.net/projects/SelfControl.html

A great app for OS X that will block all connections to a specific server for a specific length of time (not just in firefox) is Self Control: http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/

Noprocast is a good feature, but I use SelfControl(http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/) to block other sites as well. Highly recommended.

That one is my favorite: http://visitsteve.com/404.html

Best by far that I've found is SelfControl by Steve Lambert - thanks Steve! http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/ It's OSX only though I'm afraid. It blocks at the network driver level and survives a restart. I switch it on for two hours or more, after one check of my email, before starting work in the morning. This initial two hours of inability to visit distracting sites usually gets me in the groove with whatever I'm working on. I then find I'm less likely to get distracted throughout the rest of the day and more able to stay focused on my daily task list. I've been developing a system designed to get my procrastination under control. Fifty percent of this procrastination takes the form of reading posts from HN. So I feel your pain! My system is based on a modified version of Bill Westerman's GSD system (http://www.utilware.com/gsd3.html). I've got a draft blog post that describes it and the software I have used recently to help me focus. It's helped me finally get round to building what I think is going to turn into a pretty useful app for managing résumés. I'll post a link to the blog article soon so keep an eye out for it here on HN.

I use this - it's not a chrome extension, but an OS X application that blocks sites for all browsers: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

This exactly the same for me. Just out of muscle memory, my reptilian brain starts typing Reddit or Hacker News into the URL field in my browser when I'm not paying attention. If I start my day wandering down the hacker news/reddit rabbit hole, I never really get out. So when I wake up in the morning, literally before I do anything else on my computer, I turn on Self Control (http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/), which blocks sites that kill my productivity. I've recently adopted org-mode for emacs, and it has helped immensely. Task #1 everyday: Turn on Self Control for a few hours. The last task everyday: Close all windows and make sure org-mode is greeting me when I wake up with Task #1 for the day.

Adding to the "I already use this" chatter: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/ 1. Permanent for a time period. It is incredibly, incredibly hard to undo. This is what makes it different from the others 2. Applescriptable 3. GUI with whitelist/blacklist

I'm a big fan of SelfControl [1]. Though again, OSX-only. [1] http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

Sweet. I am going to try this out! Has anyone here used Self Control? (http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/). Sometimes when I block websites, like Reddit.com and this one and few others it makes other websites look weird. Like the page will still load but be broken. I think Self Control is blocking sites the same way this does. Any idea why this happens?

Mac users can also use http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

That's a really nice extension of the SelfControl concept. http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

Self Control: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol I found this on HN a while back, it's like a lightweight RescueTime for blocking news sites etc.

I use this free app to block a blacklist of sites that suck my time. You can set it to block for any length of time you want: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

For mac users, the Self Control app works really well. http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

For Mac users, SelfControl is a GUI approach to this idea: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

On the Mac, Self Control every time! It'll block access to domains you define for a set period, e.g. news.ycombinator.com, email. http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/ http://gregdetre.blogspot.com/2009/10/self-control.html The only downside is that I can't seem to block reader.google.com without also blocking all of google.com...

this is already available, SelfControl, its open source and I use it all the time: http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

Self Control does the same thing and it's been open source on Github since March 2009. http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

Even cheaper hack: two logins. I have one account for projects, one for play. On my project account, I run Self Control (http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/) to block distractions (now experimenting with Concentrate: http://getconcentrating.com/). I find just having two differently configured environments is a good cue which sets me in my work groove.

If you are on a Mac, SelfControl (http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/) is perfect for this.

As a professional student, I will save you all some time. The secret of studying is encompassed in three programs: * Anki[1] (spaced repetition[2]) * SelfControl[3] (avoid procrastination, block websites) * Pink Noise[4] (block noise to study anywhere, anytime) [1]: http://ichi2.net/anki/ [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition [3]: http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ [4]: http://simplynoise.com/

Thanks to @robdimarco. Found something that works for MacOSX. 'SelfControl' http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ It allows you to choose specific domains to block. For the Starcraft example, blocking battle.net would be somewhat effective. Source code is on GitHub too. Now I just need something for Windows 7.

I use the self control app on Mac OSX. http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/

I prefer to use the free pomodoro app together with Steve Lambert's SelfControl http://pomodoro.ugolandini.com/ & http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/

If you are that addicted already then you'll probably need to use something like this: http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ - For Mac OS X http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ - For Windows, designed to block porn but it can block any site you want. Have fun!

This tool could be helpful if you are on OS X: http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ Page also contains links to other useful apps. I really like Spirited Away. After rereading the post, maybe not applicable if the sites are crucial to get work done.