Ask HN: How do you force yourself to take breaks while coding?

2•glidea•16h ago

I'm a dev with zero self-control. "One more function" turns into 3 hours.

Tried Apple Screen Time – I just click "Ignore" every time. Tried Pomodoro apps – closed them when they got annoying.

What actually works for you? Hardware timers? Standing desks? Blocking software?

I'm building a macOS tool that uses full-screen overlays with a 30s cooldown to bypass, but curious what approaches others have found effective.

Comments

al_borland•16h ago

Drink a lot of water. The bladder can only be ignored for so long.

glidea•10h ago

Honestly, this is probably the most reliable method. Biology > willpower.

I've tried the water trick but then I just hold it until I "finish this one thing"... which is the same problem.

WheelsAtLarge•15h ago

I wrote a script that set an X countdown time to shutdown. The script gave a warning at five minutes and 1 minute until shutdown. Once I set it I could not stop it. It would load automatically at boot time. It worked rather well until I decided to stop using it. I don't have a solution for giving up. :)

glidea•10h ago

Yeah I don't think any tool can fully solve this – it's ultimately a willpower thing.

the tool's job is to add friction, not to be unbreakable. Even if you bypass it sometimes, if it stops you from staying up late a few more times per month, that's a win

Curious – what made you stop using your script?

WheelsAtLarge•1h ago

I had a deadline to meet. I took it off "for a bit" but never put it back.

abstractspoon•11h ago

I have a cat

glidea•10h ago

The ultimate interrupt-driven system. No snooze button. LoL..

JohnFen•7h ago

I don't do this to force me to take breaks, but it does that as a side-effect. I am constantly drinking plain water while I'm working, which makes me get up to relieve myself every couple of hours.

dyingkneepad•2h ago

I have the opposite problem: I have to force myself to not take so many breaks!

dennisjoseph•2h ago

I cook meals and do work in parallel.. you'll be forced to take breaks, to check on the steam, oven, air frier, marination etc.

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