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.
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?
I’d use a tool like that if it could detect video calls in progress and not lock the computer while that’s happening.
Current plan is to acquire a loud and obnoxious physical timer and place it somewhere I have to get out of the chair to turn off.
But later I either got too lazy to turn it on, or I'd just turn it off and continue.
If you're interested, you can also follow the software I'm building. https://forcebreak.zenfeed.xyz
I was making a layouting library in Go based on Clay. Took me three weeks. I often woke up at 4 AM because I wanted to work on it. After two weeks I got worried whether it is worth it. Luckily I finished it. It was not a smooth sailing but I got it done. I'd say - don't worry about it and just plough trough. If the excitement and eagerness to get it done dissipates, it will happen naturally. No reason to force it.
what helped me wasn’t forcing myself to shutdown, but giving my brain a clear signal that it’s time to switch gears. One simple trick that actually worked: before each coding block, I write down the last line I want to write before I stop. It gives me a natural off ramp and weirdly, my brain starts to anticipate that pause instead of resisting it.
On top of that, I use an app that’s built around nervous system regulation, not just timers or blocks. It actually changes how focused I feel while working. I don’t need to fight myself it gets me into flow and keeps me there longer, without the crash, music is pretty awesome too
al_borland•1w ago
glidea•1w ago
I've tried the water trick but then I just hold it until I "finish this one thing"... which is the same problem.
apothegm•6d ago