Lets be real, its way too easy to spend your “work” day jumping between social media, news, daily.dev, YouTube and reddit. If you’re anything like me, it’s tempting to tell yourself that learning new things is the same as actually getting work done.
I have spent many years trying to beat this, but on my own i never really succeeded. Then i found the following tools and since then, its way easier:
Cold Turkey Blocker
Cold Turkey Blocker blocks websites across all browsers and blocks desktop apps and games as well. It lets you set timers during which you cant unblock it. The best part? Its smarter than you are: change your system time? Nope. Kill the process in Task Manager? Good luck. Its stubborn, and thats exactly what I needed, and you might too. I HIGHLY recommend it!
onesec App
For your phone, onesec is a genius little app. Whenever you try to open a distracting app, it throws up a long, unskippable screen. You have to wait a few seconds before you can proceed, which is just enough time to realize that you dont actually want to go there.
Phone Lock Box
The easy solution would just be to put your phone in the next room, but if that doesnt work for you, this one might help: put your muted phone in a lockbox and set a timer – No notifications, no doomscrolling, just you and your work. 🫠
If you’re battling the same distractions, start with one tool and one habit, and give it a week. Small changes add up fast and future you will thank you.