Distracting yourself from distractions by building an overly complex system to help you do that, and writing an article about it, is certainly a very HN-ish thing to do.
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I found the article refreshingly short and to the point whilst being jolly amusing and informative. The bloke is German so English is a second language - very good skills.
That's a skilled technical writer, that is.
Bookmarked. More please!
Alas, none of it is made up - honestly. My wife and I kept finding ourselves in the garden on a beautiful day scrolling reddit and instagram for up to an hour, on several occasions. We kind of know we're wasting our time, and we kind of want to, too. It's kind of a constant struggle of uber-me against animal-me and I really hope this moderation tool works how I image it.
After I read Neils post I've completed the entire setup - including blog post - in maybe three hours. So if this keeps me from doom scrolling for an hour at least three times, I've gained some time back.
But on a more serious note, distraction and focus are difficult topics. When I'm highly motivated, I'm utterly indistractible. When I have to do boring toil, absolutely anything & everything can distract me.
But, don’t discount addiction in-general. Social media, internet use, and gaming are some of the things that can provide quick dopamine hits, which is the problem being addressed here.
Adding a button to turn it off for a short-time is like heating just a tiny spoon of heroin and injecting it. No AA sponsor should ever say, “Yeah, it’s ok to dip your tongue in that whiskey.” That’s nonsense.
For all my progress up there both intellectually and as a person, I'm still someone who will just sit in bed for 1 hour before work and watch brainrot instead of getting up and getting ready for work. Or sit in bed reading reddit for a few hours on a weekend before making myself breakfast.
Once I get into it, it's fine, but the thought of spending ~30-45 minutes getting up and properly starting the day is enough to make me procrastinate hours away :(
But, even AdGuard isn’t that complex, I think it’s a one time distraction with some maintenance, compared to endless ads eating away at your brain, hours after hours. Worth it I say =)
Blue collar work is better in that regard; you clock in every day at the same time, do a job that doesn't involve computers, often optimized for output so you don't have many lulls of activity, take breaks when the bell goes, and clock out and shut work off completely once you're done.
Meanwhile IT white collar work, especially WFH, requires a lot more self-direction, and since for most people in IT their entertainment is also digital, the boundary blurs by a lot.
Part of me wants a blue collar job.
My research resulted in me getting an ADHD diagnosis. My brain is screwed up. It just has a weird relationship with dopamine and motivation.
Not sure if this would work for you but a low dose Adderall really helps me focus and feel good doing "slower" tasks like work. I would certainly speak to a physician if you haven't already.
I have a child, who is brilliant, and performing great at school but he is already presenting similar symptoms as myself, hopefully I can help him set healthy limits and cope without meds.
The weird thing is that this is for fun, I have no pressure but still need some time to just start. Once I started I can go for a line time.
It would appear my innuendo was appropriately stated then.
Me and the wiff (not a spelling mistake! - very silly joke) find ourselves doing a similar thing and we are probably rather older than you (50-60).
The world is changing very quickly and who knows what is "right"? I love your approach and that your missus obviously supports your mild madness. You clearly have a great relationship.
Keep an eye on what is really important and don't "sweat the small stuff" as our US mates say.