Ask HN: How do you force yourself to take breaks while coding? | Hacker News Reader

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

6 pointsglidea27 comments

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.

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

Haha, sometimes I'm like that too, but sometimes it's the opposite

For me programming is the break.

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.

Drinking more water has been mentioned many times, and it seems to really work.

This happens only if i am in the zone or working on something exciting. If that is the case, i absolutely do not want to break that streak for any reason whatsoever. Maybe you're a junior dev, but in time, these periods will become more rare and hard to come by. So enjoy it while you can.

The feeling of flow is indeed wonderful, but sometimes I get caught in the anxiety of not being able to complete a task.

I just had one of those. Though it is very rare.

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.

been there “just one more function” is devspeak for disappearing into the void.

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

Thank you. I understand that this is like setting a small, quantifiable goal; once you achieve it, there's not much to be anxious about.

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. :)

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?

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

Haha, obviously this needs a "skip today only" option.

Relatable.

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.

Haha, I thought of that too, setting a timer and placing it by the bed.

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

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

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.

You also have to remember to pause to drink…

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.

Oh, time management master, bro

Work on something you don't want to be working on. :)

A dog actually works for me

I use classic pomodoro technique :) It helps even for my back.

Same, except I need to be more forceful.

I have a cat

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

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