Ask HN: Have you tried to limit time wastage on the internet? and how?

I have a short write-up here: https://thepsychonautexplorer.com/minimizing-distractions-an...

But the tl;dr is setting productive defaults and actively not clicking on links you know are unproductive and stupid.

I honestly find that it can be difficult to limit time wastage because the dumb/completely useless sites can give awesome ideas or inspiration.. and it's only that one click away!

Some here are saying change host files or block sites but have any of you actually tried to do this for a good length of time? I just end up routing around my own blocks and ending right back on Reddit.

Yes. I usually install a browser addon like Leechblock (Firefox) or Blacklist (Chrome).

I succeeded in completely eliminating reading about sports at work. This was so effective that I don't really follow sports anymore at all. I've been less successful at eliminating HN and some other tech sites, although I'm pretty good about avoiding HN when I'm supposed to be working.

Well, no. But a recent Freakonomics podcast talked about the idea of 'temptation bundling', which I'm curious to try out. The premise is you restrict yourself to only do something you like with something you don't e.g. you can only be on Reddit or HN while you're at the gym.

Block non-productive sites you waste time on in your hosts file on your work/dev machines.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-block-a-websit...

I send domains to 127.0.0.1 in /etc/hosts. It's effective, though over time you do get faster at turning them on and off.

I also try to stay logged out of most websites except for Google Apps.

Oh hey btw I didnt mean at work. I dont goof off when I'm on the clock. I meant after work.

For a time I used noprocrast here on HN.

It's been a while though.

Yes. How? I canceled my home internet service.