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Took me 6 hours to set up a simple app timer and I learned I'm the problem | Block It Out - The Community Guide

Took me 6 hours to set up a simple app timer and I learned I'm the problem

Everyone in this sub always talks about how easy it is to just throw on a website blocker or set a timer and boom, you're productive. Well I spent a whole Saturday trying to get Freedom to block Reddit on my phone but keep it working on my laptop for work research. I must have reset the schedule like 8 times before I realized the issue was me trying to fine-tune every single exception. i just wanted it to block distraction at night but still let me use my browser for actual tasks. By the time I actually got it running at 4 PM I had already wasted the whole day screwing around with settings instead of working. Honestly the blocker itself worked fine, I just kept overcomplicating it because I didn't trust the default settings. Anyone else spend way too long tinkering with the blocklist instead of just starting? lol

2 comments

2 Comments

faith_torres831mo ago

The default settings on these apps usually work fine for most people, actually. You said you didn't trust them but they have preset blocks for night time and weekends that literally just need one click. I used Freedom for a while and wasted two days making custom lists for every site I wanted to block, but the basic schedule already did what I needed. The problem was I kept adding exceptions for "work research" but honestly Reddit and Twitter shouldn't be blocked for research anyway, that's what Google is for. Next time just hit the default button and walk away, your brain will find ways to work around the block anyway so don't overthink it.

daniel_martinez921mo ago

Wait, are you saying the defaults actually work for MOST people? Because I had the EXACT opposite experience honestly. I tried the preset blocks on Freedom and they just didn't line up with my crazy schedule, you know? Like I work late sometimes and the night block would kick in while I was still grinding away on something. But I get what you mean about overcomplicating it. I spent HOURS making custom lists too and half of them I never used. The brain will find a way to get around anything if you let it, that's the real truth right there.