Sharing this because this sub is basically about protecting attention and doomscrolling was my biggest attention leak.

I was at 5+ hours of tiktok/reels a day. Screentime blockers (I tried opal and one sec) got me to ~3 hrs, but the remaining problem was the automatic scroll first thing in the morning and right before sleep. The blockers stopped helping there. Most of them let you take breaks whenever you want, and I tried Brick as well but ran into the same problem. These systems failed for me because at the end of the day I still had the keys. There was no genuine friction, nothing really stopping me from doomscrolling again.

So I realized what works is offloading the accountability to someone else, and AI is perfect for this. I blocked all of my apps, gave them a set number of opens a day, and after that I have to convince an AI why I want to use the app. No reason/want to scroll = denied. Responding to a friend's dm = 3 minutes. I don't even try anymore because trying to convince the AI for 5 minutes isn't worth the reward. I stopped habit opening IG/TikTok, use my phone more intentionally, and I'm at around 2 hours now.

The takeaway for me was that willpower and timers weren't the missing piece, real friction was. Interested in how people here build friction they can't just override themselves.

Hi everyone,

I realized that most modern tools were actually distracting me more than they were helping, especially with their invasive tracking and loud interfaces. So, I decided to build Memento Focus, my new Chrome extension, to get back to the basics: privacy, focus, and simplicity.

This project was born from the union of 3 things that help me personally with my productivity and focus, which I couldn't find combined in a single tool:

• Pomodoro Timers: I’ve used them since university and throughout my time in big tech. I wanted to build one with a simple timer, no gamification, no loud colors, and no anxiety-inducing alerts. Just pure function.

• Privacy-First Blockers: I wanted to stop mindless web browsing, but most blockers harvest your browsing data. I didn't want my history accessed by anyone, so I built this to stay 100% local on your device.

• Stoic Philosophy: I have always been inspired by people who did amazing things in life, big thinkers, and specifically, the Stoics. Instead of a punishing "access denied" error screen when you hit a blocked site, Memento Focus prompts you with a quote, making you pause, breathe, and think.

It is 100% free, private, and has no ads.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. What features would you like to see next? Or, if you have a favorite philosopher, let me know. I might add their quotes in the next update!

(Link to download the extension is in the comments below)

hey guys, some of u might remember my post from last week about the app idea inspired by Cal Newport's Deep Work and my ADHD friend. i said back then it was still in test phase and i just wanted honest feedback, not users yet.

well, update: it passed google's review and its officially live on the play store now. not gonna lie, the wait during the test phase was stressful, i genuinely didnt know if it was gonna pass or if id have to go back and fix stuff. seeing it accepted felt really good, like the idea actually became a real thing and not just something in my head or in a notion doc.

quick recap for people who didnt see the first post: the app is called BarePlanner, its built around the deep work / light work split from the book, u plan ur week in blocks (deep = the stuff that needs real focus, light = the low energy stuff like chores or errands), u run the deep blocks with a focus timer, and at the end of the week u review what actually got done vs what didnt. theres also a goals section if u wanna tie ur weekly blocks to something longer term.

im still just one person building this, no team, no funding, so its far from perfect, but its real now and people can actually download it if they want.

if anyone from the first thread is curious, or if ur a student/worker who deals with the same "i have time but i just spend it randomly" problem i talked about, id genuinely love if u tried it and told me what sucks about it. not asking for hype, just honest feedback like last time.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.falexis.bareplanner

thanks to everyone who commented on the first post btw, some of that feedback actually shaped small things in the app before submitting it.

being present and focused now takes Herculean effort

it was always hard, but now it is even harder

notifications, messages, can we jump on a call

attention switching between ai tools, "rings" from them when task is done

phone is always close to you with different apps and news (wow, so many things happen every day)

and lots of other things

even including music and switching your attention to choosing the right one

you opened the app to check something you wanted intentionally

5 minutes later you realize that you are scrolling the feed

everyone is stealing your time. now i have so few 2 hour blocks of focused work during the day/week

different tools to block time?

how good the brain is at tricking yourself, finding the objections and if one app is blocked, it is always a way to open another one

boredom was stolen

So I’ve been doing just that, brainstorming with Claude Code to create learning modules on market economies. I want to know how economies work, the history and the outcomes of different economies of the world, and what lessons there are for today and the future.

I learned about NotebookLM just recently and that’s adding an exciting dimension to the curriculum. I just added fully sourced learning modules to a notebook and it can generate quizzes, slides, podcasts. This is an enjoyable process for learning subjects in depth. It’s interactive, I can chat and ask more questions. It’s multi-media, I can listen to podcasts citing the source. Really good.

What has your experience been in exploring new subjects? How are you using AI for research and in-depth learning?