{"slug": "selfcontrol", "name": "SelfControl", "category": "productivity", "category_name": "Productivity", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 5, "warners": 0, "score": 3.79, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2026-02-01", "latest": "2026-09-21", "why": "It's helped a lot, after a week you can notice measurable change in attention and habit and productivity.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "It's helped a lot, after a week you can notice measurable change in attention and habit and productivity.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "selfcontrolapp.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://selfcontrolapp.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["SelfControl"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 796643840, "item_id": 49790240, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49790240", "by": "inshard", "date": "2026-09-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's helped a lot, after a week you can notice measurable change in attention and habit and productivity.", "excerpt": "I use SelfControl for Mac and set the down time to around 15 days. No Youtube no news sites etc. Except HN. It's helped a lot, after a week you can notice measurable change in attention and habit and productivity. SelfControl lets you add 48 hrs to your blocked time repeatedly, so you can get to a 15 day mark pretty easily through repeated mouse clicks.", "context": "Mac user", "use_case": "blocking distracting websites", "switched_from": "", "story": "Attention is all you have"}, {"id": 759315744, "item_id": 47457234, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47457234", "by": "rd", "date": "2026-03-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "A combination of https://selfcontrolapp.com/ and Hammerspoon automation and you can lock yourself out of pretty much everything.", "excerpt": "A combination of https://selfcontrolapp.com/ and Hammerspoon automation and you can lock yourself out of pretty much everything.", "context": "", "use_case": "Blocking distracting sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "Oregon School Cell Phone Ban: 'Engaged Students, Joyful Teachers'"}, {"id": 750969200, "item_id": 46935575, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46935575", "by": "rubslopes", "date": "2026-02-08", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Without SelfControl blocking me, I can't seem to resist.", "excerpt": "I used to lose myself in focused work for hours. That's changed. Now I'm constantly pulled away, and I've noticed the pattern: I send a prompt, wait for the reply, and drift into browsing. Without SelfControl blocking me, I can't seem to resist. I am certainly more productive with LLMs, but I also feel much more tired (and guilty) after a day of work.", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking distracting sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI fatigue Is real and nobody talks about it"}, {"id": 749607936, "item_id": 46850496, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46850496", "by": "Rnonymous", "date": "2026-02-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Happy to see it still exists, and free", "excerpt": "I was using selfcontrol during my studies. It works by temporarily blocking certain domains on your hosts file. Happy to see it still exists, and free https://selfcontrolapp.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking distracting sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiki \u2013 The accountability monster for people who are easily distracted"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "inshard", "context": "Mac user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49790240", "date": "2026-09-21"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["blocking distracting sites", "blocking distracting websites", "temporary website blocking"], "compared": [{"slug": "hammerspoon", "name": "Hammerspoon", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47456153", "title": "Oregon School Cell Phone Ban: 'Engaged Students, Joyful Teachers'", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49787726", "title": "Attention is all you have", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46934404", "title": "AI fatigue Is real and nobody talks about it", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46849078", "title": "Kiki \u2013 The accountability monster for people who are easily distracted", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 796643840, "item_id": 49790240, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49790240", "by": "inshard", "date": "2026-09-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's helped a lot, after a week you can notice measurable change in attention and habit and productivity.", "excerpt": "I use SelfControl for Mac and set the down time to around 15 days. No Youtube no news sites etc. Except HN. It's helped a lot, after a week you can notice measurable change in attention and habit and productivity. SelfControl lets you add 48 hrs to your blocked time repeatedly, so you can get to a 15 day mark pretty easily through repeated mouse clicks.", "context": "Mac user", "use_case": "blocking distracting websites", "switched_from": "", "story": "Attention is all you have"}, {"id": 759317201, "item_id": 47457325, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47457325", "by": "overvale", "date": "2026-03-20", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use an app called SelfControl, which blocks websites temporarily.", "excerpt": "I managed to build myself exactly this with Claude's help. There are 3 levels of protection. 1. I use an app called SelfControl, which blocks websites temporarily. 2. I have a script which watches `/etc/hosts` with launchd and reverts it to a version pulled from a server if the file changes. This blocks websites I never want to go to. 3. I setup a 'focus mode' with hammerspoon prevents me from launching certain apps,", "context": "", "use_case": "temporary website blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Oregon School Cell Phone Ban: 'Engaged Students, Joyful Teachers'"}, {"id": 759315744, "item_id": 47457234, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47457234", "by": "rd", "date": "2026-03-20", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "A combination of https://selfcontrolapp.com/ and Hammerspoon automation and you can lock yourself out of pretty much everything.", "excerpt": "A combination of https://selfcontrolapp.com/ and Hammerspoon automation and you can lock yourself out of pretty much everything.", "context": "", "use_case": "Blocking distracting sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "Oregon School Cell Phone Ban: 'Engaged Students, Joyful Teachers'"}, {"id": 750969200, "item_id": 46935575, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46935575", "by": "rubslopes", "date": "2026-02-08", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Without SelfControl blocking me, I can't seem to resist.", "excerpt": "I used to lose myself in focused work for hours. That's changed. Now I'm constantly pulled away, and I've noticed the pattern: I send a prompt, wait for the reply, and drift into browsing. Without SelfControl blocking me, I can't seem to resist. I am certainly more productive with LLMs, but I also feel much more tired (and guilty) after a day of work.", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking distracting sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI fatigue Is real and nobody talks about it"}, {"id": 749607936, "item_id": 46850496, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46850496", "by": "Rnonymous", "date": "2026-02-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Happy to see it still exists, and free", "excerpt": "I was using selfcontrol during my studies. It works by temporarily blocking certain domains on your hosts file. Happy to see it still exists, and free https://selfcontrolapp.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking distracting sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kiki \u2013 The accountability monster for people who are easily distracted"}]}