glidea
glidea on Hacker News
Posted by
glidea on Tuesday February 24, 2026 @04:00AM
from the show-hn dept.
https://apps.apple.com/cn/app/forcebreak/id6758971359?mt=12
I posted an Ask HN about forcing myself to take breaks. Got some great responses (drink water, get a cat, etc).I ended up building the tool I mentioned – ForceBreak. Now it's on the App Store.Core idea: full-screen overlay + cooldown before you can skip. Those few seconds are enough to make you think twice.Native Swift, lives in menu bar, minimal footprint.Would love to hear what you think.
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.
Oh, time management master, bro
Same, except I need to be more forceful.
Haha, obviously this needs a "skip today only" option.
The feeling of flow is indeed wonderful, but sometimes I get caught in the anxiety of not being able to complete a task.
Drinking more water has been mentioned many times, and it seems to really work.
Haha, sometimes I'm like that too, but sometimes it's the opposite
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
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?
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.
The ultimate interrupt-driven system. No snooze button. LoL..
Posted by
glidea on Thursday January 29, 2026 @10:53PM
from the ask-hn dept.
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...