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5 Comments

I've just released a distraction-blocking web extension, and I need your feedback.

Have you ever taken some time to identify your distraction triggers? For me, I often fall into a deep hole of distractions after working diligently for a few minutes or hours, and it's usually because of mindlessly browsing the internet.

So, I created a privacy-focused Chrome extension named FocusTug that uses AI to block distractions.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/focustug/ekmbninbehldbhmeikgfnkgnbipgaeoh

How it works:

You can create a Focus Session by entering your task.
The extension can detect whenever you open a new page that isn't related to your current task.
Such irrelevant pages are automatically blocked.
I believe this could be a very useful tool for anyone, including hackers, as there's always a need to stay focused while at work, coding, doing research, etc.
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I would appreciate it if you could check out the extension and provide some feedback. Thanks!

on July 27, 2023
  1. 1

    I'll start by congratulating you because launching a new product is not easy!

    What went well :

    • I found that the onboarding process was great and without problems ;
    • I found the overall UI really inspiring ;
    • I think that it is a great idea ;

    What went wrong :

    • I've found the productivity bar to be displayed inconsistently ;
    • I think you should increase the zIndex of the content you display because it would often scroll under the content of pages ;
    • Sometimes, the productivity bar parent div is not absolute so it changes the UI of the page I am in, like in gmail ;
    • When developing, FocusTug was pretty good at figuring out if the page was ok but in research task, i've had to disable it because it was obtructing my workflow ;

    Suggestion :

    • I would love to have a settings that let me change the way a page is blocked by being a little less intrusive ;
    • I would love to have a set of task I could just select that you know works great and have been tested ;

    In conclusion, you are doing great and good luck to find product market fit! :P

  2. 1

    Congratulations on releasing your extension. I really liked the concept. I tried it < with one session saying where I wanted to build an app. It blocked me from all social websites. So mission accomplished :)

    However, it also blocked me from going to Geeks for geeks page, and when I tried to revoke the ban it was denied.

    I have a few suggestions and things to think about :

    1. What appends I really need to access a website and my petition is denied?
    2. If I work for an hour (depending on the task) it might be very time-consuming if I have to argue every time I want to access an unauthorized page.
    3. I loved le bar showing the productivity and distraction ratio.
    4. Most distractions come from social networks why don't just ban those and for the more tricky ones such as Youtube scrape the title of the video an see if it is work-related?

    These are the things on top of my head :)

  3. 1

    I've downloaded it. I'll give you some feedback shortly. Happy to help!

  4. 1

    Could you maybe indicate the chrome extension name ?

    1. 1

      My bad, and thanks for the heads up.

      It's named FocusTug. Here's the download link:

      https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/focustug/ekmbninbehldbhmeikgfnkgnbipgaeoh