No Shortcuts, No Cheating, No Background Bullshit: Inside My A+ Discipline System
Most habit apps are designed to keep you coming back.
Mine is designed to make you actually change.
When I built Abstenence, I made one non-negotiable decision: A+ Mode is always on. You can’t turn it off. And that’s the entire point.
What is A+ Mode?
It’s the brutal discipline engine that removes every loophole I (and most people) used to exploit in other apps.
Here’s exactly how it works:
No passive tracking. You can’t just leave the tab open in the background and pretend you’re consistent. Close the tab = you’re logged out.
Tight check-in windows. You have only 30 minutes to submit your daily status once the check-in period starts. Miss it and the day clears.
No resets. No edits. No selective deletes. What you do is permanently recorded. After 21 records, the oldest one auto-deletes so you can’t endlessly cherry-pick your history.
Short grace period after challenges end. You have a limited time to log your final Pass/Fail. Miss it and the record disappears — no excuses.
Everything is intentional. The system forces active decisions instead of lazy background streaks.
You pick what to abstain from (nail-biting, doomscrolling, alcohol, cursing, etc.), pay the $2 commitment fee, choose 2/3/5 days, and go. Succeed → clean PASS and real momentum. Fail → you lose the $2 and get a FAIL on your record. No do-overs.
That small amount of real money + the strict rules creates consequences that free apps simply can’t match.
Why I made it this strict
I got tired of apps that optimize for retention instead of results. They let you reset streaks, gamify everything, and give you endless second chances — which feels nice but changes nothing.
A+ Mode was built for the moment when motivation dies and your brain starts looking for escape hatches. It closes them all.
You can still run multiple challenges at once, even on different devices. Progress stays private in your browser only (no cloud, no tracking). And for people who want the philosophy without the full strictness, I made an offline Abstenence Activity Book.
Early results
Users are saying the same thing I felt while testing it:
“The accountability actually hits different”
“Short challenges feel finishable instead of overwhelming”
“Finally building real streaks instead of fake ones”
It’s not another endless habit tracker. It’s high-intensity discipline sprints with skin in the game.
If you’re a builder, founder, or anyone who’s sick of lying to themselves with free trackers, this might be the system you’ve been missing.
Try it here: https://www.abstenence.com/
I’d love raw feedback from the IH community:
What do you think of the A+ Mode rules — too strict or just right?
Would you pay $2 (or more) for real accountability?
Any loopholes I should close even harder?
What habit are you struggling with right now that normal apps haven’t fixed?
Let’s talk discipline tools that actually work.
