FocusWithBlock

FocusWithBlock — a commitment device for your attention. Most website blockers fail the moment you actually get tempted: one click to disable, one click to delete the block, and you're back on the site you swore off five minutes ago. The problem was never knowing what distracts you. The problem is the gap between the calm, clear-headed you who set the rule and the impulsive you who wants to break it. FocusWithBlock closes that gap. It is built on one simple, deliberate asymmetry: • Tightening a limit is instant. • Loosening a limit is slow — on purpose. That single rule turns a blocker into a commitment device. HOW IT WORKS Give any site a daily time budget — say YouTube 30 minutes, X 15 minutes, Reddit 1 hour. Use the site freely until today's budget runs out; after that it's blocked for the rest of the day and quietly resets at midnight. Time counts whenever the site is open in a tab — foreground or background. If it's open, the clock is running. Several limited sites open at once each count down in parallel, and your usage shows as a live progress bar. THE 30-MINUTE COOLDOWN — the part that actually works Anyone can write a rule. The hard part is keeping it when you don't want to. • Adding a site, or lowering a budget, applies immediately. Getting stricter with yourself should never have friction. • Asking for MORE time — raising a budget, or removing a limit you've lived with for a while — does not happen now. It starts a continuous 30-minute cooldown. The new value is shown but not applied. When the timer ends, and only if you still want it, you confirm. • Close the browser at any point during the cooldown and the change is cancelled. You start over. Thirty minutes is long enough for an urge to pass. Most of the time, by the time the timer is up, you don't even want the thing anymore — and that's the entire point. (Just-added sites can still be removed instantly, so fixing a typo is never a hassle.) CALM BY DESIGN FocusWithBlock is built to be the quietest thing on your screen. Warm, matte, low-contrast surfaces. One single accent color. Slow, settled motion — nothing flashes, nothing nags, nothing competes for the attention you're trying to protect. When a site is blocked you get a calm page and a short reflection, not a red wall of shame. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Your attention is yours, and so is your data. • No accounts. No sign-in. • No analytics, no tracking, no remote servers. • Nothing ever leaves your device — your site list, budgets, and usage are stored locally in your browser and nowhere else. • No remote code. Everything the extension runs ships inside it. Uninstalling removes all of it. FEATURES • Per-site daily time budgets (set in hours + minutes). • "Limit current site" — one click from the toolbar popup. • Live usage bars and time-remaining for every limited site. • Automatic reset at local midnight. • A 30-minute cooldown that gates every loosening change. • Closing the browser cancels a pending loosening — no shortcuts. • Precise domain matching: limit a domain and all its subdomains, never its siblings (limiting gemini.example.com won't touch mail.example.com). • Works fully offline. No setup, no account. WHO IT'S FOR • Anyone who has installed a blocker and disabled it the same afternoon. • People who don't want to ban a site forever — just keep it to a sane daily dose. • Builders, students, writers, and anyone whose best work needs uninterrupted attention. FAQ Q: Can I just remove the extension to cheat? A: Yes — like any extension, you can disable or uninstall it, or use a window where it isn't enabled. FocusWithBlock raises friction; it isn't a prison. The 30-minute cooldown is designed to outlast the impulse, not to be tamper-proof. Q: Does background time count? A: Yes. If a limited site is open in any tab, its budget is ticking. Q: What happens at the daily reset? A: Usage returns to zero at local midnight and limited sites become reachable again. Q: Do you see my browsing? A: No. Everything is computed and stored locally. Nothing is sent anywhere. Set the rule once, while you're clear-headed. Let the cooldown hold the line when you're not.