Share this story • • • 'Is there a word for someone who blocks themselves from accessing everything work-related, leaving them only with Twitter?' That's the question I shortly after blocking myself from everything Ars in an attempt to test out, a simplistic (if not strict) distraction-blocking app for the Mac. Created by developer Steve Lambert for free under the GPL, SelfControl blocks a list of domains for a specified period of time in order to help you focus—presumably on work. The app works with websites, e-mail servers, and, as I discovered, even IRC servers and the like. Unlike apps like WriteRoom—a word processor that visually blocks you from seeing anything in the background—and Freedom—an app that blocks all Internet access for 8 hours at a time—SelfControl lets you specify exactly what you want blocked through a blacklist while allowing everything else. So, while you'll be able to see your IRC buddies chatting away in the background (if you didn't block it), you can still access the things you need to get things done. The blacklist has no bells or whistles whatsoever—just start entering domains you want blocked.

The only feature it has is the ability to import your e-mail servers, in case you're a. That's right—there's no way to stop the block.

Popular Alternatives to SelfControl for Windows. Explore 15 Windows apps like SelfControl, all suggested and ranked by the AlternativeTo user community. Self Restraint is available on both Mac and Windows. The application is almost identical to SelfControl in terms of both it's functionality and user interface. The application is almost identical to SelfControl in terms of both it's functionality and user interface.

Quitting the app won't work, and not even rebooting will lift you from your self-imposed jail cell. Lambert must have serious issues with (actual) self control (we kid because we love, Steve), because this app is not screwing around.

Self Control App For Mac Review

Incidentally, we investigated to see whether SelfControl modifies the machine's hosts file in order to impose the block, but it does not. (In my playful experimentation gone wrong, I had to switch computers altogether in order to get this article done. Theoretically, you won't be as stupid as me if you use this application.) Assuming you are happy with the blacklist and you click Start, SelfControl places a semi-transparent countdown timer on the screen that you can move to wherever you want.

Self Control App For Iphone

Try accessing any of the websites you blocked and you'll be presented with an error saying the browser can't connect. Your mail, IRC, and whatever other clients will just act as if the servers are down. Enjoy the silence.

Ultimately, SelfControl is not about exercising self control at all. It's an application that is meant to replace your self control with strict, compassionless rule enforcement. If you need that kind of thing in order to get your work done, then download away. If you like being able to moderate your own Internet usage, then this app is definitely not for you.

Self Control App For Chrome

Or, if you're not entirely sure, go ahead and play with it for a while—it's free! Just keep in mind that you brought this on yourself when you find yourself halfway into your solitary confinement and you need to get to a website you blocked.

How To Stop Self Control App For Mac

The MacOS has a new self control app called, straightforwardly,. The app has an ominous icon, which looks like a cross between a poker game gone wrong and the warning symbol on a bottle of poisonous chemicals: The app gives users the ability to temporarily block websites, which they know they are wasting too much time on.

If you decide, for example, that you keep checking out your Facebook feed rather than finish that important project, you can tell the app to deny you access to the Facebook website for the next, say, four hours. All of us have limited willpower. And even the act of avoiding Facebook can be exhausting for those people who are addicted to it. This kind of app takes over willpower responsibilities for us, allowing us to use our energy for better purposes. I’m in favor of the idea, as long as people aren’t spending too much of their time blocking PeterUbel.com!