Ask HN: How do you cut down on HN?

3 points·behnamoh··4 comments

I stopped using many social media apps, but seems like those have been replaced by HN. How do you handle the temptation to visit HN so often? What is the best strategy to minimize the time spent on HN?

View on HN

What we call procrastination might not be a bad thing. It makes you relax and gain energy for a task. I did however have to quit Facebook... With HN I get energized and inspired, while Facebook was just a time killer, and often made me feel bad about myself. I do however feel bad when I get downvoted - sometimes when I think my comment was the most constructive comment on the topic. I think instead of downvoting arrow there should be a select list with several options like "I don't agree", "this is spam", "you are trolling", etc, in order to give some feedback both for the poster but also for fine-tuning HN algorithms and polices. Upvoting should also be a select box with options like "I agree", "helpful", "interesting", "save for later", etc.

Log out. Become just another 'guest'. You won't be able to comment, you won't be able to vote. By reducing your interactions, you reduce your involvement. In reducing your involvement, your reduce your interest and you reduce your time spent.

I left Reddit about 12 months ago. Every now and then I look at one or two subreddits that I used to spend a lot of time with. No longer logging in to Reddit, those subreddits look completely unappetising.

What do you find negative about HN?

Personally it’s the comments that usually make me feel like I’m wasting time. There are iOS apps I’ve used in the past that feel very amateurish, but one of the benefits of that is that they never bother to implement comment browsing, ha.

Change the settings for noprocrast, maxvisit, and minaway in your HN profile.

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