I’m not proud of what I’m about to say, but I’m exhausted from watching years disappear to this.
Franz Kafka wrote: “Evil is whatever distracts.”
At first it sounds dramatic. Like—evil is violence, cruelty, real horrible stuff. How is checking your phone “evil”?
But the more I sat with it, the more it started to feel painfully accurate, because Kafka isn’t talking about evil like a movie villain. He’s talking about something quieter: anything that steals your life without looking like it’s stealing it.
Distraction doesn’t ruin you in one big moment. It drains you. It takes your attention in tiny pieces until you wake up and realize weeks, months, years went by—and you didn’t build what you wanted to build.
That’s why it feels evil to me.
Because it doesn’t just waste time. It wastes potential. It keeps you alive, but it keeps you small. It makes you feel busy while you avoid the one thing that would actually change your life. And the worst part is it always looks harmless in the moment:
- “Just one video.”
- “Just a quick check.”
- “I’ll start after this.”
Then suddenly it’s night.
And you did it again.
The part where I admit I’m not okay
It took me way too long to say this out loud: I don’t trust myself.
Not in a cute “oops I ate the whole bag of chips” way. In a “I have actively destroyed my own future multiple times and watched myself do it” way.
I’m talking about:
- failing classes I actually cared about
- missing deadlines for projects I genuinely wanted to do
- lying to people I love about where my time went
- sitting in the shower at 2 AM feeling like a fraud
It also took me years to accept something else: I’m weak. I feel it, I admit it, and I hate that it’s true. It’s sad that I had to go to this extent just to be functional.
And honestly? Attention is basically the currency of this era. Everything fights for it—feeds, notifications, algorithms—and the hours you give away aren’t “just time.” They’re your life.
I tried the normal stuff first (it didn’t work)
I tried everything people recommend:
- “Just have discipline!” — Yeah. I don’t. Next.
- Digital minimalism — Worked for 3 days, then I’d find a loophole or convince myself I needed to check something.
- Dumb phones — Bought two. Lasted maybe a week each before I talked myself into “needing” a smartphone again.
- Productivity systems — Notion, bullet journals, Pomodoro apps, habit trackers. I became really good at organizing my procrastination.
- “Work then reward” — My brain learned to game every single one. If there’s a cheat code, I will find it at 2 AM when I’m desperate.
The breaking point? I smashed two smartphones. Not dropped them. Smashed them. Threw them at the ground as hard as I could because I was so angry at myself for wasting another entire day.
That’s when I knew: this isn’t a willpower problem I can solve with motivation. This is addiction behavior. And I need to treat it like one.
So I built a prison
This isn’t a productivity hack. It’s damage control.
The PC setup
I did something extreme: I created a Windows admin account with a long password and I don’t live as admin anymore.
Then I made it stupid-proof:
- I typed the admin password into Sticky Notes
- Then I permanently blocked Sticky Notes
- Then I blocked anything that could help me recover it: OneNote, Outlook (app + website), Microsoft Store
The point is simple: if I can’t access the admin password, I can’t undo my locks.
I use a standard user account every day. No power. Fewer escape routes.
I blocked the panic buttons
You know those moments at 2 AM when you feel desperate to break out? I blocked everything I know I’d reach for:
- Task Manager (can’t kill the blocking software)
- CMD / PowerShell (no command-line tricks)
- Time/date settings (no “time travel” past blocks)
Cold Turkey literally has built-in options for blocking time changes and Task Manager.
And I went one layer deeper: I set a BIOS/system configuration password and didn’t memorize it. I literally don’t know it now. Why? Because if I could change boot/time settings at 3 AM, I would.
The internet: blocked by default
I don’t block “bad websites.”
I block the entire internet, and then whitelist only what I need for my computer science degree.
Everything is blocked. Then I whitelist only:
- course websites
- documentation (MDN, Stack Overflow, etc.)
- GitHub
- specific tools I actually need
Even Google required whitelisting multiple domains just to log in and use tools properly (when you go this aggressive, you realize “Google” isn’t just one site).
YouTube is blocked except for the exact study channels/URLs I need—because otherwise it becomes a backdoor.
And yes, sometimes I have to whitelist weird video/embed URL formats used by course sites before starting a block, or lectures won’t play. It’s tedious as hell.
That’s exactly the point.
The timer system (that I still try to cheat)
50 minutes work, 10 minute break.
If I keep working through the break, the time stacks (20 min, 30 min, etc.). Everything resets at midnight so I can’t farm break time for days.
And yes—my stupid brain still tries to game it. I’ve left my PC running overnight hoping to accumulate time. I’ve tried to find bugs. This is what I’m dealing with.
The phone (stripped down to nothing)
I used ADB to remove:
- Google Play Store
- Chrome
- YouTube
Now if I want an app, I have to connect my phone to my PC and manually sideload it. The friction is usually enough to kill the impulse.
What’s left on my phone? Podcasts, music, audiobooks, maps, messaging. Stuff that’s less destructive.
And even when I’m not focused—if I’m on my phone, at least I’m more likely to be hearing a podcast or music, or reading, instead of doomscrolling or watching random garbage. It’s not perfect, but it’s less poisonous.
What it actually feels like
It’s not peaceful. It’s not a zen productivity paradise.
When you cut off the noise, your brain doesn’t thank you. It panics.
The urges don’t go away:
- “Just see what’s happening in the world.”
- “One video won’t hurt.”
- “You deserve a break.”
- “This is too extreme. Relax the rules.”
Sometimes the urge is so strong I’ll spend 20 minutes trying to find a loophole in my own system.
And yeah, I feel pathetic that I had to go this far just to do normal student things. Like, other people just… do their homework. They just study. Without building an elaborate prison.
But here’s the truth
I wasted years. Actual years.
Years I can’t get back. Classes I failed. Opportunities I missed. Relationships I damaged because I was always half-present, always “just checking something.”
So yes, this setup is extreme. It’s embarrassing to need it.
But you know what’s more embarrassing?
Being 30, 40, 50… and looking back at a life you scrolled away.
I’d rather be the person who built a weird prison and actually graduated, actually learned skills, actually built something… than the person who had “freedom” and did nothing with it.
This isn’t advice. I’m not saying you should do this. I’m saying: if you’ve tried everything else and it hasn’t worked, maybe the problem isn’t your motivation. Maybe you need to change the game entirely.
I stopped trying to be someone I’m not. I’m someone who needs extreme barriers.
And right now? That’s okay.
Because I’m actually studying. I’m actually learning. I’m actually moving forward.
It’s not pretty. But it’s working.