Introducing: "Better Things To Do"

Hooray! I shipped a Chrome Extension!

Earlier this year I demo’d a website blocker that I hacked together called “Better Things To Do.” It’s a Chrome extension built to redirect my browser’s gravitational pull toward scroll-hole sites like social media.

In short, it has helped me watch less YouTube!

Now, Better Things To Do is available in the Chrome store.

Quick recap from the January post:

I’ve tried website blockers before—StayFocusd and the like. While useful, they always felt Spartan. Big timers, red warnings. I wanted something that felt more like a Tai-chi master redirecting my attention. A gentle intervention that was calmer to look at and could remind me of my real priorities. What would I rather be doing if I could avoid the internet’s content rabbit holes?

Better Things To Do is a gentle Chrome extension that blocks distracting sites and reminds you of what you’d actually rather be doing.

1. Add the extension to your Chrome browser

2. Pick the sites you want to block.

3. Write your list of better things

The next time you wander to one of those sites, you'll arrive at a peaceful reminder of this list that’s truly worth your time. Read it, close the tab, and get on with your life.

If you really need to push through, you can—after a brief countdown.

It’s private by design: no accounts, analytics, or tracking. No data is sent back about what you block, what sites you visit, what you write, or how you use it.

Oh, and there’s a bunch of nice color themes to choose from! The visuals were inspired by design magazines I’ve collected over the years.

Check it out! Let me know what you think! Report bugs! Leave a review! Probably the first review! ⭐️

🗽🌈

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In other news…

Life’s been bubbling. I’ll save the fuller update for a future post. But here are the spark notes:

1. My family is back from a month in Japan which was memorable, magical, meaningful, and tiring at times.

2. Yoko is all-systems-go on a career transformation from product design to accounting which is SO COOL to witness and cheer on.

3. My son held and ate a hamburger the other day like a little hamburger-eating-adult which was also SO COOL.

4. AND I have a small mound of apps I’ve coded that I’ll do a better job of sharing rather than squirreling away in my private burrow of AI-powered tinkering.

Hope you’re well. Thanks for reading. Check out Better Things To Do. More soon. 🤙

He’s actually eating a hamburger!!! 🍔