I try to take things in shifts. Some days I don't check Hacker News at all: I work on writing and design. But I usually don't write unless I'm absolutely in the mood, and so this is a perfect outlet: it's a great place for me to refine my thoughts, and to talk to people that disagree with me about things. It helps me keep an open mind. And once in a while, I read something here that provokes me to write something new. (I wrote one of my current favorite poems after clicking a link on Reddit, for instance.)
In your profile, set noprocrast to yes. maxvisit is the number of minutes you can browse HN per session. minaway is the amount of time you'll have to find something else to do.
I try to take things in shifts. Some days I don't check Hacker News at all: I work on writing and design. But I usually don't write unless I'm absolutely in the mood, and so this is a perfect outlet: it's a great place for me to refine my thoughts, and to talk to people that disagree with me about things. It helps me keep an open mind. And once in a while, I read something here that provokes me to write something new. (I wrote one of my current favorite poems after clicking a link on Reddit, for instance.)