Ikizen

The Productivity System for People Who’ve Already Quit Social Media

You've deleted the apps. But your browser is still a minefield. Muscle-memory URL typing, attention-hijacking tabs, and new tabs that do nothing for your goals. Ikizen transforms it into a productivity command center for entrepreneurs and makers who take focus seriously.

IkizenBlogRSSPrivacyBy Wingmen

From Awareness to Zen: A Complete Guide to Digital Focus

You know you're losing hours to digital distractions. But where do you even start? Blocking everything? Deleting apps? Throwing your phone in a lake?

The truth is, fixing your screen time problem is a journey with distinct stages. Jumping straight to hardcore blocking often backfires—you don't know what to block, and you'll find workarounds for restrictions you resent.

Here's the progression that actually works.

Stage 1: Realization — Measure the Damage

You can't fix what you can't see. Before blocking anything, you need to confront the reality of where your hours actually disappear.

Most people are shocked by the results. That "quick Reddit check" is actually 47 minutes. The "one YouTube video" spiraled into two hours. You picked up your phone 73 times yesterday.

How to track your time:

  • iPhone/iPad Screen Time — Already on your device. Go to Settings → Screen Time. Shows app usage, pickups, and notifications. Can also set app limits (which bridges into Stage 2).
  • Android Digital Wellbeing — Built into most Android phones. Similar stats on usage, unlocks, and notifications.
  • Mac Screen Time — System Settings → Screen Time. Tracks app usage across your Mac.
  • RescueTime (Mac, Windows, iOS) — More detailed than built-in tools. Runs silently, auto-categorizes everything, generates weekly reports. Free trial, then paid.
  • Opal (iOS, Mac, Android) — Primarily a blocker, but the paid tier includes Focus Score with detailed stats and weekly progress reports.

Spend at least a week tracking before you change anything. Let the data reveal your real time-sinks—they're rarely what you expect.

Stage 2: The Purge — Block, Uninstall, Deglamourize

Once you know your enemies, it's time to eliminate them. This stage is about making distractions harder to access—or impossible.

The nuclear option: Just delete the apps

The most effective blocker is the uninstall button. No app, no problem. If you can survive without Instagram, TikTok, or Reddit on your phone, delete them entirely. You can always use the web version when you truly need to.

Blocking tools (when you can't delete):

  • iPhone Screen Time — Set app limits, downtime schedules, and "one more minute" friction. Free, built-in.
  • Opal (iOS, Mac, Android) — Beautiful interface, Deep Focus mode that's hard to bypass, social accountability features. Freemium.
  • Freedom (Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, Chrome) — Cross-device sync so you can't cheat by switching devices. Scheduling and recurring sessions. ~$40/year.
  • Cold Turkey (Mac, Windows) — The strictest option. Once you lock a block, it's nearly impossible to disable—even restarting or uninstalling won't help. One-time purchase.
  • SelfControl (Mac only) — Free, open-source, simple. Set a timer, add sites to blocklist, start. Cannot be bypassed until timer expires.
  • one sec (iOS, Android) — Adds a breathing pause before opening distracting apps. Friction-based rather than hard blocking.

Free system-wide website blocking (hosts file):

Want to block distracting websites across every browser, every app, your entire system? The hosts file is the nuclear option.

On Mac/Linux:

# Open hosts file (requires admin password)
sudo nano /etc/hosts

# Add lines like these at the bottom:
127.0.0.1 twitter.com
127.0.0.1 www.twitter.com
127.0.0.1 reddit.com
127.0.0.1 www.reddit.com

# Save: Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X
# Flush DNS cache:
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

On Windows:

  1. Open Notepad as Administrator
  2. Open file: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
  3. Add the same 127.0.0.1 domain.com lines
  4. Save and restart browser

Deglamourize your devices:

  • Grayscale mode — Makes your phone less visually appealing. On iPhone: Settings → Accessibility → Display → Color Filters → Grayscale. Android has similar options.
  • Remove icons from home screen — Keep only essential apps visible. Bury everything else in folders or the app library.
  • Turn off all non-essential notifications — Most notifications exist to pull you back in, not to help you.

Pro tip: Start with your top 3 time-wasters from Stage 1. Don't try to fix everything at once—you'll rebel against your own restrictions.

Stage 3: The Browser — Your Last Frontier

Here's where most guides stop. But if you're an entrepreneur or maker who works primarily in a browser, you know: the browser is the final boss.

You've deleted the apps. You've blocked the sites. You've gone grayscale. But you still have 47 tabs open, your new tab page is a minefield of "frequently visited" temptations, and every notification is fighting for your attention.

The problem? You can't just block the browser. It's where you do your actual work.

This is where blocking alone isn't enough. You need intention and motivation, not just restriction.

The problem with treating the browser like mobile apps:

Most blockers just block stuff and call it done. But the browser is different:

  • You need it for work
  • You can't lock yourself out entirely
  • New distractions are one URL away
  • The default new tab page is designed to pull you into rabbit holes

What you actually need is a system that:

  • Replaces distracting defaults with intentional ones
  • Adds friction to impulse browsing without hard blocks
  • Keeps your goals and tasks visible
  • Reminds you why you're doing this

This is why we built Ikizen.

Ikizen isn't a blocker—it's a productivity and motivation system for your browser:

  • New tab dashboard — Your new tab becomes a command center with your tasks, goals, and inspiration instead of a gateway to distraction
  • Intelligent friction — When you drift toward time-wasting sites, reflection prompts ask "Is this aligned with your goals?" instead of just blocking you
  • Vision board — Keep images and quotes that fire you up visible every time you open a tab
  • Todoist integration — Your top tasks, front and center
  • Tab silencing — Block those attention-hijacking favicons and titles that scream "(1) NEW!"
  • Habit & goal tracking — Daily habits, weekly goals, GitHub streaks—all in one view
  • Memento mori — Visualize your remaining time to prioritize what actually matters

The browser doesn't have to be your enemy. Once you've cleaned up mobile and desktop, Ikizen transforms your browser into a focused, intentional workspace.

Try Ikizen free →

Bonus: Power User Hacks

Already optimized? Here are some advanced tweaks.

Hide tab activity indicators (the blinking favicons)

Some sites change their favicon or title to grab your attention—"(1) New Message!" or a pulsing icon. You can disable this with custom CSS.

Firefox:

  1. Go to about:config, set toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets to true
  2. Find your profile folder (about:profiles → Open Directory)
  3. Create a chrome folder if it doesn't exist
  4. Create userChrome.css inside it with:
.tabbrowser-tab[busy] .tab-throbber,
.tabbrowser-tab[progress] .tab-throbber {
  display: none !important;
}
  1. Restart Firefox

Chrome:

Chrome doesn't support userChrome.css natively. Options:

  • Use an extension like "Blank Tab Favicon" or "Muted Tab"
  • Ikizen's tab silencing feature handles this automatically

Other hacks:

  • Use separate browser profiles for work vs personal
  • Set your default search engine to a privacy-focused option (less personalized rabbit holes)
  • Disable all browser notifications globally in settings

The Complete Toolkit Summary

| Stage | Goal | Free Options | Paid Options | |-------|------|--------------|--------------| | 1. Realization | Measure the damage | Screen Time (iOS/Mac), Digital Wellbeing (Android) | RescueTime, Opal | | 2. The Purge | Block & eliminate distractions | Uninstall apps, hosts file, SelfControl, grayscale | Opal, Freedom, Cold Turkey, one sec | | 3. The Browser | Intentional, motivated workspace | — | Ikizen |

Final Thoughts

Digital distraction isn't a willpower problem—it's an environment problem. The apps and sites fighting for your attention have billion-dollar budgets and teams of behavioral psychologists. You're not weak; you're outgunned.

The solution is to systematically reshape your environment:

  1. Measure where your time actually goes
  2. Purge the worst offenders—delete, block, deglamourize
  3. Transform your browser from enemy to ally

Start where you are. If you don't know your time-sinks, start tracking. If you're still opening Instagram 50 times a day, start blocking. If your browser is the last remaining battlefield, it might be time to try Ikizen.

The goal isn't to become a productivity robot. It's to spend your limited time on things that actually matter to you.

Ready to transform your browser into a focused workspace? Try Ikizen free and take back your attention.