⚡ automate your deepwork

i built a terminal command called deepwork that blocks all my distracting websites and apps, starts a countdown timer, and forces me into focus mode with a single command. here’s how you can set it up too.

what you’ll need

• cold turkey pro — this is the app that actually blocks your distracting sites and apps. the free version works but pro lets you schedule and automate blocks. worth every penny.
• arttime — a neat little terminal app that shows ascii art with a countdown timer. install it with homebrew: brew install arttime
• macos terminal — this is built for mac. if you’re on windows or linux, you’ll need to swap out cold turkey for an equivalent.

how it works

i just type deepwork in terminal

it asks me three questions, I type in the number of hours, whether or not I want to block certain things, and it will count down

then, it will show an ascii art and countdown until the block is unlocked.

after which my blocks are unlocked!

the setup

open your terminal and edit your shell config file:

nano ~/.zshrc

add this function at the bottom:

deepwork() {
  echo "how many minutes of deep work?"
  read duration

  # activate cold turkey blocklist
  open "coldturkey://start?list=Deep%20Work&duration=${duration}m"

  # start countdown timer with arttime
  arttime --nolearn -t "${duration}m" -a rocket1
}

save the file and reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc

tips

• set up your cold turkey blocklist ahead of time. i block twitter, youtube, reddit, instagram, hacker news — basically anything i might mindlessly open
• i usually do 60 or 90 minute blocks
• the ascii art timer is surprisingly motivating. something about seeing a rocket ship countdown makes you not want to quit early

future enhancement

i’m planning to add background music to this — maybe lo-fi beats or brown noise that auto-plays when the session starts. would make it a full focus environment from one command. if i get around to building that, i’ll update this post.

the whole point is reducing friction. the fewer steps between you and deep work, the more likely you are to actually do it.