Why Most Website Blockers Fail (And What Actually Works)

You’ve tried blocking distracting websites before. Maybe more than once. And here you are, reading about it again - which tells you everything about how well it went.

You’re not alone. The average knowledge worker loses 2.5 hours per day to digital distractions. And the tools designed to help - browser extensions, app timers, sheer willpower - have a dismal track record. Let’s look at why.

Approach #1: Browser Extensions

Extensions like StayFocusd, LeechBlock, and BlockSite are the most popular first attempt. They live inside your browser and block specific URLs during set hours.

The problem? They’re trivially easy to bypass.

• Open a different browser (Chrome extension doesn’t touch Safari)
• Use incognito mode
• Disable the extension in two clicks
• Uninstall and reinstall later

Browser extensions work on the honor system. And when you’re in the grip of a dopamine craving at 2pm, honor is in short supply.

Approach #2: App Timers and Screen Time

Apple’s Screen Time and Android’s Digital Wellbeing let you set daily time limits on apps and websites. When your time runs out, you see a reminder.

That reminder comes with a button: “Ignore Limit for Today.”

That single button defeats the entire system. Research from Duke University found that over 90% of users who set app timers override them within the first week. The tool becomes a notification you dismiss, not a boundary you respect.

Approach #3: Willpower

The most common “tool” is no tool at all - just deciding to be more disciplined. It works great for about 90 minutes.

Willpower is a depletable resource. Every decision you make throughout the day - what to eat, how to respond to an email, whether to check Instagram - draws from the same finite pool. By mid-afternoon, your ability to resist temptation is at its lowest, and that’s precisely when you need it most.

Psychologists call this decision fatigue, and it’s why the most productive people don’t rely on discipline - they rely on systems.

What Actually Works: Commitment Devices

A commitment device is an arrangement you make with your present self that constrains the choices available to your future self. The concept has been studied extensively in behavioral economics:

“A commitment device is a choice that an individual makes in the present which restricts their own set of choices in the future, often as a means of controlling future impulsive behavior.”

The classic example is Odysseus tying himself to the mast of his ship so he couldn’t steer toward the Sirens. He didn’t trust his future self to resist, so he removed the option entirely.

Modern examples include:

• Putting your alarm clock across the room so you have to physically get up
• Giving your credit card to a friend when you’re trying not to impulse-buy
• Pre-committing to a gym class with a cancellation fee

The pattern is the same: make the undesired behavior costly or impossible before the moment of temptation arrives.

Financial Accountability: The Strongest Commitment Device

Research on platforms like stickK (founded by Yale economists) shows that when people put real money on the line, goal completion rates roughly double. The threat of losing money activates loss aversion - a cognitive bias where losing something hurts about twice as much as gaining the same thing feels good.

This is the principle behind FocusJar. Instead of hoping you’ll resist, or trusting a flimsy extension to hold the line, you put real money on your commitment. The app blocks sites at the system level - no browser workarounds, no incognito tricks - and the only way to unlock early is to pay a fee you set yourself.

Most people never pay. That’s exactly the point.

The fee isn’t a punishment - it’s the structure that makes willpower unnecessary. You’re not resisting temptation. You’re making it expensive. And expensive temptations lose their pull.

The Bottom Line

Website blockers fail when they’re easy to bypass. Timers fail when there’s a snooze button. Willpower fails because it’s finite. The approaches that work share one trait: they impose a real cost on the behavior you’re trying to avoid - before the moment you’re weakest.

If you’ve cycled through extensions and timers and morning promises, the problem isn’t your discipline. The problem is your tools.