Hostfile tasks

Block sites by editing your system's host file until you complete a set of daily tasks. This allows you to avoid distractions until you're done.

This is not designed to be a bullet proof blocking mechanism, but instead a deterrent to help you stay focused.

Installation

npm install -g hosttasks

Configuring

The configuration for this tool is a simple config.json file whose location can be passed with the config option in both reset and done modes.

The blacklist property contains a list of sites to block until tasks are completed. The tasks property contains a list of tasks that require completion before unblocking.

Example config:

{
	"blacklist": [
		"www.randomdistractingsite.com",
		"randomdistractingsite.com",
	],
	"tasks": [
		"Reading",
		"Learn guitar",
		"Secret project"
	]
}

The location of the config file can be specified with the config option.

Usage

NOTE: You must run hosttasks with sudo/Administrator privileges, since the hosts files on most systems is restricted. This means that you trust this program to not do bad things to your system. As per the LICENSE file, no warranty is provided. I recommend that you read the source code as a precaution.

Resetting

Reset your daily tasks by running the reset command.

hosttasks --mode reset --config myconfig.json

The suggestion is to make this an automated task by using Task Scheduler (windows) or Cron (nix).

Completing tasks

Upon completion of tasks, you can run the following to unrestrict sites:

hosttasks --mode done --config myconfig.json

License

hosttasks is licensed under the BSD License. See LICENSE for details.