There are a few sites that I 'block' in /etc/hosts because I have no desire for them, whatsoever. I will never want to 'cheat', and visit them, for any reason.

Here is the relevant section of my /etc/hosts:

0.0.0.0 www.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 facebook.com
0.0.0.0 connect.facebook.net
0.0.0.0 facebook.net
0.0.0.0 fbcdn.net
0.0.0.0 www.fbcdn.net
0.0.0.0 badge.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 blog.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 en-gb.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 developers.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 touch.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 de-de.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 stories.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 it-it.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 hu-hu.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 peace.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 et-ee.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 az-az.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 0.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 apps.facebook.com
0.0.0.0 reddit.com
0.0.0.0 www.reddit.com

I would love if there were a central repository of distracting sites, and if my hostsfile could be updated automatically against this repository.

Earlier on I used the WasteNoTime Safari extension. It helped regulate the time I spent on distracting websites, in a reasonable way. The process went something like this:

1. I would make a list of websites to blacklist. There's a whitelist functionality, but I never figured out how to use it in a satisfactory way. I would necessarily exclude useful sites I was unaware of.
2. I would decide how long I would allow myself to visit the distracting websites in total. For example, I would allow myself 45 minutes on each weekday, and then disable the timer on the weekends.
3. I would browse distracting websites until I ran out of time, and then go do work.

This process isn't horrible. I imagine it would work for a lot of people. For me, however, it was simply too complicated, and invited distraction. Every time I wanted to add a site to the list, I would have to go to the existing list, and see all my personal vices there (Oh yeah! I haven't checked Hacker News today!)

And so I discovered Mindful Browsing. It works in a subtly different way. It's designed to encourage you to consider your decisions, rather than be put off by an admonishment page every time you try to access a distracting site.

It works like this. The extension defaults to always being in effect, though this can be modified. Then, while you're browsing, when you find yourself on a site that's distracting, you press a button. The site is added to a blacklist that you never see. That's it.

What makes it interesting is this: When you try and access a distracting website, you get a warning, and the option to temporarily allow it. This is fantastic in and of itself (sometimes I need to check a distracting forum which also contains useful news and information), but there's another variable: the button to enable the site temporarily is disabled for a configurable amount of time. I set mine to ten minutes.

So if I want to visit one of the distracting websites, I have ten minutes to either go do something useful and come back, or change my mind and close the tab. This is the eponymous 'mindful browsing': the ability to actively decide how you want to approach distracting websites, and the ability to give yourself time to set other goals.