A summary of those tools: LeechBlock and Nanny block certain websites during certain time periods; Beeminder keeps track of your progress with goals and lets you punish yourself for not going fast enough; and Focus@Will and Coffitivity play “attention-amplifying music” and ambient sounds (like a coffee shop), respectively.
Tools I use to help achieve #1: LeechBlock (Firefox) or Chrome Nanny (Chrome).
Tool I use to help achieve #2: Beeminder.
Tools I use to help achieve #3: Focus@Will and Coffitivity.
A summary of those tools: LeechBlock and Nanny block certain websites during certain time periods; Beeminder keeps track of your progress with goals and lets you punish yourself for not going fast enough; and Focus@Will and Coffitivity play “attention-amplifying music” and ambient sounds (like a coffee shop), respectively.
Focus@Will also acts as a pomodoro timer.
Leechblock can be disabled so what’s the point
If you have a habit of checking other sites, LeechBlock is enough of an impediment that it breaks you out of your habit.