We don't spend our time on HN

I found that I can skim HN without getting sucked in hours. Reddit however I have had to block in /etc/hosts .

largely the same (also have twitter and facebook blocked in hosts file, if I want to check them I use my phone, it's less convenient so I end up spending less time on either).

I think it's because HN only has "one" frontpage which changes relatively slowly rather than each subreddit I track, some of which change very rapidly.

Also half the stuff on the frontpage isn't relevant or isn't something I'm interested in so I tend not to disappear down the rabbit hole so much.

Same here. My old job had a very feast or famine tempo which ended up with me getting stuck in a nasty facebook + reddit + arstechnica feedback loop between the feasts.

Blocking all 3 via /etc/hosts broke any interest I had in FB and Ars but I eventually added Reddit back to the list permanently.

Truth

Everyone knows there's a programmer better than they are. They're easy to spot, and everyone knows they're out there.

I'm curious what qualities make them better.

When it comes to programming, I think the best programmers are never satisfied with where they're at.