By
@SpaceYatri
DZIP (Distraction Zipper) : a Chrome extension that locks you into Focus mode: list your tasks, and you can't exit until each one is checked off with typed proof of completion. Includes a persistent "zip" picker to hide distracting page elements and an "Isolate" mode that hides everything except the one thing you click on (like a lecture video).
@SpaceYatri
on
DZIP
DZIP (Distraction Zipper) — a Chrome extension with three main quality-of-life features:
Focus mode — a one-click toggle that automatically appears on every page. You add your tasks and start a focused session.
Task-Locked exit — you can’t leave Focus mode until all your tasks are checked off, along with typed proof of what you actually did. So there’s no “I’ll just check one thing real quick.”
Persistent zips — a hover-and-click picker that lets you hide distracting elements from a webpage. The hidden elements stay hidden even after refreshing the page, and they are saved separately for each website.
I also added a bonus feature outside the original scope: Isolate mode. You can click on one element, like a video or an article, and everything else on the page gets hidden so you can focus only on that.
The hardest part was getting the UI to work properly without fighting with the webpage it was injected into.
At first, typing a space in the task input would actually pause background videos because my keyboard inputs were bubbling up to the website’s own shortcuts. I had to isolate the whole DZIP UI using Shadow DOM and stop event propagation on the inputs.
Making the zips stay after a reload was also pretty tricky. I generate a CSS selector path for each hidden element and then apply those selectors again when the page loads. It works pretty well, but it can still break on websites that use dynamically generated class names.
Definitely the Task-Locked exit.
Most focus extensions just hide distracting stuff, but I wanted DZIP to actually make you commit to the task. Before leaving Focus mode, you have to finish everything and write down what you actually did.
That was the part that made DZIP feel like more than just another decluttering extension, and it’s also something I can see myself actually using regularly.
It’s currently an unpacked Chrome extension.
Go to:
chrome://extensions → enable Developer mode → Load unpacked
After loading it:
@SpaceYatri
on
DZIP
2h 11m 53s logged
DZIP — Devlog #2
Picked up where the picker/zip tool left off. Realized hover-and-click hiding wasn’t the right main interaction for a focus tool. So DZIP now centers on Focus mode instead, with the original zip picker demoted to a secondary tool inside it.
What’s new:
Focus mode: a floating toggle button now injects itself automatically on every page (top-right). Click it to start a session: list your tasks, and you’re locked in.
Task-Locked exit : you can’t leave Focus mode until every task is checked off with typed proof of what you actually did. No more “just checking one thing” and never coming back.
Persistent zips : the original picker tool (hover to highlight, click to hide, Esc to cancel) now saves what you’ve hidden per-site, so it survives page reloads instead of resetting every time.
Isolate mode (new idea, wasn’t in the original plan) :click one element (a video, an article) and everything else on the page gets hidden, leaving just that. More aggressive than zipping individual distractions one at a time.
@SpaceYatri
on
DZIP
8h 58m 37s logged
DZIP Devlog #1: Distraction Zipper
The mission: Build a quality-of-life Chrome extension
that remove the friction from focusing. Not just a another app but something that gives you real tools to clear distraction and hold on yourself.
Built a picker tool first; hover to highlight any page element. Click to zip it behind an “unzip” bar.
