To block websites on Chrome while studying, block the feeds that pull you away and keep the resources you need: in Redirect, the Chrome extension, add rules for sites like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, allow your lecture channels as YouTube exceptions, and give the rules a schedule for your study hours. Opening a blocked site sends you to your study goals instead of a feed, and breaks are still possible after a short task, ending on time even mid scroll. Redirect works in Chrome and Chromium browsers only, not on your phone, keeps data local and is free for one site.
On this page
You sit down to study, open your laptop, and open a new tab to look something up. Forty minutes later you have watched three videos, checked Instagram twice, and the textbook is still on page one.
Studying on a laptop is hard for a simple reason: the tools you need and the distractions you want live in the same browser, sometimes on the same site. Lectures are on YouTube, and so is everything else. A good setup keeps the useful parts open and closes the rest, without leaving you stuck when you genuinely need to look something up.
Why you procrastinate when you study#
Procrastination is usually not laziness. A widely cited review by Sirois and Pychyl argues that it is about short-term mood repair: you put off a task because it feels unpleasant, and something easier makes you feel better right now (Sirois and Pychyl, 2013). Studying for an exam is a textbook example of an unpleasant task with a reward far in the future. A feed is the opposite: instant, easy, endless.
A meta-analysis by Steel found that procrastination is strongly linked to how distant a task's rewards feel and how easily you get distracted (Steel, 2007). You cannot make the exam arrive sooner, but you can make the distraction harder to reach. That is what a website blocker is for.
Planning helps too. Research on implementation intentions shows that "if X happens, then I will do Y" plans make people more likely to follow through (Gollwitzer, 1999). A blocker is a way to make that plan automatic: if I open YouTube during study hours, then I see my study goals.
How to block websites on Chrome for studying#
There is a 31 second video of this setup: how to stop scrolling and start studying.
1. List the sites that steal your study time
Be specific. Most students have two or three sites that do almost all the damage, often YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or Reddit. Install Redirect and add a rule for each. Recommended sites let you add YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, X, TikTok, Facebook, Netflix and Twitch with one click. The block pages for Instagram and TikTok walk through each one.
2. Write your study goals
When you open a blocked site, Redirect sends you to your Focus dashboard, which shows up to three goals, instead of a "blocked" page. Make them concrete: "Chapters 4 and 5," "one practice test," "flashcards for organic chemistry." Seeing the actual task at the moment you reach for a distraction is what turns the redirect into a nudge back to work.
3. Keep your lecture channels on YouTube
Blocking all of YouTube does not work if half your course is on it. Add a whole site rule for youtube.com, then add your course channels as exceptions, for example youtube.com/@mitocw. Videos from the channels you allow play as normal, while the home feed, recommendations from other channels and Shorts lead back to your goals. See how to study with YouTube without getting distracted for a short walkthrough.
If you use YouTube more broadly for research, a lighter setup is to block just the parts that pull you in: a path rule for youtube.com/shorts blocks Shorts only, and a homepage-only rule for *://*.youtube.com/ blocks the home feed while search and videos still work. Block YouTube homepage recommendations explains that setup.
4. Schedule your study hours
Each rule can have its own schedule: pick the weekdays and hours you study. Outside those hours, the sites open normally, so your evenings stay yours and the rule feels fair.
| Situation | Schedule |
|---|---|
| Regular term, evening study | Monday to Thursday, 18:00 to 21:00 |
| Daytime study blocks | Weekdays, 09:00 to 13:00 |
| Exam season | Every day, 09:00 to 21:00, until your last exam |
| Late night cramming habit | Every day, 23:00 to 07:00 (overnight windows work) |
For exam season specifically, there is a video on the setup: exam season: block everything except your lectures.
5. Decide how breaks work
Breaks are part of studying well, so do not ban them. Instead, make a break a decision. Before a pause, you complete the task you chose for that rule: the typing challenge, a reason prompt, a math challenge, a breathing pause, a 60 second wait, or no task.
- Pause length: 5 or 10 minutes is a real break without becoming an hour.
- Daily pause limit: 2 or 3 on study days.
- Task: the reason prompt works well, because your previous reasons are shown back to you. Writing "procrastinating on chapter 4" for the third time is informative.
When a pause ends, Redirect sends you back to your goals right away, even mid scroll. A small floating timer shows how much break time is left.
A sample study setup#
| Site | Rule | Pauses |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Whole site, with your lecture channels as exceptions | 10 minutes, 2 per day, reason prompt |
| Whole site | None during study hours | |
| TikTok | Whole site | None during study hours |
| Homepage-only rule, so threads you search for still open | 5 minutes, 1 per day |
All four on a study hours schedule. That keeps your course material, search results and useful threads available while closing every feed.
How to stop procrastinating and start studying#
A blocker handles the "distraction is one click away" part. These habits handle the rest:
- Start with five minutes. Commit to five minutes on the hardest task. Starting is usually the worst part, and a redirect back to "Chapter 4" is a good trigger to start.
- Close the side doors. Like any extension, Redirect only runs in Incognito windows if you turn on "Allow in Incognito" in chrome://extensions. Turn it on if Incognito is your workaround.
- Put your phone in another room. Redirect is a Chrome extension. It does nothing for apps on your phone, so a laptop setup alone can just move the scrolling to your phone.
- Review your week. The Focus dashboard shows redirects per day, time used per site from your pauses and a 14 day chart. If redirects drop over a couple of weeks, the habit is loosening.
For the wider habit, read how to stop procrastinating online, and if feeds are the main issue, how to stop doomscrolling.
What this setup cannot do#
Being honest about limits so you can plan around them:
- Redirect runs in Chrome and Chromium browsers (Arc, Brave, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi), not Firefox, Safari or desktop apps.
- It has no password lock, no sync across devices and no uninstall prevention. It relies on friction: turning off all redirects requires typing a long paragraph, and loosening an active rule requires that rule's task.
- It does not block by keyword, so it cannot stop you from searching for distracting content on a site you have allowed.
If you want an uncancelable, all-device lockdown for exam week, a stricter tool may fit better; best website blockers for Chrome compares the options fairly.
Redirect keeps your rules, goals and stats locally in your browser with no account. It is free for one site, with Pro and Lifetime plans for unlimited sites (see pricing). For the general guide, see how to block websites on Chrome.
Sources
- Sirois & Pychyl (2013). Procrastination and the Priority of Short-Term Mood Regulation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115-127 (checked September 2026)
- Steel (2007). The nature of procrastination: a meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65-94 (checked September 2026)
- Gollwitzer (1999), Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans, American Psychologist (checked September 2026)
Close the tab. Open your goals.
Redirect sends distracting sites to the goals you wrote down, and makes every pause a choice.
Questions, answered
How do I block YouTube while studying but keep my lectures?
In Redirect, add a rule for youtube.com and add your course channels as exceptions, for example youtube.com/@mitocw. Videos from those channels play, while the home feed, other channels and Shorts send you to your study goals.
Can I block websites only during study hours?
Yes. Each Redirect rule has its own schedule with weekdays and hours, and overnight windows work. Outside your study hours the sites open normally.
Can I still take breaks while studying?
Yes. You choose a pause length from 1 to 60 minutes, an optional daily pause limit, and a short task before each pause. When the break ends, Redirect sends you back to your goals, even mid scroll.
Does a study website blocker work on my phone?
Redirect does not. It is a Chrome extension for desktop Chrome and Chromium browsers. Keeping your phone in another room while you study is the simplest fix for the phone side.
What is the best way to stop procrastinating and start studying?
Make the distraction harder to reach and the task easier to start: block your top two or three sites during study hours, write specific goals, and commit to just five minutes on the hardest task.