SunkCostThe scroll has a price. See it.
SunkCost counts the time you actually lose to distracting sites — then nudges you, or blocks them. You choose. It never leaves your machine.
No account. No ads. No server. Nothing leaves your browser.
Keep scrolling. Watch it run out.
What does the scroll actually cost you?
Not an average. Your number, and plain multiplication. Drag it.
Every figure here is computed from the minutes you set — the same way the extension does it, on your own machine.
It's never really "just five minutes."
The feed has no bottom
It's engineered that way. There is no natural stopping cue, so "a quick look" ends when you catch yourself — not when you're done. The design decides your time, unless something else does.
The interruption costs more than itself
After a scroll break it takes real minutes to climb back into deep work. A two-minute glance can cost fifteen. The tax isn't the time on the site — it's the focus you don't get back.
You won't remember any of it
Try to recall one thing you scrolled past yesterday. Now recall one thing you made. The feed is designed to be forgotten — which means the time spent leaves nothing behind.
Small daily habits compound
Thirty minutes sounds harmless. Run the numbers above: it's days a year, a working month, a shelf of unread books. The damage isn't in any one scroll — it's in all of them added up.
Late-night scrolling steals twice
The 1am scroll takes the time you spend on it and the sleep that would have followed. Tomorrow pays for it too. That's why SunkCost has a curfew no pass can open.
Awareness alone doesn't fix it
Knowing you scroll too much changes almost nothing — the research is clear. A number on a dashboard is a start; a little friction at the moment you reach for it is what actually moves the needle.
Two modes. Your rules. Built to survive your own excuses.
Counts real attention
Time accrues only when a site is the active tab and you're actually there — or media is playing. A muted background tab is free; a Netflix binge is not.
Nudge or block
Remind mode escalates notifications as the day climbs. Block mode stops sites at a wall once their limit is spent. Switch anytime.
A limit per site
Thirty minutes of YouTube, zero Instagram, everything else sharing one allowance. Set each site's own budget, or leave it blank to share.
Passes that get heavier
Need in? A pass exists — behind a boring wait that grows each time you take one, plus a daily cap and an "are you sure?". The escape hatch is deliberately dull.
A curfew for 1am
Set nightly hours where sites are shut completely and no pass works. You decide them in daylight, so the tired version of you doesn't get a vote.
Loosening waits 15 minutes
Raising a limit or leaving block mode takes effect after a delay. Tightening is instant. A moment of weakness can't undo a careful decision.
Proof it's working
After two weeks it compares your recent week to your first and shows the minutes-a-day you've won back. Streaks show effort; this shows effect.
A different angle each time
Reach for a pass and the wall reframes your own numbers — days a year, the site that's winning, this week vs last. It never becomes wallpaper.
100% local
Everything lives in your browser and is pruned after 60 days. No account, no analytics, no server. Read the policy.
Quiet when you're fine. Loud when you're not.
Install in a minute
- Download the zip and unzip it anywhere.
- Open
chrome://extensionsand toggle Developer mode (top right). - Click Load unpacked and choose the unzipped folder.
- Pin SunkCost from the puzzle-piece menu. Setup opens on its own.
Chrome Web Store listing is under review — once it's live, this becomes one click, no developer mode.
Get the days back.
It's free, it's local, and it takes a minute. The scroll will still be there — you'll just be spending less of your life in it.
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