onfocus

Do you have a bookmark you just mindlessly click all the time? I have at least one of those, and I found a way to make sure I really want to go to the site. I turned the bookmark into a bookmarklet with a JavaScript confirm before it loads. Now whenever I click a problem bookmark, I get a simple prompt: Are You Sure? If I really want to go to the site I click OK. If I was mindlessly clicking out of habit, Cancel.

If you too would like to create a time-saving mindful bookmarklet, here's how it works. Go in and edit any problem bookmark. Say for the sake of argument it's a bookmark for this URL:

http://www.google.com/reader

Add a tiny bit of JavaScript to the beginning and end of the URL, like this:

javascript:if(confirm('Are You Sure?')){document.location='http://www.google.com/reader';}

Save, and done. I'm tempted to write a Greasemonkey script to add this prompt to every link on the web because that simple barrier to entry is helping me break free from my mindless skinner box. And JavaScript prompts are less painful than classic operant conditioning with electric shocks.