I did all right. No shakes or anything. I removed the alert for my work email, which popped up in front of whatever I was working on. Now I go to Outlook on the hour.
There was a drawback. A colleague wanted to know the conference call number and access code, but I did not read her message until the meeting was starting. She'd had to get the info from someone else. I like getting back to people quickly.
I told a friend tonight of my new attempt to limit email checking, and she looked like I'd asked her for a kidney. It's powerful, this instinct to be on top of the email. It's not just the Pavlovian reaction to that ding, it's the time it takes to get back on track with the work you were doing before the ding. It's a productivity killer.
The music was an easier change. The jazz and classical was fantastic to listen to. It definitely helped me focus more than if I'd listened to NPR.
Consideration 