For those who use Outlook, I am sure you are aware of the e-mail desktop alert box. This is the little box that pops up in the lower-right corner of the screen telling you that you have a new e-mail. By default, this box stays visible for 7 seconds and then fades away.
How can one be expected to get something done when they are constantly being reminded every time a new e-mail is received? What could possibly be so important that I need to know about it immediately? Should I open that e-mail now, or wait? I must see it now. I must stop what I am doing and open that e-mail!!!
For me and many people I have talked with; when that little email alert box pops up, it catches your eye, steals your attention, and if even only for a moment, distracts you from the task at hand. Damn that little box! I have other work to do!
My solution? Turn it off! Focus on the task at hand and get to your e-mail when you decide to get to your e-mail. With that little box no longer vying for my attention, I am more efficient and focused on the task at hand. To turn off e-mail desktop alerts:
- In Outlook, From the Tools menu, Select Options
- Click the E-Mail Options button
- Click the Advanced E-Mail Options button
- Uncheck Display a New Mail Desktop Alert
…and if you really want to let go of the incoming e-mail and focus;
- Uncheck Briefly change the mouse cursor
- Uncheck Show an envelope icon in the notification area
Give it a try. You will not regret it!
2 comments:
I already had everything turned off except the little envelope annunciator in the system tray. So then I turned that off. Amazing how much more focused my time it! Most of what I do refers to one email or another for source data, references, people to contact, etc., anyway, so I'm never far from Outlook anyway. How nice to go to the Inbox and find a string of messages, the last of which resolved the issue, and none of which required my attention in the first place! DELETE!!
Thanks for the detailed instructions. An Outlook question for you: How do you disable downloading new messages, or at least downloading less frequently (say every hour, not every 10 minutes)?
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