There's a few ways I combat this: * Multiple desktops, each with ONE purpose. Alpha does email (in mutt over ssh) while Beta does web browsing, Delta gives me

There's a few ways I combat this: * Multiple desktops, each with ONE purpose. Alpha does email (in mutt over ssh) while Beta does web browsing, Delta gives me an IDE and Gamma gives system info. * My email and my browsing are seperated. This lets me focus on email, then on browsing. Since I do a lot of web development, I run two browsers, Firefox for my normal everyday stuff and Chrome for my development. * I use a little time-tracker. Teatimers and other such things are great for this. Since I use XFCE a lot of my development machines, I use the "Timer" plugin. The activities I dont want to do for long call 'xscreensaver-command --lock'. It forces me to get up. * I regularly stand up, walk around, get my mind some more oxygen. * I keep a todo list in Tomboy. + items are done, - items aren't, ? items are 'do I need to do this today'. * When on Windows, I use The Guide on a flash drive to do my todo lists. I also keep track of time with a buzzer timer. * I listen to music which lasts 5 minutes at a time (often chiptunes) which keeps me on task. This is a personal preference. Your best bet is to sit down, allot yourself X minutes to chekcing email, Y Minutes to check news and the rest is 'work' time. If you start dwadling off on other things, stand up, take a break and just get back to what you have to do.