A simple to-do list alongside E-mail (e.g. Lightning plug-in in Thunderbird) is really nice. Seeing lists, prioritizing them and crossing off items can be moti

A simple to-do list alongside E-mail (e.g. Lightning plug-in in Thunderbird) is really nice. Seeing lists, prioritizing them and crossing off items can be motivating. When you check E-mail, there's a tendency to want to immediately respond to whatever is said, and this can be very distracting and time-consuming. You should believe that if something is truly critical, you will receive a phone call or a personal visit. So I usually check E-mail only twice a day, around 10:00 and 4:00, which leaves just enough time that morning/afternoon to deal with requests or minor problems. I use a revision control system, and train myself to commit exactly one "feature" at a time so that my work is focused. This prevents going down ratholes, and makes the rollback "clean" (a single version is a focused change, not some random mix of whatever you were working on). It is also a useful reminder, e.g. you come back an hour later and just ask the revision control system what you changed.