another trick i'd add on to the article - use the "Multiple Inboxes" view that Gmail offers - add a pane for starred items (is:starred search pane) - and set it

another trick i'd add on to the article - use the "Multiple Inboxes" view that Gmail offers - add a pane for starred items (is:starred search pane) - and set it to show only 1 item at a time - and position it above your classic inbox. What this does is - shows you 1 starred email (i.e. todo item ) at a time - at the top of your inbox. That way you always have 1 task ready for you to sort out - and no other tasks to distract you. (you can always dig into the starred items to see if theres something else you'd rather do / more important - but this helps focus tremendously! )