Silence the Ding

I’m busy working away in the studio in preparation for the Paradise City Art Festival.  In order to keep myself from being too distracted by outside noises I instituted one new habit this week that has made a major difference in my ability to get work done.

I silenced the ding (i.e. the bell) on my email.

What a difference this makes in my productivity.  I’d never thought about silencing the email ding before.  Bruce Baker mentioned it in his interview with Allison Lee on Craftcast.  Then I read about doing this in an article in the United Airlines magazine Hemispheres.

Talk about having a Homer Simpson “Doi” moment.

With the computer living in my studio, the email ding was just part of the environmental noise.  I just didn’t realize how very distracting it was to me, even when there is music playing in the background.

So yesterday off went the ding. 

At first I missed the little bugger.  I could still hear him in my head “Hey, I’m here, Ding, come read your email.”  But today has been pure bliss.