I agree that one could filter EVERY notification, or sign up for a service that would do that. But there are some messages that you really do want to receive—an introduction on LinkedIn, a direct message from a friend on Facebook, a notification from Amazon that a shipment has been delayed, etc. With NotifyMeNot, my…

Thanks for the writeup, Thorin! We wanted to create something unique—it not only links to the Settings pages but provides the EXACT options we recommend for which messages demand emails and which don't. In addition, for sites that send notifications that don't have settings, we explain how to setup filters in Gmail…

Hehe. True. If you don't have a physical keyboard then physical keyboard shortcuts do not apply. We could change the word "since" to "when" though : ) #TrustInReaderIntelligence

You're right, though that's a mail client decision. Android and iOS's default mail clients are optimized for "Archive" rather than Filing. They let you do both, but they're guiding their users away from filing.

That's awesome! When I get back home today I'll check it out on my Nexus 7, but I wrote this article based off Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich. I'll be really excited if that works regardless of the Keyboard you install...and it sounds like it will!

My own product does that — check out the link in the article "BlackBerry users moved to my email notification service, AwayFind" as it points to a blog post on how to get some server-side email monitoring for Android or iOS, similar to BES.

Great tips, Arkar.

There were portions of this article that were removed, and those related to where my own product (AwayFind) fits into the mix—we're on the server side and similar to BES. If you look at the original on Technotheory.com, hopefully that will explain more about the flow that I had initially intended. I still think this…

The idea of going back to a physical keyboard does seem weird to me, and an incredibly inefficient use of space for a tiny device. But I think that software+hardware when done right will (or at least CAN) always be better than just software. Whether or not BB's software+hardware is as useful as Android or iOS's…

Great point. That single point of failure is a real risk. Normally RIM's proprietary network allows messages to move more quickly...but when they go down (just like when AWS goes down), the world notices.

Lokout, thanks for the detail here for Lifehacker readers. I agree with you about how BES and ActiveSync work, and perhaps I simplified things too much (I didn't even touch on ActiveSync).

I agree with you, Erica. But whenever there are times when something is truly timely, it's still possible to get outside of one's inbox. You might want to try creating a filter to SMS or a tool like AwayFind (disclosure—that's my tool).

The study was amazing (as Gloria Mark's work usually is), and I definitely encourage checking out the source. One specific highlight that stuck with me was that the control group (normal state) switched tasks on average 37 times per hour! Once email checking was restricted (i.e., no new messages show up in inbox)…

You've definitely put a lot of thought into this, Joshua. As I mentioned on your original post, I agree with you that the majority of the problem is in fact ourselves. Like with my own tool (AwayFind), it's really only effective at helping people to check email less often if they recognize the point to checking…

I love your suggestions here. And I love Sparrow for iOS. I also want to offer that www.awayfind.com (my product) can notify you by SMS or push for just the emails that are urgent...so that you can more easily check every few hours. Thanks for sharing this, Adam.

And I should really add, Gina, this is a pretty awesome, thorough, and well-demonstrated list you've put together here. I really would love to try some of this stuff. For now I'll stick with RescueTime and Nike+ for now since they take zero effort, but I really ought to try some things that track weight, eating…

I'll third the suggestion for RescueTime. I particularly like how it tracks time on both my laptop and desktop and then totals it as if it were one computer.

This is an awesome article, Kevin!

Regarding your bottom line: "for someone who loves making things on the web, spending 100% of the time blogging about what other people are making is simply untenable."

Gina, I'm excited to hear that you're going to be doing more of what you love, which is kind of the purpose behind "lifehacking," after all, right? Really, kudos to you for taking a big step...and we're all lucky to be reading more of your in depth thought pieces now.