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I only check my e-mail once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I set my e-mail notifications and instant messenger to no notification. If I turn on e-mail/instant messenger notification, I will jump and check my e-mail to see what has come in. It's better to leave off anything such as e-mail and instant messenger to keep you from getting distracted.

I always carry a stack of index cards held together by a small binder clip. I also went to my office supply store and bought some of these mini-pens. It is about half the length of a regular pen. It fits quite nicely in your pocket. This is my offline capture device. If I get an idea, I quickly jot it down and stay focused on the task at hand.

It would disrupt your flow (especially if you're in the "zone") to stop what you're doing, head to the computer, type something into OmniFocus and then try to get back into whatever you're doing. If I went back to the computer, I would get distracted and suddenly start web surfing or e-mail surfing.

Likewise, when someone comes in with a new task, jot it down and tell them that you'll get back to them. Tell them you're in the middle of a process/task/project.

When I finish the task at hand, I can go back to the computer, check my OmniFocus, enter in any new thoughts or ideas I wrote down and proceed to the next tast. When you finish your task at hand, review what you wrote down and then determine whether you can delegate it, schedule it into your work, or just say no and delete it.

I would recommend checking out the screencasts that the Omni Group has put up for download. They're a great way to see how to work effortlessly in OmniFocus.

Like any tool that is worth using, it does take some time to get the hang of it. It took me a bit of time to use OmniFocus. I learned the collecting and organizing part easily. The weekly review and perspectives took some time for me to discover in OmniFocus. But once discovered, they are valuable.