[afandian]

I've recently got a good old fashioned desktop computer, and switched to Thunderbird over webmail (ending a decade-old GMail subscription in the process). If I want to check emails or do admin, I have to do it purposefully and situatedly.

It's really thrown into contrast the temptation of quickly flicking on a mobile phone or work laptop to check something. There's a mental geographic context as well — I have to go to a specific place to do a specific task, and it can't follow me round the house. It also makes the work / life boundary a little bit clearer.

It's a little inconvenient, but the whole point is to underline the trade-off of that convenience. A week in and I'm tangibly feeling the benefit.

To the original point, I'm parted from my computer for hours rather than days, but it still helps.