Attention is a finite resource; but no matter how hard you try to use it wisely, it is very easy to get distracted in a multi-tasking environment. While some solutions were offered in "Information overload is real", here is another idea which is based on the principles described in "Question oriented UI design".

Today's trick is to hide the Windows taskbar. Want to find out why it is supposed to help?

Follow up:

As it was discussed in question oriented UI design, the screen should only show information that provides answers to questions that matter to the user. Anything else that is shown on the screen is nothing but visual noise that distracts the user from being productive.

Let's examine a typical process - we're using primarily one program (ex: a word processor, a graphics tool, or a programming IDE) that captures our attention. We need to be focused on the information inside this main program's window. From time to time we might want to look elsewhere (ex: another window with a browser showing some documentation).

Anything else is a distraction, it could be a pop-up from the instant messenger, windows that were left open from the previous time the computer was used (this happens often if you hibernate the computer) or stuff that is "just there" because that's how the system was designed.

Here is a typical programming session in Windows (click to see a large version). The distractions are in the taskbar at the bottom, to be more precise - in the elements it shows us: the currently open windows, tray icons, the quick launch bar, the start button, the current language, the current time.

Now, let's make a list of questions these visual clues can answer:

• what time is it?
• which other windows are open?
• what is the current input language?
• what is the currently open window?
• specific to tray icons
• • do I have new email?
  • do I have new IM messages?
  • what is the CPU use?
  • what is going on with the wi-fi connection?
  • is the laptop running on its battery?
• which programs can I quickly start?
• is the "Start" button still there? (-:

Which of these questions are relevant to the programmer at the time a program is being written and debugged? Or, which of them are relevant to a writer typing a document in a word processor; or to J. Random writing an email to a friend?

You will most likely conclude that the relevance of the answers provided by these visual clues is minimal. In that case they should go away, because they distract the user.

This is why the taskbar should be configured to "autohide", and invoked only when actually needed. Your mileage may vary, but this has had a positive impact on my performance.

Note that there are several benefits from this change:

• less visual noise and less distractions (the original objective)
• less space is used, hence more space is available for the actual work we're doing (this is a free bonus)

Problems and solutions

• Sometimes you accidentally place the mouse to the bottom of the screen, that's when the taskbar will be shown, disrupting your work. Unfortunately Windows does not allow a delay to be set before the taskbar is shown, this results in annoyances when the taskbar is shown inadvertently. OS X does not have this drawback, while Windows does (so does GNOME, by the way).

  This can be solved with a third-party tool called TaskbarActivate, which provides various customization options for the taskbar.

• If you write text often and you use multiple languages, you'll miss the language bar, especially if the number of languages is greater than 2.
  
  The solution is to enable "Show the language bar" (this is a standard option since Windows XP), this time no third party tools are needed. Now you have a transparent and unobtrusive language bar (click the nearby screenshot).