With the plethora of communication methods available to co-workers, how do you manage to keep distractions at bay for a large enough block of time to accomplish some focused programming?
Do you quit or close all communications, have you informed people that an away message really means you are a way, or something else?
My e-mail is on a separate computer from my coding machine at work so that helps. Most other diversions are blocked. Besides that all I have to distract me is the phone and coworkers walking by.
StackOverflow isn't blocked, though, and that's becoming an increasing distraction. ;)
I like the idea of quitting stuff. I don't need to check every 15 minutes, like I do. The problem is then, with twitter, email, aim, irc, et al., there is a lot of stuff to open.
My solution is just a little bash command using the handy-dandy open command with a bunch of application names. It opens everything at once, I check it all, and quit as I go.
I was about to ask this same question so instead I'll contribute to this one.
One of the things I use is a Firefox add-on called 
. I use it to block access in Firefox to "screwoff" sites like Slashdot, Fark, Shacknews, etc.
Of course this doesn't preclude the idea of opening up another browser to open those sites but since I have to have JavaScript debugging turned on in IE and every site on earth trips the debugger for idiotic reasons (Line 1: Invalid character, etc.) and using Opera is just an exercise in pain, it keeps me from going to the sites much.
What I'd really like to have is a program which blocks certain sites, globally, except for certain times of the day. Like, browsing over lunch only or something. If anyone knows of one like that, I'd love to hear of it.
As a programmer, it takes a good 15-20 minutes to pick up the threads once you got interrupted, thus five interruptions means you've effectively wasted more than an hour.
Nothing will stop co-workers calling you about stuff they could really have sent an email for, or walking into your office (except if they respect your time). This you will have to watch out for and speak up if it becomes a problem...
One thing is that I try to stick to instant messaging when I Communicate with people. In general people will find it natural to communicate back with me via the instant messenger. At least, that's how the culture of my organization works.
The IM is preferable because you can choose to answer it when you're ready - unlike the phone or face-to-face. Email is a much more extreme example of what IM buys you, but in my organization most people try to avoid using email because pretty much everyone gets flooded with internal spam, and nobody reads mail in a timely manner. Try to get people to use IM more so your thoughts aren't scattered as often. Also, listen to some ambient or instrumental music via headphones, preferably noise-cancelling. People are less likely to bother you if you have headphones on, especially if they know you're at your desk and they can instant message you.
But like I Said, you answer your IM's when it's convenient for you. Try to get people used to being ignored for 5-15 minutes at a time. Yes, your problems aren't so critical that I have to address them this very instant. I consider email to be up to a day's turnaround time, so I try to not check it as often.
