Most of us are conditioned to respond to (or at least read) every email sent you immediately. But over a period of time, you realize the not every email needs immediate attention. While communication is important, the method need not always be email. If something is really time critical, (I have observed that) people you reach you by other means as well (apart from the email they sent you) Other emails are important by not time critical.

Default settings in outlook are to notify you (in multiple ways) of new email in your inbox. But do not need to know about each and every single email the instance it reaches your inbox. You can turn off these distractions by turning off the email notifications completely. But it is hidden very well by Microsoft

To turn off these notifications, navigate to the following location:

Tools->Options->Preferences->Email Options->Advanced Email Options

Now you will see screen similar to the one below. Uncheck all these check boxes.

Turn Off Email Notifications

While the above screen shot (and the location to reach this option) is taken from Outlook 2007, Options for other versions of outlook shouldn’t be very different.