To reduce office distractions, agree on a simple status cue that tells nearby coworkers whether an interruption can wait, and pair it with clear rules for urgent messages. A computer-linked desk light can make a digital availability state visible in the room, but it is only a cue—not proof that someone is concentrating or a promise that they cannot be interrupted.
What computer status signals can—and cannot—do
A status signal gives coworkers a quick, visible way to check whether you prefer not to be interrupted. In the FlowLight workplace study, a desk-mounted or office-visible LED was connected to computer activity and messaging presence. Its design used green for available, red for busy, pulsating red for do not disturb, and yellow for away. These were the study’s chosen meanings, not an industry-wide color standard. The FlowLight study found that a physical signal can help communicate a person’s preferred interruptibility status.
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But computer activity is not the same thing as attention. Someone may be thinking, reading printed material, or talking through a problem without using a keyboard or mouse. The FlowLight researchers report that inaccurate inferences can undermine trust; if coworkers repeatedly see a status that does not match reality, they may stop relying on it. Make the signal easy to correct manually and explain that any automated status reflects activity signals, not a person’s mental state.
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The FlowLight paper reports a 46% reduction in interruptions in a field study involving 449 participants across 12 countries. That is the authors’ reported result for their study, not a prediction that another team—or a retail light—will achieve the same effect.
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A separate analysis used self-reported interruption logs from a filtered subset of 36 participants. In that subset, average reported interruptions fell from 4.1 to 2.2 per participant per day after one week of use, a 49% decrease. The two figures come from different analyses and should not be combined. The paper also notes incomplete data across measures and possible inaccuracies in self-reported logs.
Survey responses provide another, subjective measure: 55% of 182 respondents agreed to some degree that they were interrupted less than usual, and 59.3% agreed that they had fewer interruptions at inopportune moments. These answers describe participants’ perceptions, not an objective measure of productivity. The study supports trying a clear, visible cue; it does not establish a guaranteed effect for every office.
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How to set up a signal your team will respect
- Agree on what each state means. Keep the set small and define it in plain language—for example, available, busy, do not disturb, and away. If you use colors or a light pattern, document their meanings rather than assuming coworkers will interpret them the same way.
- Choose how the status is set. A manual state is explicit but requires people to update it. An automated state can reduce that effort, but computer activity can misread work that happens away from the keyboard. If status is inferred, provide a manual override and let people correct it without having to justify their focus.
- Set a duration and an easy reset. Decide whether busy status ends at a chosen time, after a meeting, or when the person changes it. A status that remains on after the situation has changed quickly loses credibility.
- Agree on urgency exceptions. Identify the channel or approach for genuinely time-sensitive issues, and make clear that a busy signal does not prevent necessary coordination. FlowLight participants still interrupted coworkers when they had an important concern, including when a light indicated busy or do not disturb.
- Check visibility and accessibility. Place a physical indicator where the people who need the cue can see it. Do not rely on color alone: pair colors with labels, patterns, or another distinguishable signal, and account for office layout and local conventions.
- Review whether the cue works in practice. Ask whether coworkers can interpret it, whether people can correct inaccurate states, and whether the team respects it. Adjust the rules if the signal is confusing or routinely ignored.
The FlowLight project used a physical LED and propagated status to Skype for Business; the paper also describes a later pilot using a blink(1) LED light to avoid driver-installation issues. That documents a research implementation, not current retail availability or compatibility. Any hardware choice should be checked against the computers and software in your office.
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Use notification rules alongside the signal
A visible busy cue will not help much if every alert still demands immediate attention. At the same time, turning off every notification is not a universal solution. In a two-week workplace study, Iqbal and Horvitz found that some workers valued email notifications for passive awareness. When notifications were suppressed, some participants checked email more often themselves, while others appeared to focus better. The study dates to 2010, so it demonstrates a tradeoff rather than measuring every current office. Read the workplace notifications study.
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Separate genuinely urgent communication from messages that can wait. Set team expectations for response times, reserve immediate alerts for time-sensitive matters, and test notification changes with the people affected. The aim is to preserve useful awareness without making instant response the default.
Keep work location separate from focus status
A work-location indicator answers where someone is working; it does not say whether they can be interrupted. Microsoft Teams workplace check-in can use configured corporate Wi-Fi or a desk peripheral, such as a monitor, to update a location signal. Microsoft’s documentation says the feature is off by default and requires administrator configuration. Users must grant operating-system location permission, can control whether their location is shared, and can set or clear it manually. Microsoft says it is intended to facilitate collaboration rather than monitor attendance, and that administrators do not receive historical location data. See Microsoft’s workplace check-in documentation, last updated July 1, 2026. Use such a location feature for location coordination, not as a substitute for an explicit interruptibility cue.
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Why the distinction matters
Notifications and interruptions are common concerns, but headline figures need context. Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index reported 275 pings per day—described as one every two minutes during core work hours—for the top 20% of users by received ping volume in aggregated, anonymized Microsoft 365 productivity signals ending February 15, 2025. The figure is based on a 24-hour day and excludes education and EU tenants; it is not an average for all workers. See the Work Trend Index report.
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