++ Both for a good suggestion, and for the courage to admit the I word. [I'm not an idiot, but I play one on TV.]

belg4mit's suggestion might work for the obsessive-compulsive type [check for mail, check for mail, check for mail], but others (myself included) need to be hit over the head sometimes.

Perhaps an extension of belg4mit's would be to put the Message Inbox on the Personal Nodelet (make sure it's active).

BTW, /chatteroff is documented at Chatterbox FAQ, under How do I use this?.