Aspects provide message queue management as a function of processing time estimation, wherein a processor stores a message directed to a user from a messaging server in a distraction queue, and predicts a processing time required by the user to process the received message as a function of sender identity or of an identified message topic or type. The processor increments a processing time counter value for the distraction queue with the predicted processing time of the message, and notifies the user of the received message and all other messages currently saved to the distraction queue in response to determining that the incremented processing time counter value meets a threshold value.