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Related question: how to explain a non-developer manager that you will switch Slack off for periods of time even when working from home? With all seriousness, S

Related question: how to explain a non-developer manager that you will switch Slack off for periods of time even when working from home? With all seriousness, Slack somehow became the measure of at-work-ness, but it's the worst when I'm programming. It's like an all-day meeting without an agenda.

WalterSear 10y ago
They don't respect the 'Do Not Disturb' notifier?
- wimagguc 10y ago
  They still write in a 'I'll put this here and they respond when they can, it's at least someone else's problem' manner. Slack won't play the sound effects, but the badge will be there, red and proud with a big number on, and you'll see it at every cmd-tab. (I wonder how common OCD is among programmers.)
  - lazyasciiart 10y ago
    Can't you mute channels to stop even unread counts from showing up? Like the last part of this article: https://lauraroeder.com/how-to-customize-slack-so-it-stops-murdering-your-productivity-82c5a6be55dc#.q9bhlvovj https://lauraroeder.com/how-to-customize-slack-so-it-stops-m...
  - Symbiote 10y ago
    > the badge will be there, red and proud with a big number on, and you'll see it at every cmd-tab On KDE, I'd use the "Filters" setting for either the Task Switcher (Alt+Tab thing) or the Task Manager (taskbar), or both. They can show or ignore windows from other virtual desktops, screens, or minimized ones. [Or "activities", but I've never used that feature, and I'm not sure what it's for.] I usually keep Skype on my second screen, covered with other work, and have the task switcher set to only scroll through not-minimized things on the current screen. Edit: So "Activities" are something like super-virtual desktops, and appear to be exactly for this purpose, to separate different tasks.
  - luos 10y ago
    That's why I had a custom script which always set the counter to zero for HipChat. The numbers are very annoying. We had a Lunch room where people discussed what to get for lunch, and it had a counter near it's name. Also reseted the tab counter.
  - wila 10y ago
    Run Slack in a VM and you can decide on when you want to see it.
stephengillie 10y ago
They believe that by employing you, they have the Right to Distract. I have no strategies to counter this perception, sorry.
- mseebach 10y ago
  They do. That this may not be the most effective way of reaping the value of employing you is a different concern.
  - stephengillie 10y ago
    Value is subjective, and changes over time. They value your attention more than your productive capacity, sometimes.
bythckr 10y ago
I actually installed slack in my backup mobile and that is always on. I just put the phone is silent mode & it's inside my drawer. When I want to respond, I open slack on my laptop.
edem 10y ago
I simply blocked ALL notifications and muted most channels. I am always online but I cannot be distracted.
ubersoldat2k7 10y ago
"Hello" ... "Are you there?" ... "I really need you to answer me" ... You're not a good PM if you've done this. The alternative from a good manager: "Hello... I need you to input your time on Kimble" What about my Skype status "async mode on" don't they understand?
- Two9A 10y ago
  "Async mode on" makes sense to a developer, but it's meaningless jargon to a non-technical PM. Perhaps "I'll get back to you" or "Leave a message" would work better?
Sir_Substance 10y ago
My strategy for this is to modify my do not disturb settings to make it shut the fuck up, and then leave it in that mode permanently. Skype, steam and slack do not flash, beep or pop up when I get messages, they just put a discreet number on the taskbar. I've learned to ignore that number until I'm ready. As a result, I'm always online on my chat programs but my responses can take anywhere between 30 seconds and 4 hours depending on what I'm doing. If it was really that important, people would walk over to my desk. That only happens about once a week.
- protomok 10y ago
  Yep, batching IM and even email responses works well for me as well. My experience has been most developers and managers are fine with this.
kozak 10y ago
Well, that's easy: you just keep Slack running, but disable its notifications. Then you check your Slack from time to time and respond to all the questions that came since the previous time you checked it. Text messaging is called asynchronous communication for a reason: if someone wants to talk to you synchronously, they call you instead of writing a message.
captn3m0 10y ago
One thing that has worked for me is posting on Slack about unavailability. I just post something like: "Turning off Slack to work on X with no distractions". I'm usually super-active on Slack and posting something like that lets my team know, which I think is important given the context. I use it sparingly to good results.

WalterSear 10y ago

They don't respect the 'Do Not Disturb' notifier?

wimagguc 10y ago
They still write in a 'I'll put this here and they respond when they can, it's at least someone else's problem' manner. Slack won't play the sound effects, but the badge will be there, red and proud with a big number on, and you'll see it at every cmd-tab. (I wonder how common OCD is among programmers.)
- lazyasciiart 10y ago
  Can't you mute channels to stop even unread counts from showing up? Like the last part of this article: https://lauraroeder.com/how-to-customize-slack-so-it-stops-murdering-your-productivity-82c5a6be55dc#.q9bhlvovj https://lauraroeder.com/how-to-customize-slack-so-it-stops-m...
- Symbiote 10y ago
  > the badge will be there, red and proud with a big number on, and you'll see it at every cmd-tab On KDE, I'd use the "Filters" setting for either the Task Switcher (Alt+Tab thing) or the Task Manager (taskbar), or both. They can show or ignore windows from other virtual desktops, screens, or minimized ones. [Or "activities", but I've never used that feature, and I'm not sure what it's for.] I usually keep Skype on my second screen, covered with other work, and have the task switcher set to only scroll through not-minimized things on the current screen. Edit: So "Activities" are something like super-virtual desktops, and appear to be exactly for this purpose, to separate different tasks.
- luos 10y ago
  That's why I had a custom script which always set the counter to zero for HipChat. The numbers are very annoying. We had a Lunch room where people discussed what to get for lunch, and it had a counter near it's name. Also reseted the tab counter.
- wila 10y ago
  Run Slack in a VM and you can decide on when you want to see it.

stephengillie 10y ago

They believe that by employing you, they have the Right to Distract. I have no strategies to counter this perception, sorry.

mseebach 10y ago
They do. That this may not be the most effective way of reaping the value of employing you is a different concern.
- stephengillie 10y ago
  Value is subjective, and changes over time. They value your attention more than your productive capacity, sometimes.

bythckr 10y ago

I actually installed slack in my backup mobile and that is always on. I just put the phone is silent mode & it's inside my drawer. When I want to respond, I open slack on my laptop.

edem 10y ago

I simply blocked ALL notifications and muted most channels. I am always online but I cannot be distracted.

ubersoldat2k7 10y ago

"Hello" ... "Are you there?" ... "I really need you to answer me" ... You're not a good PM if you've done this. The alternative from a good manager: "Hello... I need you to input your time on Kimble" What about my Skype status "async mode on" don't they understand?

Two9A 10y ago
"Async mode on" makes sense to a developer, but it's meaningless jargon to a non-technical PM. Perhaps "I'll get back to you" or "Leave a message" would work better?

Sir_Substance 10y ago

My strategy for this is to modify my do not disturb settings to make it shut the fuck up, and then leave it in that mode permanently. Skype, steam and slack do not flash, beep or pop up when I get messages, they just put a discreet number on the taskbar. I've learned to ignore that number until I'm ready. As a result, I'm always online on my chat programs but my responses can take anywhere between 30 seconds and 4 hours depending on what I'm doing. If it was really that important, people would walk over to my desk. That only happens about once a week.

protomok 10y ago
Yep, batching IM and even email responses works well for me as well. My experience has been most developers and managers are fine with this.

kozak 10y ago

Well, that's easy: you just keep Slack running, but disable its notifications. Then you check your Slack from time to time and respond to all the questions that came since the previous time you checked it. Text messaging is called asynchronous communication for a reason: if someone wants to talk to you synchronously, they call you instead of writing a message.

captn3m0 10y ago

One thing that has worked for me is posting on Slack about unavailability. I just post something like: "Turning off Slack to work on X with no distractions". I'm usually super-active on Slack and posting something like that lets my team know, which I think is important given the context. I use it sparingly to good results.