Before Slack it seemed like everywhere I worked had chat and IM anyway -- it was just a thinner experience. As a programmer I have mixed feelings about making a

Before Slack it seemed like everywhere I worked had chat and IM anyway -- it was just a thinner experience. As a programmer I have mixed feelings about making a point about "distractions". On one hand I'm sympathetic and think people need to be more conscientious... but I also think managing distractions is an important skill as a programmer, and there are a lot of people that seem to relish in acting professionally flustered all the time. At the end of the day sometimes answering questions and coordinating with people is the important work -- even if it might be frustrating. Also, I mean, you can just turn it off or mute the notifications. I see people do that all the time and nobody cares.