4 ms·

I see the author generating 51000 messages in a year. That’s 196 per workday. 196 interruptions per day. Counting just the messages he produced, this is 196 mi

I see the author generating 51000 messages in a year. That’s 196 per workday. 196 interruptions per day. Counting just the messages he produced, this is 196 micro interactions with other people. Even if the exchanges come in sets, the amount of wasted attention is mind blowing.

egid 8y ago
Yep. That realization is a big part of what led to serious changes in habits and thinking about Slack. The stats now are around 1/2 of what they were, and that's in a different role as a team lead rather than a full-time remote engineer. Given my communication style — basically a line per sentence and (for better or worse, probably worse) the byproduct of IRC — that 196/day average was likely more along the lines of 10 to 15 conversations per day. Probably some number less than half were truly wasted; they were still work-relevant, but the randomization is the concerning part.
- andrei_says_ 8y ago
  As a programmer, it takes 10-20 min to fully “submerge” in the context and approach the state of flow. With this amount of conversations, and I presume double the amount of distraction through “checking” slack, entering that state would just not happen for me. What was your experience?
  - egid 8y ago
    I didn't honestly find it ruinously distracting, but it was a handicap. Much of the work I did at the time relied on interacting with a team of developers while I was remote. Slack allowed me to ask and answer questions asynchronously, while scheduling a meeting or getting a video call together at least _felt_ like a greater burden. On average, at peak slack usage, I was probably interacting with it several times per hour, in bursts of messages per conversation. After reevaluating, I'd quit slack for hours at a time while focusing. I'm not really sure how to quantify the impact that had; it's mostly that I've forced myself to recognize when I'm in the zone on work and proactively shut down communication until I'm ready for a break. Before, I'd occasionally get an interruption or reach out to someone and lose some time and focus to Slack.
simplyinfinity 8y ago
Now imagine there is no slack, and people come and tap your shoulder like they do at my work. Slack you can check at your convenience, you can't ignore people when they lean on your desk and start talking.
- andrei_says_ 8y ago
  I can guarantee that they don’t do it as often as the convenience of and addiction to slack promote. Or they send an email. Or use the company ticketing system. Or mention it during a meeting. People are able to find solutions for most issues by themselves. Honestly, do you think this person would get over 100 people per day to ask him important questions? He’s not a manager managing a large team. It’s addiction.
  - egid 8y ago
    I think you're making a faulty assumption. 100 messages is not 100 people. It could be 5 short conversations; it could be a couple of long ones. 1 message != 1 person.
bradhe 8y ago
> 196 interruptions per day. These aren’t exclusively interruptions. He’s a developer but that doesn’t mean his job isn’t just to sit at a keyboard and woodpecker away all day.
- andrei_says_ 8y ago
  I doubt he codes in slack. And again, this count does not include the messages he reads, and interrupts his flow to read. Although with this amount of interruptions I don’t think anyone can enter the state of flow.
  - bradhe 8y ago
    You’ve missed my point entirely. A developer doesn’t work in a vacuum. His/her job is more than just to “write code.” Those other aspects require communication. Heck, writing code does too. You sound like you might be one of those people that’s terrible to work with.

egid 8y ago

Yep. That realization is a big part of what led to serious changes in habits and thinking about Slack. The stats now are around 1/2 of what they were, and that's in a different role as a team lead rather than a full-time remote engineer. Given my communication style — basically a line per sentence and (for better or worse, probably worse) the byproduct of IRC — that 196/day average was likely more along the lines of 10 to 15 conversations per day. Probably some number less than half were truly wasted; they were still work-relevant, but the randomization is the concerning part.

andrei_says_ 8y ago
As a programmer, it takes 10-20 min to fully “submerge” in the context and approach the state of flow. With this amount of conversations, and I presume double the amount of distraction through “checking” slack, entering that state would just not happen for me. What was your experience?
- egid 8y ago
  I didn't honestly find it ruinously distracting, but it was a handicap. Much of the work I did at the time relied on interacting with a team of developers while I was remote. Slack allowed me to ask and answer questions asynchronously, while scheduling a meeting or getting a video call together at least _felt_ like a greater burden. On average, at peak slack usage, I was probably interacting with it several times per hour, in bursts of messages per conversation. After reevaluating, I'd quit slack for hours at a time while focusing. I'm not really sure how to quantify the impact that had; it's mostly that I've forced myself to recognize when I'm in the zone on work and proactively shut down communication until I'm ready for a break. Before, I'd occasionally get an interruption or reach out to someone and lose some time and focus to Slack.

simplyinfinity 8y ago

Now imagine there is no slack, and people come and tap your shoulder like they do at my work. Slack you can check at your convenience, you can't ignore people when they lean on your desk and start talking.

andrei_says_ 8y ago
I can guarantee that they don’t do it as often as the convenience of and addiction to slack promote. Or they send an email. Or use the company ticketing system. Or mention it during a meeting. People are able to find solutions for most issues by themselves. Honestly, do you think this person would get over 100 people per day to ask him important questions? He’s not a manager managing a large team. It’s addiction.
- egid 8y ago
  I think you're making a faulty assumption. 100 messages is not 100 people. It could be 5 short conversations; it could be a couple of long ones. 1 message != 1 person.

bradhe 8y ago

> 196 interruptions per day. These aren’t exclusively interruptions. He’s a developer but that doesn’t mean his job isn’t just to sit at a keyboard and woodpecker away all day.

andrei_says_ 8y ago
I doubt he codes in slack. And again, this count does not include the messages he reads, and interrupts his flow to read. Although with this amount of interruptions I don’t think anyone can enter the state of flow.
- bradhe 8y ago
  You’ve missed my point entirely. A developer doesn’t work in a vacuum. His/her job is more than just to “write code.” Those other aspects require communication. Heck, writing code does too. You sound like you might be one of those people that’s terrible to work with.