4 ms·

>> Also, it is work time, you have to expect to be on the ready, and answer people that needs something from you, I don't want anyone who's job requires deep,

>> Also, it is work time, you have to expect to be on the ready, and answer people that needs something from you, I don't want anyone who's job requires deep, introspective thought on big problems to be constanly distracted by a flashing toast that's probably a non-time sensitive, low-effort inquiry or worse. This applies to my newest junior developer trying to learn a big, hairy code base, our senior product manager working through plans for the rest of the year, the CFO figuring out how we can afford to keep everyone employed or the vast majority of positions outside of those explicitly focused on inbound communication. If you work on the help desk, inbound marketing, tech support or sales, sure a big part of your responsibility is responsive communication. For most other roles responsive does not mean immediate or even really, really soon.

erikbye 7y ago
> I don't want anyone who's job requires deep, introspective thought on big problems to be constanly distracted by a flashing toast that's probably a non-time sensitive, low-effort inquiry or worse. Who says he needs to? Your company should have communication policies. They should decide which channels/rooms your junior should join. He's a junior, it is likely no one will urgently need an answer from him for some time, so his settings can reflect that. He does not even need a visible/audible notification for that @-message, he can answer when he feels like it. Also, your last paragraph make it sound like the people in those roles cannot handle their job responsibilities AND a couple of disturbances.
- jhomedall 7y ago
  > Also, your last paragraph make it sound like the people in those roles cannot handle their job responsibilities AND a couple of disturbances. A distraction during deep work can easily take 15-20 minutes to recover from.
  - erikbye 7y ago
    Yes, I have also heard that repeated ad nauseam. I think it is highly debatable and individual. I also think a lot of people overestimate how "deep" their own work is compared to others. E.g. a lot of programming is just tedious busywork and scaffolding, yet every programmer here seems to think a slight interruption is a destructive event. Maybe the problem is with you, not others. Maybe you are not a good match for working on a team. At many companies, plenty of programmers and engineers do complex, meaningful work in a crowded, very busy setting, with lots of talking over each other's heads. Have you seen how SpaceX or Tesla engineers work? What some people call deep work others do with their hands tied and constant "interruption".
    - ethanbond 7y ago
      The vast majority of SpaceX and Tesla work is pure logistics/operations (and everyone I know at either company hates it). You think all those people are doing physics or engineering?
leetcrew 7y ago
I can definitely appreciate how distracting it is to get nagged on slack. unless it's a manager, I will usually take at least 20-30 minutes to respond. this tends to cut down on a lot of the lazy questions. people figure out that if it only takes twenty minutes to solve their problem, they may as well just do it instead of waiting the same amount of time for a response. most questions I get are genuine coordination problems that need to be resolved. "hey, I see you have x file checked out. I also need to make some changes. should I wait for you to submit or will it merge cleanly?" answering this kind of stuff promptly saves everyone a lot of headache in the long run. there are also questions about code that you are much more familiar with than the other person. it might cost you an hour to get back into "deep work" mode, but you save that person a day or more of floundering around and possibly messing things up (that you will have to fix later). I'm not making any assumptions about you personally, but I find that many people who complain a lot about distractions really just don't like working with other people. this is fine, but it means you should probably be in a role where other people depend less on your knowledge and/or using your interfaces.
- gowld 7y ago
  This reads like undermining coworkers while cuddling up to management. Why do you peers not deserve immediate replies but manager does? Why should someone spend 20 minutes researching something if you can point them in the right direction faster?
  - leetcrew 7y ago
    I estimate twenty minutes as the average cost of answering a question. I'm only obligated to help co-workers if it costs me less time than it saves them. if a manager in your tree asks you a dumb question, they are squandering their own resources. I'm not obligated to stop them. to be clear, I only use the twenty minute rule deliberately on people who consistently ask low effort questions. usually I just finish whatever subtask I'm working on, then think of a response. fortunately I don't have many people like this where I work, but they do exist.
    - 7y ago
res0nat0r 7y ago
That's exactly what the Pause Notifications for 30m/1/2/4h/until tomororow/next week dropdown is for.

erikbye 7y ago

> I don't want anyone who's job requires deep, introspective thought on big problems to be constanly distracted by a flashing toast that's probably a non-time sensitive, low-effort inquiry or worse. Who says he needs to? Your company should have communication policies. They should decide which channels/rooms your junior should join. He's a junior, it is likely no one will urgently need an answer from him for some time, so his settings can reflect that. He does not even need a visible/audible notification for that @-message, he can answer when he feels like it. Also, your last paragraph make it sound like the people in those roles cannot handle their job responsibilities AND a couple of disturbances.

jhomedall 7y ago
> Also, your last paragraph make it sound like the people in those roles cannot handle their job responsibilities AND a couple of disturbances. A distraction during deep work can easily take 15-20 minutes to recover from.
- erikbye 7y ago
  Yes, I have also heard that repeated ad nauseam. I think it is highly debatable and individual. I also think a lot of people overestimate how "deep" their own work is compared to others. E.g. a lot of programming is just tedious busywork and scaffolding, yet every programmer here seems to think a slight interruption is a destructive event. Maybe the problem is with you, not others. Maybe you are not a good match for working on a team. At many companies, plenty of programmers and engineers do complex, meaningful work in a crowded, very busy setting, with lots of talking over each other's heads. Have you seen how SpaceX or Tesla engineers work? What some people call deep work others do with their hands tied and constant "interruption".
  - ethanbond 7y ago
    The vast majority of SpaceX and Tesla work is pure logistics/operations (and everyone I know at either company hates it). You think all those people are doing physics or engineering?

leetcrew 7y ago

I can definitely appreciate how distracting it is to get nagged on slack. unless it's a manager, I will usually take at least 20-30 minutes to respond. this tends to cut down on a lot of the lazy questions. people figure out that if it only takes twenty minutes to solve their problem, they may as well just do it instead of waiting the same amount of time for a response. most questions I get are genuine coordination problems that need to be resolved. "hey, I see you have x file checked out. I also need to make some changes. should I wait for you to submit or will it merge cleanly?" answering this kind of stuff promptly saves everyone a lot of headache in the long run. there are also questions about code that you are much more familiar with than the other person. it might cost you an hour to get back into "deep work" mode, but you save that person a day or more of floundering around and possibly messing things up (that you will have to fix later). I'm not making any assumptions about you personally, but I find that many people who complain a lot about distractions really just don't like working with other people. this is fine, but it means you should probably be in a role where other people depend less on your knowledge and/or using your interfaces.

gowld 7y ago
This reads like undermining coworkers while cuddling up to management. Why do you peers not deserve immediate replies but manager does? Why should someone spend 20 minutes researching something if you can point them in the right direction faster?
- leetcrew 7y ago
  I estimate twenty minutes as the average cost of answering a question. I'm only obligated to help co-workers if it costs me less time than it saves them. if a manager in your tree asks you a dumb question, they are squandering their own resources. I'm not obligated to stop them. to be clear, I only use the twenty minute rule deliberately on people who consistently ask low effort questions. usually I just finish whatever subtask I'm working on, then think of a response. fortunately I don't have many people like this where I work, but they do exist.
  - 7y ago

res0nat0r 7y ago

That's exactly what the Pause Notifications for 30m/1/2/4h/until tomororow/next week dropdown is for.