One thing slack sucks at is any kind of “priority inbox”. It’s instead this game of hyper-vigilant whack a mole where you constantly have to decide what to resp

One thing slack sucks at is any kind of “priority inbox”. It’s instead this game of hyper-vigilant whack a mole where you constantly have to decide what to respond to. Constantly making these decisions makes us less effective. This drains our focus and ability to work on what’s important. Honestly it’s acceptable as a dev, unless you have an explicit expectation, to ignore most slack messages and respond to what’s important. What’s “important” is pretty contextual. I only look at 5-6 channels relevant to my team and mute all others. I respond relatively quickly (within 1-2 hours) to teammates and team stakeholders unless it’s a true emergency. For randos that want help or to put work on my plate, I usually respond in a few days. I look at silly, social channels sporadically only when I’m just bored, feel like bonding with coworkers, or am too drained to think about work.. When conversations have complex subtleties, I ask to chat on a zoom or voice call so we can focus on the conversation instead of quick, easy to misinterpret text.