Instead of being notified about all new messages, adjust your settings so you only receive alerts when you get a direct message or somebody mentions you specifically in a channel. Here, you can choose the type of notifications you actually need - and how often you’ll be notified. Instead of letting a barrage of alerts mess with your Slack productivity, take ten minutes to go into your Slack settings and manage your notifications. For example, while it might be nice to occasionally check in and get ideas for a new recipe, the daily notifications from your organization’s #foodie Slack channel are probably more of a distraction than you’d like. As time goes on, however, you’ll probably start to notice that some of these channels aren’t that useful for your day-to-day work. When you first get started at a new job, you may get added to a wide variety of Slack channels intended to help you learn about the organization and the company culture. 10 Slack productivity tips you need to know Slack tip #1: Manage your notifications The good news? It’s easy to manage Slack use to boost productivity with no added stress. Workers are expected to be always-on and available through tools like Slack, resulting in a high-urgency work environment and higher rates of anxiety and burnout.

Not only does this mess with your productivity, but this kind of pressure can also create unnecessary psychological stress for employees. There’s also the general (false) sense that by responding to a Slack message or thread instantly you’re proving that you’re sitting at your computer and working hard. When someone sends you a message in real-time, there’s a definite pressure to respond as soon as you can. The Impact of Instant Messaging on Productivity and Mental HealthĬontext switching can be such an issue with Slack because of the perceived sense of urgency associated with instant messages. Not only that, but 68 percent said that they spend at least half an hour every day just switching between different tools. Slack’s State of Work report found that more than 56 percent of knowledge workers from around the world say that switching between different apps makes it harder to get work done. When you leave that first task and switch to the next, it can take as much as 25 minutes to get back on track with your original task. For example, say you’re writing a detailed project brief in a Google Doc and then see a Slack notification pop up from a coworker with an unrelated question. Context switching is what happens when you quickly go from one task to the next. One of the biggest hindrances to your productivity? Context switching. Context Switching and Its Effects on Slack Productivity If you think about how you use Slack, you might not be surprised that it can seriously reduce your productivity levels. Why it can feel like Slack makes you less productive In this post, we’ll explain why it’s so hard to stay productive when using Slack, provide you with seven Slack productivity tips and tricks, and explore how the right integration can make it all easier. While it’s fun to chat about your weekend plans or the latest viral news article, these constant disruptions can have a major impact on your productivity in Slack. That’s where these Slack tips come in. With every “ping” having the potential to throw your day off-course, it’s important to approach your Slack use in a strategic way. However, it’s done the same for procrastination and getting distracted, too. Īs a way to instantly message anyone in your organization, Slack has made communication and collaboration incredibly easy. Published in Productivity on, last updated.

Todoist integration with slack