6 Slack Myths That Are Killing Your Productivity

December 11, 2024

· Harkirat Singh

· 5 minutes

Last night at 2 AM, while scrolling through Slack (don't judge, we've all been there), I realised something hilarious.

We've turned a simple messaging app into a digital anxiety generator.

You know what I mean, right?

That panic when you see "Raj is typing..." or that guilt trip when you take more than 5 minutes to respond to "Hey, quick question?"

I noticed this weird pattern in my team where people were apologising for not responding within minutes, even during their focused work time.

Some colleagues even developed what they jokingly called "Slack PTSD,” flinching at every notification sound.

When I saw team members checking Slack at midnight just to feel "caught up," I knew something wasn't right.

So I thought we needed to talk about these six Slack myths that are making us all behave like we're manning a nuclear control room instead of, you know, just trying to get some work done.

Myth #1: "You must respond to Slack messages immediately."

The average worker takes 64 seconds to respond to a Slack message. (Seriously, someone actually studied this). And people receive about 100 Slack messages every day.

This constant pressure to respond immediately isn't just stressful - it's destroying our productivity. Each interruption can result in up to 23 minutes of lost focus time. (It's like trying to read a book while someone keeps tapping your shoulder every minute asking if you're still reading).

Most messages can actually wait up to a few hours, even in professional settings.

When I started checking messages at scheduled intervals instead of responding instantly, my productivity shot up faster than my coffee intake on Monday mornings.

Myth #2: "Setting your status to 'Away' makes you look lazy."

The green dot next to your Slack profile picture isn't a measure of your worth. It's just a dot. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is go "away" and actually get some work done.

I started setting my status to "Deep Work" for 2 hours a day.

Within a week, I was shipping more PRDs than our tech team could review. Your brain actually works better when it's not being interrupted every 30 seconds by someone sharing their weekend plans.

Myth #3: "You need to read every message in every channel."

If you're trying to read every message in every channel, sorry but not sorry, that's not dedication but rather digital hoarding.

Studies show we spend an average of 2.5 hours daily just managing our communication channels. (That's enough time to watch The Wolf of Wall Street or, well, actually get some work done).

I'll suggest setting your Slack to "Mark as Read" for non-critical channels and using the search function for important stuff. Your sanity & stress levels will thank you.

Myth #4: "More Slack integrations make you more productive."

Our team had so many integrations that getting a notification felt like being in a room full of people all trying to tell you something at once.

Having Slack ping you about everything from GitHub commits to when someone refills the office coffee machine isn't productive. What you're doing is getting stuck in "notification chaos."

I removed half my integrations, keeping the critical ones and suddenly found myself with enough time to actually finish a cup of coffee while it's still hot.

Myth #5: "Slack is only for work-related conversations"

Sure, and I only eat salads for lunch.

A little bit of fun in Slack can actually boost team morale. I created a #random channel with a daily limit of 10 messages per person. You can't let people go overboard with random messages

Now we have just enough fun to keep things lively, without turning Slack into a full-time meme exchange.

Myth #6: "Slack replaces the need for meetings"

Oh boy, if I had a dollar for every time someone said "Let's just Slack about it instead of meeting," I'd have enough money to buy Slack and turn it into a meeting scheduling app (the irony, right?).

Slack's great for quick updates and casual chats. But thinking it can replace all meetings is like believing you can survive solely on energy drinks.

Sure, you'll be awake, but at what cost?

Use Slack to make your meetings more efficient. Share agendas, pre-meeting notes, and post-meeting action items there. That way, when you do meet, you can focus on the meaty stuff instead of spending 20 minutes figuring out why you're all there in the first place.

Look, we've all been caught in this digital dance with Slack treating every notification like it's a matter of life and death. However we need to realize that it's not about using Slack less, it's about using it more intentionally.

Every time you respond instantly to a message, you're not just interrupting your work, you're teaching others that you're always available. And now we're all stuck in this endless cycle.

So, the power lies in getting over these myths and redesigning how we use Slack at our workplace. A Study conducted by Harvard Business Review shows that reducing meetings by 40% increased productivity by 71%. When used right, Slack can actually give us back our time instead of stealing it.

In our next blog, we'll dive into some pro tips on how to manage Slack like a pro and reclaim your sanity (and maybe even your social life).

Until then, remember: Your productivity isn't measured by how quickly you respond to messages, but by how effectively you manage your attention.

(P.S. Yes, I got three Slack notifications while writing this. But this time, I chose when to respond to them. Growth, right?)