How I manage Slack notifications for focus

Does your Slack looks like a crime scene of unread messages? Fix it with fast tags. Fast tags are short keywords or emojis placed at the beginning of a message to make it easy to 1) understand what the message is about and 2) what needs to happen. Remote teams (especially founders/managers) deal with a constant flood of notifications and messages. Fast tags remove ambiguity and help people prioritize quickly. Here are some of the most effective fast tags: - FYI: For updates, announcements, or general visibility. No action required, just keeping you in the loop. - IDEA: A thought or suggestion to improve work, workflows, or collaboration. Likely some back and forth should happen. - HELP/BLOCKED: You’ve hit a roadblock and need support or input. - ACTION: The recipient needs to take specific action. - MAYDAY: A critical issue that requires urgent attention. For some teams, this means everyone drops everything. NOW. You can also use emojis as fast tags, like: 🔴 for urgent/MAYDAY 🟡 for not urgent yet, but getting there Just note: emojis aren’t always accessible for color-blind team members or screen reader users, so in general, I recommend sticking with text-based tags to ensure everyone is able to understand. Have you used fast tags? Drop your favorite below 👇 — Hi, I’m Madi. This October, I’m writing 31 hours and posting 31 times. My goal is to draft my book, sort out what I’m building next, and stay accountable by doing it all in public. Current hour count: 25hr 12min Current post count: 25

Work is full of communication: Slack. Email. Zoom. But not all communication is created equal. Here’s when communication breeds connection: Communication without connection looks like: - Constant pings and notifications - Fast-moving agendas and tasks - Surface-level exchanges that check the box Communication with connection looks like: - A few minutes to ask about life before diving into work - Trust built through shared humanity - A faster path to the real point of the meeting At Fringe, we make it a norm: if a meeting runs 30 minutes or longer, we spend at least 5 minutes not talking about work. It sounds inefficient, but in reality, it makes everything more efficient. Because when people feel seen, the work flows easier. You’re not just co-working. You’re on the same team. How do you build space for connection in your workplace?

Rapidfire emails. Slack messaging. Constant meetings. Lunch at the desk. What if I told you this was only ‘Pseudo-productivity’? That’s right. It might seem productive… After all, there's a lot of noise and activity. But this assumption makes a crucial error. It confuses busyness with productivity. Pseudo-productivity is a fool's errand that leaves us tired, wired, and unable to do our best work. Instead, my vision is for ‘Spacemaker Productivity’. Spacemaker productivity prioritises - Dedicated time to sit back and think deeply. - A deliberate approach to planning and scheduling - Acknowledging your limitations and taking breaks when needed. I know it’s hard to close email, or delay responding to Slack for a few hours. But, if we’re honest, constant distraction keeps us paddling in the intellectual shallows. True and meaningful work is rarely achieved with pseudo-productivity. So, this week, why not try and implement one part of Spacemaker-productivity? Maybe go for a long walk at lunch, or schedule half an hour just to think? One of the leaders I coach recently told me that setting aside ‘thinking time’ was a game changer for her. Why not give it a try?

Great Companies: Use Slack, Discord, etc for communication. Orthodox companies: Use Teams, Skype, etc for communication. Usually, the decision to choose Slack or Teams is made by the CTO/COO/CEO. If the CXO is a boomer or orthodox, they will choose Teams or a similar orthodox-type messaging application. You can guess the culture coming from the top with boomers on the board. Whereas, if the CXO is a millennial or Gen Z type, they will choose a modern new-gen messaging application such as Slack. The culture then dramatically changes, where transparency and balance are valued more than aggressive, unrealistic deadlines. P.S. There are exceptions, and generalisation is not always possible, but these are my observations and have often proved to be accurate. P.P.S Please take this on a light-hearted note, especially if you are a boomer. #slack #teams

A few days ago, I commented on a fantastic post by Tobias Schlottke about how Slack kills focus (I'll link his wonderful post on the comments) - funnily enough, after my comment on his post (where I wrote how I manage my own slack) I got some messages telling me they liked my appraoch and even colleagues mentioning to me that they like the strategy and if I can expand on it. So... here we gooooooo - this is my Slack stragey to not kill my productivity, but focus on availability to others Let's start with the basics - Yes, Slack can be chaotic and if you "do slack full time" you can find yourself doing busy-work without actually wokring! But, imho, A huge part of my leadership style is availability, staying connected to what’s happening now - that's my core strength, and I guess my strategic work does need to improve more (but that's for future posts) I generally apply what I call Slack Zero (inspired by Inbox Zero - which I also do hehehe) and here are the guidelines: 1/ Be in fewer channels. - I’m only in channels I must be in. - If people need me, they tag me. Once it’s done, I leave. - Keeping Slack small keeps me sane. 2/ Daily cleanup. - I start my day with 30 minutes of Slack cleanup and do another 30 in the evening. - The goal isn’t to reply to everything, it’s to read what matters and decide: 👍 - I love those emojis on messages btw! , comment, forward, or read and move on (information acquired baby!!!!) 3/ Quick channel scan. - I skim through the channels I’m in. I want signal, not noise. Intentional scanning - When I have a free moment, I scan Slack - just to see what's out there :) - If I see I don't have value in a certain channel, I leave! remember, keep the channels to a manageable size for you and let your teams know they can always add you when you are needed 4/ What do I get from this? - It’s like drinking from the firehose, but it keeps me connected to the pulse of the organization and that's what I do well - so I optimize for that 5/ How do I protect my focus? - I block out time for deep work on my calendar. 6/ When I have open space, I ask myself: - Is reacting right now more valuable than my planned work? - Sometimes, the answer is yes, and I pivot I like the idea of asking Reactionary work > Planned work? the replan :) 7/ Slack can be an interruption engine. - But for me, it’s also a reaction radar, a real-time feedback loop for what’s happening across the company. My system isn't perfect, and to be honest, embracing the chaos and context matters a lot, what works for me, might not work for you, and I believe in Tobias Schlottke's case, his approach makes total sense - so I thought I'd share another approach here and let you all collect more thoughts and find what works for you.. So try it out.. if you want, I don't or don't - pfff who am I to tell you what to do lol

Slack and Microsoft Teams are massive time wasters. 👉 Copy and paste the rules below - watch your team’s productivity jump overnight. At AdAmigo.ai, every new teammate gets this welcome message. It sets expectations so we don’t work for Slack - Slack works for us. Texting a lot on Slack isn’t how you get ahead. Outcomes are. Here’s the message I send to every new team member who joins our Slack: "To ensure Slack works for us (and we don’t work for Slack), we follow these rules: - Use threads to keep discussions organized and prevent channel clutter. - Leave channels that don’t provide value to you - no one will be mad. - Use direct messages when a topic is only relevant to two or three people. - Use @channel only when necessary. - When part of a message is for someone specific, @mention them. ⚠️ Protect your work time: - If something is urgent, always call instead of Slacking. No one should monitor Slack all day. - Slack is not where we get work done. Use project tools, our CRM, etc. - Mute or leave channels that don’t affect your work. Culture: Texting a lot on Slack is not how you stand out at AdAmigo.ai. We value outcomes, leveling the field for extroverts and introverts alike. Drop a 👍 to show you read these rules - and any other reaction to spread good vibes." #Productivity #Slack #MicrosoftTeams #Leadership

30-minute meeting? Could've been a Slack thread. "Quick sync"? Derails 6 people's deep work. Here's the truth: Meetings exist because writing clear context feels harder than talking in circles. I've managed creative teams across time zones for 5 years. Best decisions? Happened in Slack with Looms. Worst decisions? "Quick calls" where everyone multitasked. Async forces clarity. You can't ramble or talk over people. Record a 2-minute Loom. Drop it in Slack. Let people actually think.

How I Turned Chaos into Coordination with Slack. As a Virtual Assistant, I’ve learned that communication can either fuel productivity or completely derail it. A few weeks ago, our team’s coordination was becoming quite challenging we were using WhatsApp for work updates, and as you can imagine, personal chats, endless notifications, and mixed threads made it hard to stay focused. Before: Important messages got buried under casual chats Task updates were missed Everyone felt a little overwhelmed trying to keep up I knew we needed a better system one that would separate work from noise while keeping collaboration effortless. After introducing Slack: We created dedicated channels for tasks, updates, and general discussions Notifications became organized and intentional. Team members could easily find files, conversations, and progress without endless scrolling. Most importantly, communication became calmer and more productive The result? 1.Fewer missed updates 2. Smoother collaboration 3. A more focused, professional workspace It was a simple switch but it made a huge difference. Sometimes, productivity isn’t about doing more, it’s about creating systems that make teamwork flow naturally. Have you ever switched from a casual chat app to a workspace tool like Slack, Teams, or Notion? What changed for you? #Productivity #VirtualAssistant #TeamManagement #Slack #BeforeAndAfter #WorkplaceEfficiency

💻5 Must-Have Tech Tools to Create a Productive & Collaborative Workplace!   1. Slack: Clear channels + async updates cut interruptions and protect focus time. 2. Asana: Tasks, owners, and due dates make priorities visible with no frantic follow-ups. 3. Loom: Short screen/video walk-throughs reduce repeat questions and meeting creep. 4. Zoom: Crisp, purposeful check-ins for interviews/debriefs so decisions happen fast. 5. Google Workspace: One shared source (Docs/Sheets/Drive) ends version chaos. Which of these tools are you currently loving? Are there any other tools that should be on the list?

If your organization is back at the office and you’re not, then you’re not top of mind. It can mean that you’re not around for your manager to think of you as often. You can also miss out on the complexities of discussions that happen before and after meeting interactions and hallway conversations. There are subtleties of projects that you don’t hear about on Slack. If you’re the remote person on the team, you don’t have the same level of communication as those in-person. Going back to the office will connect you with your coworkers and build your career. #Communication #GoingBack Listen and/or read show notes here: https://lnkd.in/e2DDEMMG