Everyone knows I think that Slack is the spawn of Satan. Yet clients who’ve become addicted sometimes insist on sending me messages there. Here’s how I get just enough access without my brain being eaten by the interruption machine:
I join one and only one channel. All contact with me has to be in that channel alone.
If someone adds me to a channel other than the single one I’ve grudgingly agreed to be in, I leave it immediately.
Like the “No” button for a meeting invite, the “Leave” option is in plain sight, but many people find it hard to press. I do not have this handicap thanks to years of practice and a thick skin.
Once I’ve joined my one and only channel, I configure notifications so I get an email when someone mentions me, not for every new message. I tell everyone that I won’t read whatever they write unless they include “@squirrel” in the message, and then I remind them that phoning me would be faster.
Then I set up a filter in my email so all messages from notification@slack.com go to a special folder called SpawnOfSatan. I check this periodically, when I remember (and I’m feeling particularly adventurous).
When I get an email from Slack in the special folder, I put on fireproof gloves and log in through the browser, using a company-specific URL and then clicking “open this link in your browser”.
I never install a local Slack app or desktop application—that would be like putting a fruit machine in the sitting room of a gambling addict.
I resolutely ignore direct messages. If someone says I missed a DM, I tell them they should have phoned.