Embrace email, mute Slack. A policy for handling incoming messages
Tags: productivity
Published: 2021-01-08 16:22:59

After coming back from a two-week break—in which I didn't check my
work email or Slack—I prepared to spend most of a day catching up to
whatever happened in my absence.

![Slack's direct message view](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ogjcovqk7wtfybs54exp.png)

Somewhat to my surprise, that wasn't the case. I cleared my inbox in
about two hours, in which I responded to everything that I could do
immediately and moved everything that'd take more time to the correct
project boards to be prioritized and picked up later. After clearing my
unread messages in slack, I realized I was all caught up in record time.

This hasn't always been the case. I remember coming back from some
holidays and spending a couple of days catching up by checking multiple
communication channels, after which I still wasn't really sure I missed
anything.

Part of this is thanks to my policy of handling incoming messages. I try
to make any communication as asynchronous as possible, even while using
synchronous, distracting tools like Slack.

# Funneling everything through email

I use Email, Basecamp, Github, Intercom and Slack as communication
tools.

Others seem to view email as a productivity killer. It's my Fortress of
Solitude. I try to funnel all incoming messages through email. Most of
the items in my inbox are from Github, Intercom, and Basecamp. I also
have email notifications set up for Slack channels I idle in, to let me
know when I receive a direct message so I don't have to check in there
too often.

Email is my single source of truth. I have email notifications set up
for everything, so I know I don't miss anything if I keep up with my
inbox.

-   I'll go through my inbox at least twice a day. Once when I start
    working, and once before I leave.

-   I'll respond immediately if I can, or schedule time to look into it
    (by blocking out time in my calendar) if I need some more time.

-   If it'll take more than a day to produce a response because of other
    tasks, I'll let the other party know that it'll be a while.

-   I'll unsubscribe from issues, un-watch repositories or ignore
    threads on Basecamp if I'm not needed.

By handling email this way, I don't need to separately check Github and
Basecamp to see if there's anything waiting for me to pick up. It's all
in email.

# Managing Slack direct messages and unreads

By definition, Slack is more difficult to turn asynchronous like email.
I try to keep work-related messages I need a response to off Slack as
much as I can to keep it from becoming a distraction for others. GitHub
or Basecamp are better channels for that.

I've struggled with Slack, but lately I feel like I arrived at setup I
quite like.

-   I have Do Not Disturb turned on at all times, which means mentioning
    me or sending me a direct message won't send me a notification. When
    direct messaging me, Slack shows a message explaining I won't be
    notified, complete with a button to notify me anyway. This button
    gives the sender the ability to push an urgent message through; and
    notify me anyway.

-   If I get a Slack notification, I'll drop whatever I'm doing and will
    get back on the message as soon as I can.

-   I check Slack multiple times a day, usually in between tasks, to see
    if anything new came in. Unless I'm working on finishing a big task,
    I'll read messages within two hours during my workday.

-   I'm in as few channels as possible. I'm not in notification channels
    if I don't need the notifications, or if I can move them over to
    email.

I love Do Not Disturb in, as it puts the decision to notify me in the
senders hands instead of taking me off my work to determine how urgent
something is.

*Thanks Maarten, Jankees, Jeroen, Piotr, Antek and Thijs for your input, and Jelte for typo-hunting.*