Ask HN: I have diagnosed ADHD and cannot work with Slack anymore – advice?

I agree slack is awful. People run discovery and project management through slack and it is insane.

I’ve been trying to think of slack applications and associated software to tame that beast.

So Close slack man. That sounds like a workable solution. But first!!

You have a diagnosed disability talk to HR or your boss for an accommodation. You get formal legal protections in the USA when you disclose.

A lot of folks are hesitant to do this for good reasons. But If you are at a large company you are probably not the only one though. And if they decide to fire you for any reason they have to think twice or three times.

But you are probably a great worker etc… your disability is a creative asset and a super power when you can concentrate, so come up with a plan. Talk to your doctor or therapist about what accommodations would be reasonable. Maybe even talk with a disability/employment lawyer to understand what is reasonable. Not too sue but to understand what your rights are. This counts as doing your homework for any future issues.

Your company depending their sophistication should work with you.

People using slack in this way makes it sound like the entire company has ADHD.

"I'm thinking about closing Slack and opening it 2-3x a day."

You've found your own fix. There's nothing wrong with shutting down distractions. Just let people know about it.

My problem has been the open office environment. If I need to get stuff done I put on some headphones and focus on my job. Everyone knows that I'm working and leave me alone unless it's important.

> but they are by far the most effective.

That depends on how efficacy is measured.

Drugs appear the most effective because they can substantially change behaviour in the short term (for better and worse), they are fast. But it's not necessarily stable, and it's only cost is not monetary. Psychology is transient, even when there are underlying physiological components, and although slow to effect, consistent changes to daily routine and environment can result in a more stable outcome. But it also takes effort, analysis and consideration, drugs are easy.

There is a place for both. There are people like me who are over cautious of drug use, and sometimes they are in a position where their mental state is so messed up that it really makes sense in the short term to medicate, but it should be short term.

[edit]

To make this more tangible... consider my original suggestion. ADHD symptoms, whatever the underlying cause, will be triggered by attention sapping activities, like being subjected to Slack every minute of your working day. Turning it off for long periods will help regardless. Also having the mindset of "my environment is broken" rather than "I am broken" is far more positive and healthy, it's also more realistic, because frankly, we are all broken in different ways and need to either find the right environment for us, or change it.

Haha I just posted here that we seriously switched to MS Teams at some point for that exact reason, but couldn’t stomach it, it really is just worse than “bad enough not to use it much”

Slack is an asynchronous communications system. Disable notifications and only look at it when want, like you do for email. You won't be that person that is not reachable as you will be, but on your terms and not theirs. The main thing is to try to be consistent and communicate your process so that people can gauge their expectations.