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

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

#151

Post by helij »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #146
dahdum wrote: post #78

I started using 4 virtual desktops to manage distractions many years ago and it’s worked wonderfully for me. Desktop 1 is for chat, email, Spotify, and general web browsing. Desktop 2 is for software development only, nowadays VSCode. A separate browser profile is used here and only for development related browsing (docs, stack overflow, live testing). Desktop 3 is data and system administration. Remote terminals, Ex…

This is pretty good advice. But if you are going to hide the slack desktop while you are working then you should let people know. Otherwise, people will expect a response real time and wonder why you are ignoring them. It's human nature.

Really depends. At our company there's no expectation that you'll answer Slack messages in real time.

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

#152

Post by andrei_says_ »

Slack is ultimately destructive to deep work - it fragments your attention by definition.

The expectation to focus on complex tasks while holding multiple side conversations does not consider the limitations of the human condition.

The people who chatter all day most likely don’t engage in deep work.

Nothing wrong with you, the expectations are unrealistic.

Slack demands you to follow all the time or you lose the ability to participate in decisions. This is incredibly demanding and destructive.

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

#153

Post by sheepscreek »

dchristian wrote: post #85
tdeck wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of these links are about autism, not ADHD. Am I missing something?

Autism is a wide spectrum. Some would consider ADHD part if it. If nothing else, there is lots of overlap.

I have both and I’ve often thought the same. There are so many symptoms in one that are synonymous with the other.

Asperger’s is just a tad bit more on the socially awkward side: inability to understand social cues being a big one. I learned to fake it and it took me a long time to develop genuine empathy in situations demanding raw emotion. I’m still awkward sometimes - unsure of what the socially acceptable response is in a situation.

This is in sharp contrast to my spouse who is also ADHD. She is more easily distracted and has higher dysfunction. Yet, she is socially more aware and talking to people is second nature to her.

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

#154

Post by andrei_says_ »

userbinator wrote: post #53

Ask your company to consider using Microsoft Teams instead. It's so repulsive that you and everyone else will probably be far less willing to communicate at all. Only half-joking.

A sad salute from a company which mandated teams and force installed it on every person’s desktop.

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

#155

Post by [deleted] »

edavis wrote: post #101
NotPractical wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you remove the desktop-switching animation on macOS? I'd like to use the virtual desktops feature but the animation is unbearably slow, and I was unable to find a way to disable it online even after extensive searching. Afaik "just use Linux" still isn't an option on my 2019 (Intel) MBP due to lack of support for basic stuff like Wi-Fi and keyboard :(

System Preferences > Accessibility > Display > enable "Reduce motion" Though I think this reduces motion on everything, not just the virtual desktop animations. I don't mind that but YMMV.

[deleted]

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

#156

Post by yalestar »

cactusplant7374 wrote: post #100
rqmedes wrote: post #48

Not related to slack, but managing your ADHD symptoms. Look into a low oxalate diet, it really helped me and my children. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21911305/ https://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/articles-1/2015/11/13/... https://korunutrition.com/autism-low-oxalate-diet/ https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/vegetarianism-and...

What makes you think OP needs advice for ADHD treatment? He was diagnosed by a mental health professional. He may be taking medications that work quite well in the right environment.

What makes you think OP is a he?

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

#157

Post by paulryanrogers »

zztop44 wrote: post #144

I don’t have ADHD but I get very distracted by Slack. Here’s what worked for me. 1. Slack app uninstalled on my phone. If I need it for something, I install it, use it, then delete again. 2. Slack app on my laptop fully closed by default. 3. Set times (about 5 a day) to check in and respond to notifications and scan channels. When I was a senior manager with lots of actually important messages these blocks were about…

Have you tried Slack in a browser with notifications turned off? Possibly kept in a separate browser profile, so you can quickly open and close as needed? Or even just minimized until needed.

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

#158

Post by interroboink »

dahdum wrote: post #78

I started using 4 virtual desktops to manage distractions many years ago and it’s worked wonderfully for me. Desktop 1 is for chat, email, Spotify, and general web browsing. Desktop 2 is for software development only, nowadays VSCode. A separate browser profile is used here and only for development related browsing (docs, stack overflow, live testing). Desktop 3 is data and system administration. Remote terminals, Ex…

Me too, more or less!

Workspace 1: main project, development #2: secondary project, if any #3,4: wildcards, depending on what I need #5: VM management #6: remote screen sessions, admin stuff #7: music #8: email, communications

FireFox browser profile for main work stuff has redirects to keep me off of reddit, etc.

Multi-desktop-crew unite (:

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

#159

Post by LocalPCGuy »

jareklupinski wrote: post #96
MarcelOlsz wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then there's the anxiety of waiting like 4 hours, opening it, and seeing a bunch of critical messages you weren't around for. I need either a robot that will gently tap me on the shoulder and quietly tell me to check my notifications, or somehow relay the badge to a collar on my dog so he can bark at me. The badge is the worst. The sounds are the worst. At this point I rather just have a landline people can call…

I've completely forgotten about the era when anyone could screen their own calls with the equipment they already had, they just needed to figure out "oh I should let _every_ call go to voicemail after one ring and wait to hear who it actually is first" How did we go backwards? rhetorical question, but can we bring it back with what we currently have?

I have that on my Pixel phone, if it detects a number that isn't in my contacts, it'll auto-screen the call and provide me with a text transcript of their response. I can see what the person says and choose to answer or let them just continue on to leave a message.

And if it thinks it's actually a spam call, I don't even get it ringing, it just quietly "handles" it (but obviously takes a message so I can call back if it was wrong).

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