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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?

#51

Post by smileybarry »

Kuinox wrote: post #47
smileybarry wrote: post #45

I tweak my Slack pretty heavily to suit my ADHD but 90% of it is: turn off (desktop) notifications entirely. Not "sometimes", all of it. (I just set Windows to DND so I still get Slack's red dot) I notice the red dot as soon as it appears anyway, but the lack of bigger visuals & audio means if I'm actually focused (and don't notice the red dot) I don't get yanked out of it. The other 10% is: * Mute unnecessary channe…

How do you manage to not click on the slack icon despite having seen the red dot ? When I see the notification icon, I won't be able to focus on something else until I cleared the notification.

I still click it, but I disabled mentions on some more public channels so it doesn't happen as often. If it appears a lot and I need to get stuff done, I just drag Slack into the expanded tray so I don't even see the dot. (the numberless dot, not the [1] badge)

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

#54

Post by _8j50 »

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...

Damn it, they have tea on that list of oxalates. Adderal to the rescue!

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

#55

Post by baal80spam »

callmeal wrote: post #36
s1k3 wrote: post #32

Step 1 - turn off all notifications, noise and badges. This will allow you to not be disturbed by interruptions. Step 2 - if step 1 doesn’t work then shut slack down while working. Being reachable 100% of the time is insane. And the barrier for bugging is super low with Slack. Step 3 - if 2,3 don’t work then use something like dispatch.do to prioritize all the junk and filter out all the noise. Step 4 - it’s a you pr…

I would add: delete the slack app, and use it from a browser. Then you'll only get notifications when the browser is in the foreground. (Of course assuming you've disabled browser notifications). This way you can leave slack running, you will show up as available, but will not be disturbed unless the slack tab is in the foreground. (Or someone makes a call).

Another big advantage of using Slack in a browser is being able to customize everything using addons like Stylus (I customize colours and fonts).

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

#56

Post by heavyset_go »

Consider medication if you haven't already. You don't have to take amphetamines, there are drugs like guanfacine that isn't a stimulant at all, and bupropion that is a weak stimulant used for depression that also works for ADD/ADHD. Bupropion helped me a lot with concentration.

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

#58

Post by brailsafe »

Yes, do exactly what you think you need to do. I've been staving off this from happening by making it very clear to my boss why my tickets are piling up, and why expecting me to check in on multiple threads for the possibility of me being needed on them is an incorrect expectation. I make it as clear as I can to people, that if they need my attention on something, tag me in a Jira comment or DM me. Communication is a part of my duties, but it should never require all of my energy.

Now, of course, since my manager has shifted from being an engineer to climbing a management ladder, my needs make zero sense to him, and he thinks that since he can monitor 100s of channels concurrently and attend meetings literally all day every day, surely I should be able to do whatever his pet issue is that day. He also feels like checking in on the status of a ticket every fucking day is going to help me do it faster, but it's the way it is, the systems companies thoughtlessly adopt push us out. Ultimately, this is going to push and pull until I'll probably be underwater too long and either get fired or quit. So my advice is to figure out if you have any possibility of staying, and do what you feel you need to in protecting your sanity, until you leave.

Do not try and fulfill this expectation. It's dumb and you're the wrong person for it. If it gets to a certain point, make it clear that they should hire someone else who's specifically good at that, if that's what they define the job to be.

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

#59

Post by TurkishPoptart »

Nihilartikel wrote: post #28

I'm not diagnosed with ADHD, but Slack's notification noises trigger a visceral fight-or-flight response in me. Not PTSD surely, but in that spectrum. This was from an early stage startup experience with 10 hour timezone deltas, and never-not being on call for some crucial infrastructure. The sounds still evoke the dread,annoyance, and simmering resentment that accompanied a 4AM slack ping with the CTO just saying "H…

>The sounds still evoke the dread,annoyance, and simmering resentment that accompanied a 4AM slack ping with the CTO just saying "Hey"

You're such a good writer! Goddamn, you gave me the chills just with this line.

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

#60

Post by loxias »

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...

Interesting links, thanks!

(in case it helps anyone else...) About half a year ago I discovered that a brutally low carb diet -- leading to being in ketosis -- drastically helped my ADHD as well as other mental health things I've struggled with for my entire life. I wish I knew earlier!

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