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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?

#41

Post by comprev »

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).

That's a great tip for reducing notifications further. Alert fatigue is a bigger problem than organisations often realise.

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

#42

Post by hacknewslogin »

mxvanzant wrote: post #39

I think your idea of limiting Slack is great. You can provide an alternative to be reachable for emergencies if needed. In addition in my reading, I've come across some helpful nutritional approaches and these were news to me: http://doctoryourself.com/hoffer_ABC.html http://doctoryourself.com/adhd.html (These articles are geared towards parents with ADHD kids, but applies to adults also.)

I'm getting a lot of red flags from this website. It reads like a marketing campaign to sell the writers books and vitamins. All of the "evidence" is anecdotal. As someone who struggled with ADHD their whole life, it's demeaning to read. "Your kid has ADHD? Oh he just needs some niacin."

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

#43

Post by fragmede »

nashashmi wrote: post #20
toomuchtodo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re in the US, I would request a formal reasonable accommodation from HR with your medical evidence. This establishes a paper trail in the event they attempt to terminate you due to your medical condition. My recommendation would be to codify the expectations around response time and Slack interactions in writing as the accommodation. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/employers/ac... https://www.e…

I would never do that. You get marked as someone who requires special accommodation. Adhd is one of those things that only come up every now and then.

Yes, but then you get special accommodation. Accommodations that, y'know, help you manage and deal with getting your work done.

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

#45

Post by smileybarry »

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 channels

* Turn off mentions entirely for channels where they don't mean much other than "@XYZ is looking at it"

* Set mobile notifications to "only if away" (+ a work hours schedule; if it's important they can click the "notify anyway" link)

* If you're on Android: change the notification sound to something custom that's a lot more "calm" and quieter, because you notice it anyway and it won't give off the "important! DM! check now!" feeling that all of Slack's do. (I miss this on iOS)

* On really bad days (focus-wise): don't be afraid to hide or close Slack entirely to just focus. I usually just put it away in Windows' extended notification tray, so I can occasionally check it without relaunching (or appearing offline/away).

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

#46

Post by viburnum »

nashashmi wrote: post #18

I have had adhd and autism. Thought it was a birth trait. But adulthood happened and i had been getting away more and more from those symptoms. Now it’s coming back. And I realized it has a lot to do with parenting incorrectly. Let’s just say looking back, there is nothing you can do to adjust to a moving train with adhd. So start reducing your role. Shrink a bit. Be less manager. and be more managed if that helps. A…

Parenting?

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

#47

Post by Kuinox »

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.

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

#48

Post by rqmedes »

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...

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

#49

Post by KerrAvon »

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.

Turn off icon badging as well. No notifications really means _no_ notifications. This is the way.

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

#50

Post by Tagbert »

lynchdt wrote: post #25

I work mostly with Engineering teams, and consider slack inbound a pathology. Slack is great for collab in places, but it’s not a strong way to manage inbound, IMO. The teams I’m responsible for make it easy for their stakeholder to raise issues, asks in a more deliberate, calmer way e.g. via GitHub issues or manager email. In exchange, we commit to mutually agreed response times on certain categories of business cri…

I'm curious about what you mean by "inbound". It sounds like messages from someone "outside" but not sure if that is probably a limited definition.
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