Slacking Off
From 37signals Communication Guide
It’s hard to do deep work when you are constantly being interrupted.
One of the ironies of the modern office is we’ve created instant messaging systems such as Slack to drive efficiency, but they end up causing near continuous disruption.
It’s a simple insight I took away from a post I read recently by Jason Fried, co-founder of 37Signals, who, along with his co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson, posts frequently about both communication and strategies to improve work.
One of their recurring themes is the importance of long-form, async communication which they argue is less disruptive to deep work than instant messaging tools.
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, voiced a similar frustration recently when he said in an interview that he “dreads” logging into Slack each morning. He said instant messaging has many positives, but also “creates endless fake work.”
Altman predicted that there will be an AI-native productivity suite that will replace docs, slides, email, and Slack. These won’t be add-on features, but agents that handle work and only escalate when needed.
Fried argues the many dangers of instant messaging include:
–Interruptions and context-switching: Notifications create a relentless “conveyor belt” of messages, fragmenting attention and preventing deep work.
–FOMO and shallow thinking: The real-time pressure encourages knee-jerk replies and over-participation just to “be heard,” leading to incomplete ideas and anxiety.
–Scalability issues for teams: In remote setups, IM exacerbates time-zone mismatches and turns communication into an “interruption factory.”
I just started using Slack last year, but it’s a phenomenon I am very familiar with because I spent years at Bloomberg which developed a Slack-like instant messaging product two decades ago. It dominated communication both internally and with clients.
Instant message was arguably fantastic for sending out quick messages to the team, but it was – as Fried argues – a terrible format for deep work or discussing any issue with a long-term timeframe.
And yes, it was terribly distracting because every time it pinged – which was often – it prompted most people to stop what they were doing and check the message. That in turn, re-enforced an expectation everyone would answer quickly.
The absolute worst aspect of instant messaging at Bloomberg was the propensity of users to leverage the tool simultaneously while on conference calls, a use case I doubt the engineers who built it would have ever contemplated.
The net effect, however, was that you would be talking on a conference call with a large group and at the same time be sending instant messages to select colleagues who were also on the call to steer the conversation. It was insanity.
Fried argues async provides a better environment for calm, productive work, especially when it involves teams that are working remotely. His key points include advocating for:
–Long-form writing: Most communication should be written in complete sentences and paragraphs and sent via email to allow time for thoughtful responses. It also creates a searchable record and accommodates time zones without “always-on” availability.
–Scheduled, structured check-ins: The company uses automated prompts to ask employees “What did you work on today?” to share updates without meetings.
–Using real-time tools sparingly: Limit the use of synchronous communications including phone Slack or phone calls for true emergencies or casual social banter.
37signals takes communication so seriously they even published a list of 30 guidelines for how to communicate while at work. You can click here to access it.
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