Summary

The article discusses the Slack "remind me" feature as a solution to the productivity challenges caused by unresolved conversations, known as "corporate ghosting."

Abstract

The author attended a "Way of Working" workshop at their software company, which focused on productivity rather than programming. During the workshop, they learned about Slack's "remind me" feature, which helps manage communication interruptions and maintain focus. The feature is particularly useful for remote workers who face challenges like "corporate ghosting," where a conversation partner suddenly becomes unresponsive. This can lead to "attention residue" and hinder productivity due to the Zeigarnick Effect, where unresolved tasks remain in one's mind. The "remind me" feature allows users to set reminders for unanswered questions, closing the loop and freeing up mental resources to focus on other tasks. The article emphasizes the importance of closing conversations properly to avoid the cumulative negative impact of multiple interruptions on focus and productivity.

Opinions

The author is passionate about productivity and values the opportunity to share and learn new tips.
"Corporate ghosting" is seen as a common issue in remote work that can negatively impact productivity.
The author believes that unresolved conversations can lead to an "attention residue," reducing effectiveness on subsequent tasks.
The concept of "Focus death by a thousand interruptions" is introduced to describe how numerous unresolved conversations can overwhelm the brain, leading to a state of "Brain Fog Syndrome."
Writing a closing statement is suggested as a way to signal to the brain that a conversation is over, but this is not always practical when waiting for a response.
The Slack "remind me" feature is highly praised for its ability to prompt follow-ups on unanswered questions, thus closing the loop and aiding in maintaining focus.
The author expresses that setting a reminder allows one to concentrate on new tasks without the anxiety of an open conversation loop.

FOCUS

Slack Tip: How The Mighty ‘remind me’ Feature Will Save You From Corporate Ghosting

This will greatly enhance your focus at work

Last Monday, there was a “Way of Working” workshop in my company. I work for a software company, so usually, we talk about programming stuff. But this time, it was more about “productivity”.

As you can imagine, I was ecstatic: “Yay! My passion! How cool is that!”. For once, I had endless things to say on the subject! However, this was a “bring and share” discussion, so I had to behave. In the end, while I did speak quite a lot at times, I managed to not monopolize the meeting.

And I’m glad I listened since I learned some cool tips. One of them was a great Slack feature. It’s called the “remind me” feature. I experimented with it last Friday and it’s great.

Let me tell you about it…

Corporate Ghosting

First, you need to know I work remotely right now for my company. I love the freedom it gives you in terms of organization. That’s how I manage to do so many productivity experiments. But one challenging point is to communicate effectively with your co-workers.

You probably know what “ghosting” is: the practice of disappearing in the middle of an instant chat communication and not giving any sign of life. Unfortunately, this is very common in relationships, and it’s a plague. Well, it also happens at times in the corporate world.

You would be in the middle of a conversation. And then, while you wait for the answer to a critical question, your chat partner disappears.

Attention residue

Of course, “corporate ghosting” is not as bad as relationships ghosting. A co-worker can’t disappear for long in a company, right? So usually, they would reappear at some point, and say they were very busy and/or did not see your message. But it has a cost on your productivity.

When you start chatting with someone, it opens a loop in your mind. Your short-term memory gets loaded with what you are speaking about. And you need to finish the conversion properly to unload this conversation from your brain. Closing the loop is very important since it signals to your brain you can free up your short-term memory and devote all your focus to a new task.

However, if the person just leaves, the loop stays open. Now you have an “attention residue” in your mind about this conversation. And it makes you less effective in the new task you are tackling now. This is also called the Zeigarnick Effect.

Closing the loop with a closing statement

If you often have people disappearing from your conversations, it can be daunting for your mind. The more open loops you have, the more you will have difficulties concentrating.

This is what I called “Focus death by a thousand interruptions” in my article: How to Stay Focused at Work Despite Constant Online Interruptions. The confusion resulting from all these open loops will give you the “Brain Fog Syndrome”: an altered state of mind where you become forgetful and easily distracted.

The solution I gave you in the former article was to write a closing statement to the person in order to close the loop. For example, you can say something like:

I have to go back to , talk to you later!

I found this simple trick really helps to convince your brain that the discussion is over and you can fully concentrate on a new task. But when you have asked a question to someone and wait for the answer to come, it can be tricky to write a closing statement.

That’s where the ‘remind me’ feature of Slack really shines.

Closing the loop with the Slack ‘remind me’ feature

In fact, that’s the situation I faced last Friday. I was talking to a co-worker and asked her if I could schedule a meeting with her. But she just disappeared from the conversation.

When someone does not reply to you, it can be alarming at times because you tend to imagine the worst reasons, such as: “Oh, maybe she does not like me” “Maybe she wants me to forget about setting up this meeting”

Well, you know what? After I followed up with her, she told me she was sorry about not answering me. And it turned out she was very pleased about setting up this meeting.

Getting started with the ‘remind me’ feature

How do you use the “remind me” feature of slack? Simple: just click on the “More actions” menu like that:

Then choose “Remind me about this” and select the time from now you want to be reminded of the conversation:

When time is up, the Slack Robot with send you a notification and you will be able to follow up with the person you were talking to.

—

Conversations on Slack are tricky at times. If someone starts a conversation with you and then stops texting, what are you supposed to do? Do you wait for her or switch tasks?

Even if you switch tasks, your concentration suffers since you don’t know if the person will interrupt you again. One solution is to say explicitly that the conversation is over. Something like: “I have to go back to , talk to you later!”

However, this is tricky if you asked a question and want the answer. That’s when you can use the Slack “Remind me” feature. This feature will remind you to follow up on the conversation later if the person does not answer. Once you have set that reminder, you won’t have to worry anymore about this conversation and can fully concentrate on the next task.

On February 1st, 2022, I embarked on a 100 days writing challenge. This is post number 77.