A few weeks ago, I changed my Slack channel sections. I’m now more responsive and engaged, while also feeling less stressed. How? By sorting my Slack channels by urgency, or how often I want to read them.
What Projects Team Alerts Sibling Teams Announcements SF Office Social Noisy Versus How Often Read Now Read Hourly Read Daily Read Whenever
Sorting by “how often” lets me read my most urgent messages first, focusing my energy on what matters to me. Once I feel tired, I stop reading. By focusing on my most urgent and important channels, I hold confidence that I have already taken care of what I need to, reducing my stress.
A screenshot of my Slack sections. The top consists of my “high priority” sections like Read Now, Threads, DMs, and new channels. I go through my unreads from top to bottom until I am tired or I’m done.
By framing a channel’s importance through the Eisenhower Matrix, I focus on how I contribute to channels.
Urgent Not Urgent Important Read Now / Read Hourly
I directly answer questions, engage in conversations frequently, or react to them in the real world Read Whenever
I read announcements and keep up-to-date with changes Not Important Read Daily
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