You’re such a Slacker, that's Great!

Hacking Slack for Efficiency

Over the last few months, I’ve had many people ask me how I manage all my notifications, messages and follow up on Slack. The trick is I don’t, I use Slack to keep me organized with the myriad of channels and private messages that I receive daily.

What are these magical powers? Let's dive in.

Let Slack Remember for You

Ever accidentally read a message, feel forgetful, or want to remind yourself of the work you were doing before you left for a vacation? You can set yourself and other team members channel reminders for anything such as important meetings, to-do items or even send motivating messages!

You can set reminders in two ways:

• Use the /remind slash command anywhere in slack and Slackbot will send the reminder for you.
• Message reminders for when you want to follow up on a message in Slack and let Slackbot remind you of the message to follow up on. Simply hover over the message, click the kabob on the right corner of your highlighted messages, click remind me about this and select a duration.

When setting reminders, I usually will put an emoji of a clock or timer so those on the other end of the message know I’ve acknowledged their message and I’ve set a time to get back to them. To see the reminders you’ve set type in the message box /remind list.

Automating Work

Kickstart your channels with actions that automate your workflows in Slack!

I have personally used this feature to add in a Shoutouts workflow in my project team channel so we can acknowledge the great wins we have helping each other. At Headstorm, we have performance reviews at the beginning of the year so if you format your Shoutout workflows just right, team members can reference their accomplishments or small wins throughout the year as reasons for promotion.

Another workflow you can create is an Onboarding flow for new channel members. Slack has a great template you can get started with https://slack.com/slack-tips/automatically-onboard-new-channel-members.

Reduce Noise

Mute Channels

Ever had that #randomchannel that only ever included memes or things like Nyan cat? I know I love watching all the comedic gold through my slack feeds but it can be a little overwhelming with notifications in conjunction with their noise of pinging or brush-ticking all the time.

How to Mute

Mute the channel by typing /mute in the message box or go to Channel settings by clicking the gear icon and select Mute #channel-name .

Leave Channels

It’s completely fine to leave slack channels. Actually, I encourage it so only the content you’re wanting to see is delivered. On the flip side, if you ever want to re-join a channel you can at a later time.

How to Leave

Leave the channel by typing /leave in the message box or go to Channel settings by clicking the gear icon and select Leave #channel-name .

Archive Channels

After a project finally starts its closing activities, you can archive the channels you no longer need. Such as the #project-dev-team or #project-eng-design-collab channels. The best part is the channel doesn’t just magically disappear! You can still search and refer back to the important conversations you’ve had in the channels.

How to Archive

Archive the channel by typing /archive in the message box or go to Channel settings by clicking the gear icon, selecting Additional Options and click Archive this channel.

Do Not Disturb

This one is my all-time favorite. Especially if I’m in a meeting, on vacation or just need to head down and focus. By putting yourself in do not disturb mode you are able to snooze notifications until you’re ready to have the onslaught of messages again. An even better perk is if someone messages you, while you’re in DND (do not disturb mode), is they get an automated message from Slackbot, so they know not to expect a response. If it's urgent, they can choose to send you a notification.

How to Not be Disturbed

Turn on Do Not Disturb the channel by typing /dnd [enter duration] in the message box or go to Click the bell icon next to your name and select your desired time.

Example: /dnd 2.5 hours

Note to Self Functionality

Ever wanted to write a draft of a message, task or make a reminder for yourself? Well send yourself a private message and you can do such things! Setup your own workflows and reminders in the channel to make your day more efficient.

Conclusion

Hacking your slack to be the most efficient starts with the few features and workflows I listed above; it doesn’t end there though. There is a myriad of ways that you and your team can make Slack more efficient utilizing even more of the features and functionality that Slack provides.

No one likes being interrupted, losing their tasks in the sea of messages or having to copy and paste in and out of slack. I hope that the tricks I’ve shown you help make your day more efficient.

Want more hacks to make your day more productive? Let me know in the comments below!