[bwaine]

I recently read Carl Newport's "deep work". One of the points he made that struck home the most was that a leading indicator of success for most knowledge workers was the number of hours spent doing deep work. Ie - the number of hours spent doing uninterrupted work that makes use of your differentiated skills.

As a remote worker the thing I treasure most is the opportunity to organise my schedule to spend the majority of my time doing deep work. Frequently communicating and getting feedback on my work asychronously rather than constantly being interrupted and dragged into synchronous interactions as in an open plan office.

The thought of allowing anyone to contact me at any time, at the push of a button feels like a huge step back.

There are lots of challenges around communication in a remote company, however I don't think the solution is recreating an open office online.

[rajivayyangar]

I hear you and I love Cal Newport's work (as well as PG's Maker-vs.-Manager essay). For us, the Focus mode was critical to allow people to disconnect. In addition, we find that organic, short conversations on Tandem are much better than endless back-to-back meetings.

[itsthisjustin]

That's literally the entire thought process behind https://yac.chat. This message is so validating for what we are trying to accomplish. Would love further feedback if you're up for it.

[alexeldeib]

This is...interesting. Once i'm leaving a voicemail, why would I prefer that over a slack message?