[cebert]

On the topic of cognitive load, has remote work made context switching more difficult? I am in a more senior engineering position and end up getting frequent Slack messages or random calls. It’s very difficult for me to get in the groove with these constant interruptions.

I know other coworkers have similar complaints. My theory is that we could make this less of an issue if our organization could establish communication guidelines/ expectations/ boundaries. Doing this would make you worry less about not immediately responding to Slack and folks assuming you aren’t working. We have some managers who monitor Slack status to make assumptions on if you’re working or not too.

[elcapitan]

You could solve that by using a public calendar where you just block parts of your time for concentrated work and let people know about it. Obviously that depends on a more explicit agreement. In offices, it's often more implicit, via "headphone plugged in" etc, but it's a good idea to find a form of expression for that in remote environments as well.

[afarrell]

Yes. In an office, you can read someone’s body language to tell if they are “in the zone”. Not so with remote work.

[awelxtr]

And when WFHing you can turn off all methods of communication.

The key is if people care if you are in flow or not.

I have a coworker that after being 4y in the company still asks the same questions which the answer is documented in the public wiki.