Now Is the Time To Bring Back Away Messages (vice.com) 70
Life is totally online -- we need ways to politely disconnect. From a report: I spend most Thursdays heads down writing. The task is one that, at least for me, requires absolute focus, a quality that I have to essentially beg some corner of my brain to extend to me for a few hours. This usually fails, making the draft take twice as long as it has to. Even now, my phone is lighting up with a text; several Twitter direct messages are awaiting my response; I have an email open in another tab that I actually want to answer. There are a number of things I could do, some of which I've suggested in other columns, like turning off notifications (off for everything but texts, at the moment) and setting an alarm that dictates when I can look at any social media (I usually do this by the hour). Both methods help, but there's a tool that, if more readily available and widely used, would make perhaps the biggest difference of all: away messages.
In the glory days of online communication (2002 to 2009, in my rough, highly personal estimation), away messages were popular on AOL's instant messaging service and acted a bit like digital Post-it notes stuck to a door: messages that would pop up next to a user's handle indicating that a person was unavailable to chat. Yet they've largely fallen to the wayside, foregone in favor of constant connectivity that's distracting and stressful. If I could easily apply away messages to iMessage, Twitter, and any other form of messaging app or social network, I'd rest easy while drafting, comforted by the fact that anyone trying to reach me will know by my away message that it'll be some time before I respond. Anything that makes it easier to disconnect and focus on work will help ensure that you're able to accomplish tasks in a more efficient manner and, ideally, get done earlier. As it stands, every distraction -- a text message, checking your email, whatever -- comes at a high cost, causing you to lose time that you could have spent on getting your shit done instead. Notifications and quick message checks can be highly distracting, because it takes time for your brain to fully focus on a task.
In the glory days of online communication (2002 to 2009, in my rough, highly personal estimation), away messages were popular on AOL's instant messaging service and acted a bit like digital Post-it notes stuck to a door: messages that would pop up next to a user's handle indicating that a person was unavailable to chat. Yet they've largely fallen to the wayside, foregone in favor of constant connectivity that's distracting and stressful. If I could easily apply away messages to iMessage, Twitter, and any other form of messaging app or social network, I'd rest easy while drafting, comforted by the fact that anyone trying to reach me will know by my away message that it'll be some time before I respond. Anything that makes it easier to disconnect and focus on work will help ensure that you're able to accomplish tasks in a more efficient manner and, ideally, get done earlier. As it stands, every distraction -- a text message, checking your email, whatever -- comes at a high cost, causing you to lose time that you could have spent on getting your shit done instead. Notifications and quick message checks can be highly distracting, because it takes time for your brain to fully focus on a task.
Bad Link (Score:2)
Can't tag stories any more, but I can First Post and say the link to Vice above goes to the wrong story.
Re: (Score:2)
Correct link, [medium.com] I believe.
Re:Bad Link (Score:5, Insightful)
the link to Vice above goes to the wrong story.
Who cares? It is a stupid article. If you don't want to be interrupted then silence your phone or TURN IT OFF.
When I send an email or text, I expect the recipient will get back to me when they have time. I don't need my time wasted with an automated reply telling me that the recipient will get back to me when they have time.
No, we don't need to bring back "away messages". They died because they are pointless and annoying. Good riddance.
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When I send an email or text, I expect the recipient will get back to me when they have time. I don't need my time wasted with an automated reply telling me that the recipient will get back to me when they have time.
All too many people don't expect you to get back when you have time, they expect a response within x hours, where x varies by person. When that deadline expires, people get antsy and start sending more and more irate messages in the vein of 'why haven't you responded yet'. An away message (a proper one, which includes when you'll be able to respond) kills all of that.
Of course these days, it's not just one away message you have to set. I currently have 2 email accounts, Teams, Slack and a VOIP app that all
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All too many people don't expect you to get back when you have time, they expect a response within x hours, where x varies by person. When that deadline expires, people get antsy and start sending more and more irate messages in the vein of 'why haven't you responded yet'. An away message (a proper one, which includes when you'll be able to respond) kills all of that.
Of course these days, it's not just one away message you have to set. I currently have 2 email accounts, Teams, Slack and a VOIP app that all need to be managed independently (and not just for away messages - these apps are all blind to each other so being on the phone in one doesn't block the phone function in others). That's where improvement should be made.
Definitely makes me miss the days of standardized protocols and things like Pidgin (formerly GAIM) [pidgin.im] that could unify just about every messaging protocol. It still supports a good majority, but I am unaware of a good mobile equivalent.
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When I send an email or text, I expect the recipient will get back to me when they have time.
I know right? The whole point of email/text is that it's asynchronous communications. My kids would rather have a toenail pulled than call one of their friends. It's considered _rude_ as it's essentially demanding that the friend respond to you immediately by answering the phone. The underlying context is that the other party will get back to you when they're next able to do so. HOWEVER, I've seen it become warped over the years that I've watched them... they've become slaves to their phones worrying t
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Stupid article: AGREE (Score:1)
Re: Bad Link (Score:2)
The link should have had an away message. They made their point see.
No. (Score:4, Insightful)
Only if you don't have a life.
Re:No. (Score:5, Informative)
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Let's be honest here, for most Slashdotters the pandemic hasn't changed much of anything.
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Quit that nonsense, the only way you do no have a life is if you are dead. Each persons life to their own, extroverts, your version of life is egoistic and noisy, it is not the only mud monkey version, just one of the more primitive versions.
Why do you have to be polite, when polite in this case is adhering to corporate demands of profitability. I make calls with a mobile phone and I prefer to receive calls on my land line with an answering machine. So I can connect to the world but the world does not conn
Re: No. (Score:2)
Maybe if you had a life you wouldnâ(TM)t tell others what their life should be like.
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OK you got me bro, I haven't seen the sun in a few days. But, that's because I live in the bay area (ash and smoke in the air and sky for the past few days), but I don't live with parents (nothing wrong with that if I did, btw .. deal with it) and I go outside all the time. You know nothing about online versus offline -- a human can have a fulfilling life in either one, or both. And btw not everyone has a choice, some people may be quadriplegic and therefore more productive online, maybe even live in VR som
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A modicum of truth from the froth. HAND!
always away (Score:2)
A good 10% of my co-workers have set themselves to be always away. It doesn't help anyone.
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It doesn't help anyone.
I suspect it helps them get their work done.
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I suppose there is a balance. We don't work in complete isolation, we need to communicate to get the work done.
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''A good 10% of my co-workers have set themselves to be always away''
This.
Never allow a communication service to provide users with your communication status, except permissively. If the service is unable to handle that type of filter, find one that does.
I know very few people that I trust with that information, those I grant perms. Others, well they have either been separated from my work communication, or personal communication. The former, off work hours can use email. Less, I'm properly compensated.
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It helps everyone. The problem here is the expectation that others will be available whenever you want them to be.
Just assume that whoever you want attention from is busy right now, and write them a message they can respond to when it is convenient to them. Preferably sent via a medium suitable for such messages such as email, not "instant scroll past and forget messaging".
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The article here is promoting the use of away messages. Some choose to be always away, which defeats the purpose. I'm not advocating for tracking myself or my coworkers. If something is important, in a physical office I can find you in person. When lots of folks are working remotely "instant scroll past and forget" is what we have. When away can mean anything from lurking to offline it might as well be a dead letter box, especially in an scroll past and forget format. Yes, there are alternatives, the
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For things that are urgent we still have phones. Remember them? You talk on them, kind of like a futuristic voice assistant powered instant messaging system.
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Does my company collect and share everyone's personal phone number? No, because they don't pay for them.
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They're quite useful for certain things. E.g., they're everywhere in hospitals, because you're gnerally not trying to reach someone you know - you want to talk to a radiologist, or whoever's in the lab right now running blood tests, or the nurse who has the patient in room 2405. So you call a number and get someone who can find that person for you, regardless of who it is. I have the numbers for the nurses I work with regularly, but for most of the ho
You know what's even better? (Score:2)
Having a Google Voice Assistant to handle phone calls from unknown callers automatically.
Contrary to modern productivity paradigms (Score:1)
Modern productivity paradigms say that not responding to IMs in a timely manner is detrimental to productivity. Recently my company rolled out new communications policies that require all employees to respond to IMs from those in their groups within 15 minutes between 7AM and 10PM. They also rolled out device policies that allow Microsoft Teams to override device-level do-not-disturb and silence settings.
It's wonderful for productivity and maintaining a happy workforce, and a lot more gets done when you don
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policies that allow Microsoft Teams to override device-level do-not-disturb and silence settings
Wow. Well, there's one device-level setting they can't override, and that's OFF. (But maybe remove the battery to be sure.)
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Only two people actually resigned, but I do know of at least one guy who laughed at him and called him a very rude name, to his face.
Someone from HR may have had a word with him I think.
Re: Contrary to modern productivity paradigms (Score:2)
10 pm? Name the company please!(another AC if possible) So we know whom to cold-shoulder.
Mannage your comms (Score:1)
People started using voicemail to screen calls as soon as the answerphone was invented.
Screening and managing comms is the most important thing to manage modern life - turn off email notifications; and text/twitter etc if you need to. Calls you can decline when you see who's ringing if it isn't important and that's ok!
You're in control of what you see and what you answer. So manage it properly.
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You're in control of what you see and what you answer.
Yes of course, but that doesn't change how you are perceived by others for how you do that.
There are plenty of places that expect all your comms to be open all the time, no excuses. If you tell them you need some peace and quiet to get something done they'll just point to the comms policy.
Probably this will get worse with all of the remote work. MS Teams and Zoom are currently locked in a battle to become the ultimate remote management tool, providing reports on time spent connected to domains, time s
There's another way (Score:2)
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You don't work in a corporate office, do you?
For a lot of people, they do have to have shit open. Even more so now that everyone's working remotely. The PHB want to see the little green light next to your name to see if you're working. They want to count the orange idle seconds and see how long your shit takes.
A lot of companies expect you to respond on the Platform of the Day instantly, to prove that you're working.
In the current climate it is not easy to say no to such an imposition and move to another co
The origins of this make me feel sad and old (Score:1)
As someone who used to /away on irc I feel old.
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Besides that I don't have twitter and facebook.
The rest I ignore until when.
Just my thng I guess.
Lights (Score:2)
I mean, the reverse is also possible. Presently I'm set to green in Microsoft teams. My boss must think I am awesome for working this late.
AIM as the "glory days"? (Score:2)
In the glory days of online communication (2002 to 2009, in my rough, highly personal estimation), away messages were popular on AOL's instant messaging service and acted a bit like digital Post-it notes stuck to a door ....
You don't remember IRC and ICQ? AIM was more like the beginning of the downfall.
IRC from decades before had the "/AWAY" command, and it was widely used to set an away message. Users would also have scripts that automatically set AWAY on idle, when switching windows, etc - you ha
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The point with aim and icq was also that they were used on a computer where the ‘away’ msg made sense as you woukd walk away from a computer. Thats much less the case with a phone that tends to be in your pocket.
Notifications off for all but phonecalls, using websites instead of apps where possible and replying a couple of times a day instead of continuously: thats how I manage the online cacophony and jostling for attention. And a good offline hobby without screens involved, highly recommended
It's not like these things ever went away... (Score:2)
- Email servers pretty much all allow for vacation messages. There's nothing that says you can only use that feature for actual vacations.
- Teams has status messages
- Slack appears to have status messages
- Old-school IRC has status messages
- With iMessage, you could "abuse" the "do not disturb while driving" feature... it has an autoresponse feature
- With Twitter... okay, why are you claiming you're on Twitter for work?
For me... I do set an email auto-reply when I'm busy with a project. For all the other se
Turn Off Your Phone (Score:1)
If you hold down the power button on your phone for a few seconds it is still possible to turn it off. Then you can forget to turn it back on for however long is suitable. Probably don't leave it off for more than a week.
Re: (Score:2)
Put the Phone into Flight Mode. Make it known amongst your colleagues that you are only contactable between certain hours. Then the rest is up to you.
Willpower.
Don't let technology rule you! Make it work for you!
Not gone, just ignored (Score:1)
I see away messages or busy messages still being used. It is not so much that they have gone to the wayside, it is just no one looks for them or cares they are there.
I worked for a company which stood down a large part of the company due to covid-19 and reduced the working days for the rest of us. Basically everyone listed on slack their working days and/or away messages. I still got a mountain of personal messages, some of them getting heated if not replied to, on the days I was not working. When I pointed
Re: Not gone, just ignored (Score:2)
That's a COO who doesn't respect people's time.
Effective businesses have leaders who are respected. I don't respect somebody who doesn't respect me. The thing about respect is that it has to be earnt.
But it's a choice: what kind of workplace do you want to work in? Iâ(TM)m glad I work for a company that respect's people time and very rarely asks for volunteers to work overtime. It also helps my boss is in Germany and consequently has more holiday than me, which he takes. I highly recommend having
Don't use text msgs. At all. (Score:2)
William Faulker said that being fired from the post office was a good thing because while he was there he was at the mercy of every person with two cents to buy a stamp. At present, most of us live at the mercy of anyone who can dial a phone, with text messages beeping all day long no matter what we happen to be doing. I decided long ago that I wanted to be in control of my time and attention, not some stranger who happened to get my phone number. I stopped using text messages entirely. People now know
Working via social media? (Score:4, Informative)
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Who the fuck works via social media?
GenX checking in.
While I agree that "social media" is the wrong term, every job I've had for the last 20 years used / uses online messaging / collaboration tools -
MSN Messenger
Skype
Slack
Teams
Zoom
This goes doubly-so now that everyone is work-from-home during Covid.
For Microsoft shops, Teams integrates email, messaging, voice and video chat, group meetings, screen sharing...
Frankly I don't know how I could even do my job with just "telephone" and "ema
Story is actually on medium (Score:2)
The sewer is backing up - close the valve (Score:5, Interesting)
Essentially, this person is asking what to do when the sewer is backing up. My suggestion is to close the valve. I understand that you will then be unable to push your sewage into the system, but it's worth the piece of mind of knowing that you won't have to clean up the sewage that would otherwise spew forth either. /if you want less sewage....turn off your damn phone // and get off my lawn
make the biggest difference of all (Score:2)
Just because you expect something doesn't mean that *I* have to accomplish or deliver it.
My company (Score:2)
Forces all the services to go to "away" when the screen saver goes on. So not interacting with keyboard/mouse/whatever for more than like 15 min is the trigger. Of course, this can be problematic if you're having to watch an e-meeting,..
Re: (Score:1)
ON-OFF Discriminator (Score:2)
It works great and you have total control over it: computer, laptop, phone, tv, watch, beeper, car, etc.
You might consider using it to turn things off.
Easy-Peasy!
No (Score:1)
Let's do away with bring-back messages.
email (Score:3)
Every email system I ever used has done what you're asking for. So if you deleted all your social media accounts and simply communicated through email, you'd have all that uninterrupted time, plus you'd probably not miss any significant news or friends' activities.
Turn on do not disturb. (Score:2)
Still not enough? Dump phone in toilet.
You are welcome. I will send you my bill.
Re: (Score:2)
''You are welcome. I will send you my bill.''
Please do, I will dispose of it in your recommended manner. [It's humor.. laugh]
Re: (Score:2)
I set Thunderbird to check for email every 10 seconds. Always worried I'll miss that one from the Nigerian prince...
Auto away! (Score:2)
I still use it when idled for more than five minutes. ;) Anyways, AFK time for my dinner. :P
You have the attention span of a gnat (Score:2)
And no tech can fix that.
Finger protocol (Score:2)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org] .plan and .project
In rdf :)
You Can Do That Right Now on an iPhone (Score:2)
Enjoy.
This whole article is a wind up. (Score:2)
I write code for my day job, and I write books for one of my evening hobbies. You know how to maintain focus while doing either? By focusing.
I know that sounds trite and nonsensical to those that feel completely tethered to their devices and lost without them, but if you want to accomplish something big, you HAVE to have the discipline to maintain focus. If it's work mates pestering you at inopportune times, you've failed to set realistic expectations for those folks and need to retrain them to understan
You don't owe them an explanation (Score:2)
As if, away messages never went away (Score:2)
But so many people at work ignore them. They just message me anyways.
And when I do not respond, they somehow get peeved.