https://gpeal.medium.com/how-i-use-slack-b0dbf06d9a18
Slack may be the single most important digital tool that I use every day. I switch to Slack hundreds of times per day (sometimes just for a second or two), send over 20,000 messages per year, am a member of 180 channels at work, and actively participate in 6 workspaces.
Over the years, I have found a number of settings and features that have allowed me to stay on top of the firehose that it can be at times. None of my tips are specific to any one company and several people have found them useful so I figured it would be useful to share my personal Slack tips with the world.
The very first setting I change in any Slack org is to only show unread channels and conversations. You can do so here. This is invaluable. Slack channels and DMs are often temporary and pile up over time. The transient nature of channels is a feature (see below). However, once old ones start piling up, it becomes untenable quickly.
Slack allows you to group channels into sections. Think of them as folders for channels. Instead of one long list, you can arbitrarily group channels with a title + emoji.
The most common way to use sections is by team/domain. However, I have found that making sections based on priority helps me stay on top of things much better. As I mentioned, I am in 180 channels in my work org alone. However, the degree to which I care about new messages varies greatly.
My solution is to create four channel sections: tier 1, 2, 3, and rarely.
When pinging somebody, never start with an open-ended “hello”. This website makes my point better than I could
@channel will notify all members of the channel on desktop and mobile even if they are not working, sleeping, etc.