How to stop the constant interruptions and create healthier communication habits
If your workday feels like a constant barrage of pings, notifications, and “quick questions,” you’re not alone. What if I told you the problem isn’t your workload — it’s how your team is using messaging apps?
Real-time messaging tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack promised better collaboration and faster communication. But for many teams — especially in IT, higher education, and fast-changing workplaces — these platforms have become more of a distraction than a solution.
Instead of supporting deep work, they interrupt it. Instead of streamlining communication, they often overwhelm it. Studies show knowledge workers lose an average of 2.1 hours per day to interruptions and recovery time.
The Hidden Cost of “Always On”
The problem isn’t the apps themselves — it’s how we’re using them by default. And unless your team has had an honest conversation about expectations, you’re probably feeling the cost of that silence.
Here’s what I’ve seen, especially in higher ed and large organizations:
1. The Defaults Are Designed to Interrupt
These platforms come with notifications turned on — banner alerts, badges, buzzes. The settings are there, but navigating them can be confusing, especially with multiple channels and chats.
2. No Shared Norms
Anyone can message anyone at any time. Are you expected to reply in five minutes? Five hours? What if someone never responds? When there are no agreed-upon norms, every ping feels like a potential crisis — and that ambiguity creates stress.
3. The App Follows You Home
With mobile apps installed, messages don’t stop when you close your laptop. Even if you’re off the clock, your brain stays “on” — because once you’ve seen a message, it’s hard to unsee it.
The Real-World Impact
These subtle design choices and silent assumptions have real consequences:
Interrupted Flow: Research shows it can take up to 23 minutes to regain your focus after an interruption. Multiply that by dozens of pings per day, and you’ve got a major productivity drain.
Micro-Stress, All Day Long: That innocent question someone sent “just to get it off their plate”? It lands in your lap, pulling you out of your zone. Over time, this leads to a culture where interruption is normalized — and focus is rare.
Burnout & Quiet Quitting: In IT and support roles, we already juggle multiple incoming requests. When you add informal messages on top of formal channels (like ticketing systems), the result is often exhaustion, resentment, and disengagement.
What’s the Solution?
Reset real-time team communication norms. Not with a top-down policy — but with a thoughtful, team-based conversation about how you want to work together and setting boundaries at work.
A Success Story
One IT department I spoke to was drowning in Slack messages. Their solution? They established “Focus Blocks” — two 90-minute periods each day when team members turned off notifications completely. They also agreed that any truly urgent matters during these times would come through as a phone call instead. The result? Productivity improved, and team satisfaction scores went up across the board due to better work-life balance.
You can do the same — starting with a simple conversation.
Start the Conversation With Your Team
To help, here is a simple, team conversation starter:
Our Current Messaging Habits
- How many platforms do we regularly use?
- When do most messages arrive? Does it vary by app?
- What’s the implicit or explicit expectation for response time? Does it vary by app?
How often do you feel interrupted by messages?
- □ Rarely – I can focus when I need to
- □ Sometimes – A few times per day
- □ Often – It’s hard to get into flow
- □ Constantly – I can’t focus for more than a few minutes
What’s…
- Working
- Not Working?
Have a conversation and determine the best next steps. You don’t need to overhaul your tech stack — just make more intentional choices about how you communicate. This small shift could lead to more focus, less stress, and a stronger sense of alignment across your team.
Your Team’s Best Work Is Worth Protecting
Your team’s best work happens during those rare hours of deep concentration — not while bouncing between pings. With one intentional conversation, supported by a clear framework, your team can start to shift how you use real-time messaging apps. It might not solve everything overnight, but it’s a meaningful first step toward creating a more focused, sustainable way of working.
Your team’s attention, well-being, and time are worth protecting.