The Slack Urgency Creep: How Every Message Became an Emergency
Jari Mattlar•1 week ago•3 min read•
203 views
When everything feels urgent, nothing actually is. Slack's design makes every ping feel like a fire alarm.
The red badge psychology
Unread counts create anxiety. Red badges demand attention. Your brain treats every notification like a threat.
How urgency became the default
Quick response times get praised. Slow ones get noticed. The culture shifts: everything needs an answer NOW.
The burnout acceleration
Constant urgency triggers chronic stress. Teams burn out faster. Quality drops. Mistakes increase. The urgency creates more urgency.
Resetting expectations
Define what's actually urgent. Use status indicators. Set response time SLAs. Train the organization that not everything is on fire.
Float AI's smart prioritization ensures you see truly urgent messages first, while everything else waits in a "Later" queue.