Dear Slack,
We’ve known each other for years now. When we first met, I was excited by how pretty you were. I could customize my theme, add whatever emojis I wanted—even GIFs!— and throw a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ after every message where I just wasn’t quite sure. What more could a girl ask for in a messaging service?
Productivity, of course! You tried to tell me how you could help me with it before, but I wasn’t ready to listen. I didn’t know what I was missing. First, I learned all about your keyboard shortcuts. This was especially useful when I began to work with multiple workspaces.
Each day, I can quickly navigate between my workspaces with ⌘+1, ⌘+2, and so on. Once I’m there, I can easily use ⌘+t to jump between channels and private messages. Now I can effortlessly catch up on those missed messages that pile up during our time apart.
Honestly, though, sometimes you were still a bit too much for me. There were so many channels and messages in my sidebar. I still wanted to know when there was activity in a bunch of channels, but I don’t need to see them all the time, you know?
You heard my laments, and instead of trying to force me to follow your ways, you gave me an option in the Sidebar Preferences to only show “Unreads and starred conversations.” What a relief!
Months went by, and I thought I knew all there was to know about you. We had been together for so long that I thought for sure the honeymoon phase was over. It was time to fall into a comfortable relationship of drinking tea together in the morning while we chatted about what to do that day.
But then, I tried out the /remind feature. I’m sure you’ve tried to tell me about it before. I probably just stubbornly waved my hand at you while I wrote down another task on one of my many to-do lists scattered between my desk, my phone, and my fridge.
I was blown away. This was exactly what I had been looking for, but had no idea I needed. In one quick message, I can ask you to remind me of anything, at any time, and you’ll do it without question! I’ve never seen someone else more reliable when I tell them, “Don’t let me forget to mail that form today.”
And unlike my calendar, you don’t make it hard. I don’t need to find a date, pick a time, type the task, and save it. I only need to tell you what to remind me of and when. It’s the absolute perfect fit for my life.
Maybe to some people, these features aren’t particularly special or groundbreaking. Maybe they use other tools to help them accomplish these tasks. But for me, you’ve been the perfect addition to my workflow, and I appreciate all you have to offer.
Love,
Laura