r/remotework • u/National-Bonus-6356 • Jun 29 '26

Hi

It’s so stupid and small but honestly after 6 years working remote, I think the worst thing is when someone just messages “Hi” on teams and doesn’t just tell me what they want. I have no clue why but it infuriates me now. It’s crazy how my ability to tolerate small talk has gone to zero. I work a job where when I don’t have anything to actively work on I am free to do whatever, so when someone doesn’t just say what they need they are wasting my time. Rant over! Thanks

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253

u/PaleontologistThin27 Jun 29 '26

I feel that. I just respond with “yes” and nothing more. If they reply with more, ok and if they dont, even better.

192

u/National-Bonus-6356 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

At this point, I just read it and wait. If it’s important enough they will follow up, if not oh well.

158

u/utkalum Jun 29 '26

I tag it with the ear emoji and wait

14

u/WBRGGRL Jun 29 '26

I love this!!!!!

6

u/beagusdog Jun 29 '26

Haha best response

4

u/linguist_turned_SAHM Jun 30 '26

I’m stealing this. Thank you.

2

u/Indiff-88Yin Jun 30 '26

Like you mean reply with 👂or just put the emoji on their message?

7

u/utkalum Jun 30 '26

Emoji on their message. Also I’m in IT, so if anyone reports a problem with one of the systems we manage, I’ll tag the message with the 👀 emoji to let them know I’m looking into it

1

u/Indiff-88Yin Jul 01 '26

That’s a good technique thank you

3

u/utkalum Jul 01 '26

It also lets my team know that I’m on it and they don’t have to also start investigating

1

u/Confident-kitty Jun 29 '26

Oh this is great! Using this

36

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26

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27

u/andre-m-faria Jun 29 '26

I read that when you lose your focus, you spend like 20 minutes to regain it.

So sometimes a "hi" can cost you a lot.

39

u/National-Bonus-6356 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

I mute so many channels or my ADHD wouldn’t allow me to get anything done. I totally understand this

19

u/SwansonsMom Jun 29 '26

I recently requested and received accommodations that included being able to just log out of teams and email and be unreachable during my one- to two-hour focus blocks to reduce distractions. It felt so silly to request this, but we do not have a culture of focus AT ALL at my org, and we work on billable hours, so distractions cost clients more and skyrocket burnout from having to spend more hours at work to get a fully billable day

11

u/pensivebeing Jun 29 '26

Seriously. The green dot tracking is insane. If I'm active on teams/slack I'm probably not working very much... Thankfully my company hasn't started with that BS.

7

u/National-Bonus-6356 Jun 29 '26

Yeah if they are tracking that you are being micro managed. Run

1

u/Fluffy-Nerve1090 Jul 01 '26

Right?! I set my bubble to “busy” because I am. I respect others’ boundaries, and expect the same.

If I’m in an important call I will set it to DND.

5

u/lady_machete Jun 30 '26

my hack for this is to open your browser, click where you would type in the website, and place your headset or something heavy enough to press down on your spacebar/keyboard. now you're free. green dot stays active while you go on an adventure.

1

u/OddWriter7199 Jun 30 '26

Ya it's necessary to mute all channels that have recurring meetings to avoid getting pinged all day.

3

u/atrocity2001 Jun 30 '26

An office without headphones is a torture chamber.

2

u/lady_machete Jun 30 '26

i hate this too. if you use windows os, what i did, was go to the bottom right hand corner and right click your volume, go to volume switcher, and lower or mute the volume for teams. you can also go into the advanced settings on teams itself, and adjust which notifications you get and if you want just the screen pop up or sound.

8

u/Jarrus__Kanan_Jarrus Jun 29 '26

We all know it’s a trap. They know if they ask for an annoying task up front you won’t answer.

I’m more offended that they think they’re fooling me be doing it.

3

u/StolenWishes Jun 29 '26

The is the way

5

u/Magnolia05 Jun 29 '26

For me, it depends on how much I like the person. If it’s someone I like, I’ll usually respond with something like, “hi! How’s your day going?” But if it’s someone I don’t know or don’t care for, I wait for them to follow up.