Reclaim's Slack integration can automatically update your Slack status so others know that you are busy, as well as enable Do Not Disturb during events where you want to stay in focus mode. With Slack status sync, you can:
Let others know when it is outside your working/personal/meeting hours
Decide which categories of events you want your status updated for
Customize your status message
Choose whether or not you want to set the status to Do Not Disturb
Note: Reclaim will only set your status for events that are marked as Busy.
This article covers:
Turn on Slack status sync
Ensure Reclaim's Slack integration is installed to your Slack workspace
Navigate to Reclaim bot's home page in Slack
Click Settings.
Click Turn On next to "Status Sync".
Additional options to "Configure Status Sync settings" will appear.
Settings to turn on Slack Status syncing
Option to configure your Slack Sync
Set your Slack Status when it is outside your hours
To improve communication with your team and manage noise from Slack, you can set your Slack status to let others know when it’s outside your Working, Personal, or Meeting hours and turn on Do Not Disturb so notifications from Slack will be snoozed.
To enable Slack Status sync during outside your hours:
Navigate to Reclaim bot's home page in Slack.
Click Settings.
Click Status Settings next to "Configure Status Sync settings".
In the Outside hours section, click the dropdown menu.
Select which category of hours to sync your status.
[Optional] Check the box next to "Enable Do Not Disturb for outside of..."
Note: if an event is on your calendar when you’re outside those hours, Reclaim will skip it and will not update your status unless you manually clear it.
Set your Slack status display for calendar events
Reclaim offers visibility options for how you want your Slack status to appear based on your calendar events. To customize this:
Navigate to Reclaim bot's home page in your Slack workspace.
Click Settings.
Click Status Settings next to "Configure Status Sync settings".
Under Status Sync Options, select one of the options as described below.
Status determined by Category (personal, solo work, travel, etc.)
Reclaim will automatically set your Slack status to a default message that shows the category of the calendar event and no other details (e.g., "In a 1:1").
Set status to "Busy" for all events
Reclaim will automatically set your status to "Busy" for all events and provide no other details.
Custom status + do not disturb:
You can set your own Slack status messages, as well as turn on Do Not Disturb for particular categories of events to snooze notifications from Slack.
Slack status visibility options for calendar events
Note: If you're using the default privacy setting for your Habits in Reclaim, Reclaim will show the full name of that Habit in your Slack Status, regardless of which privacy setting you've picked in the Slack integration.
Using custom statuses
When you select Custom status + do not disturb, an expanded menu will appear offering additional customization options for how you want your Slack status to appear to others based on event category. The event categories you can customize are:
Meetings
External meetings
Shallow solo work
Deep solo work
One-on-ones
Personal
Vacation
Travel
Decompression Time
Flights
Private (Synced events, tasks, and habits explicitly marked private.)
View of expanded menu when selecting Custom status + do not disturb.
Include title of event
You can opt to include the title of the event automatically using the parameter called {title}. Use this parameter to show the title of the event as it appears to you on your calendar.
Example: Setting a custom status for Deep Solo Work events
Heads down on - {title}: will show the status message of "Heads down on - [Title as shown to you on your calendar]" anything Reclaim detects that you're in a Deep Solo Work event.
Enable Do Not Disturb
Do Not Disturb will snooze notifications for calls and messages in Slack. By default, Do Not Disturb is turned off.
To set Do Not Disturb for certain categories of events, check the box next to "Enable Do Not Disturb for..." under the event category you'd like to enable Do Not Disturb for.
The first time you enable Do Not Disturb, you'll be prompted to give the Slack integration an additional permission to set Do Not Disturb on your behalf. Click the link and finish setting up permissions in the browser window that opens:
Once you've turned on Do Not Disturb for a given category, anytime you're busy for an event in that category your colleagues will see a note in Slack that you've paused notifications when they attempt to send you a message.
Notes
If two or more events are overlapping and conflicting with the exact same time range (e.g., Event A and Event B are both from 10-11am) Reclaim will pick the most recently updated event.
Reclaim will automatically clear your status if the event on your calendar is removed.
If you opt to "Clear Status" via your Slack profile settings, Reclaim will not re-attempt to set your status. It will remain cleared until a new event occurs that triggers a status sync.