[riansanderson]

I had a similar feeling about emails at my previous job. Turning off notifications didn’t really help, because when I’d see 15, or 50 emails piled up I felt this dreadful stew of emotions that I didn’t want to acknowledge and had no tools to handle. Leaving that job only partially helped me, it took weekly therapy sessions and introspection to figure out what was going on and to learn strategies to not get in the same predicament again.

Working at a FAANG you have benefit coverage to see a therapist. I highly recommend taking advantage of this to talk to a professional about the anxiety around Slack messages you are feeling.

If you don’t connect with the first therapist you find, try another. Your emotions are trying to tell you something, find someone who can help you figure out what the message is.