“We don't use Slack here. We consider it a productivity killer. It encourages always-on behavior. What we do is use different tools that help slow down the pace of conversation and facilitate people thinking through things more deeply before they post them.”

Async-first with Basecamp and no notifications enables deep work — communication tools should serve the builder, not the other way

Teaching.com runs on Basecamp with notifications disabled by default; Slack is kept only in its free tier (90-day message history) for true emergencies. The intent is to protect large blocks of uninterrupted deep work time. New hires are onboarded into the system with explicit instructions to disable all notifications — a cultural forcing function the company attributes directly to the quality of its products and the longevity of its team.