How to Always Stay Active on Slack?

If you've ever noticed your Slack status flipping to "away", or even wiggled your mouse to look active, you're not alone.

How does Slack status actually work?

According to Slack's help guide, your status automatically turns to away after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Your coworkers can also see whether you're set to active or away.

What about that button where you can manually set yourself to "active"? It doesn't work for this. It won't stop the 10-minute countdown. As soon as you stop clicking or typing, the clock starts ticking again.

The frustration is real

You're working hard, maybe reading a long document or just thinking something through. You look back at Slack, and you see it. The little green dot next to your name is gone. It's grey. You're "away."

You get that sinking feeling. "Ugh, not again." Does it look like I'm not at my desk?

This whole "green dot" thing can be a real headache. You shouldn't have to micromanage your Slack presence just to focus on your work. Everybody should be able to have a guilt-free cup of coffee.

How to keep it active

People suggest apps like Amphetamine* or **Caffeine**, or playing a video. They keep the computer on, but this is completely wrong. *It doesn't help with the status. You can't set the status to stay active without constantly moving your mouse.

A physical USB mouse jiggler may work.

Most solutions didn't work

For software-based solutions, honestly, most solutions either don't work, are annoying to manage, or are ridiculously expensive:

• • presencescheduler.com - Convoluted to use and requires a Chrome extension and app download
• • slackgreen.com* - Costs *$60 per month 😱
• • lazywork.xyz - Seems cool, very customizable phisical jigger. 7.99$ ~ 49.99$/m
• • ericdraken.com/slack-always-stay-active - Outdated
• • github.com/eskerda/slack-keep-presence - Outdated
• • libraries.io/rubygems/slack-keep-presence - Outdated

So I decided to build one myself!

Slack Green isn't a hack or a script. It's a simple, reliable service designed to do one thing: keep your Slack status active when you want it to.

• • No software to download or install
• • Runs completely in the background
• • Free tier lets you stay active for up to 3 hours at a time
• • Set working schedule and forget about it

Your productivity isn't measured by a tiny colored dot next to your name.

> Step away for coffee. We'll keep the light on.

With love,

Sieun