I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we interact with the tools we use every day at work—chat apps, project management systems, docs, and those endless canvases that seem to stretch forever. The more connected we are, the more we can peek into the conversations, comments, reactions, and side discussions that are happening around us. In theory, this should be a good thing, right? Collaboration, transparency, real-time feedback—it’s what we’ve all been told makes us work smarter.

But I wonder if we’ve missed something in the process.

Have you ever found yourself scrolling through comments on a project, hunting down every reaction emoji, diving into threads that only tangentially relate to your work, and somehow, 30 minutes later, you’ve learned nothing new? You’re not alone. It’s easy to fall into these rabbit holes. We see someone leave a comment, and we want to know why. We spot a reaction to that comment, and suddenly, we’re chasing opinions like they’re clues in a mystery. This is the work equivalent of doom scrolling, but instead of bad news, it’s endless busywork that masquerades as productivity.

The problem: engagement that isn’t engagement

There’s a false sense of engagement we get from collaborative apps. The constant notifications, the streams of updates—they make us feel like we’re “in the know,” like we’re doing something important by keeping up. But what are we really engaging with? Are we moving projects forward? Are we refining ideas? Are we bringing work to life in a way that customers will love?

More often than not, we’re just snooping—passively consuming information for the sake of being informed, rather than actively contributing to the work at hand. It’s like we’ve built a system where we’re always aware of the business of others, but not necessarily getting business done.

An experiment: embrace the joy of missing out

Here’s a thought: what if we stopped? What if we embraced the joy of missing out of work?

Imagine a world where you didn’t feel compelled to check every comment or follow every notification. Where you weren’t tracking every reaction in a sea of irrelevant emoji responses. What if we treated these apps not as places to passively observe, but as tools to actively contribute? What if we built a culture where it was okay to not know what everyone else was saying and doing all the time?

Let’s be real—most of those threads we’re chasing don’t move the needle. The important work, the stuff that really matters, happens when we’re in the zone—creating, solving problems, iterating on ideas. Not when we’re chasing after the latest “👍” on a comment buried in a long discussion.

Shifting focus to what really matters

If we focus on meaningful contribution rather than constant awareness, I think we’d see a fundamental shift in how we work. Instead of reacting to every update, we’d have more time to think deeply, to produce work that’s impactful, and to bring ideas to life in a way that resonates with users.

I’m not saying collaboration isn’t important. It’s crucial. But collaboration should be intentional, not reactive. We don’t need to know everything to do our best work. In fact, knowing less might just be the key to focusing more.

How to run this experiment in your workplace

1. Turn off unnecessary notifications – If it’s not directly related to your work, it can wait.

2. Set intentional times for checking collaborative tools – Don’t live in your project management or chat app. Visit them when you need to make decisions or move something forward.

3. Encourage deep work blocks – Time away from screens is often where the best ideas come from.

4. Limit information sharing – Instead of sharing every little thing, focus on the highlights that actually impact the project.

If we can start treating our tools as just that—tools—we’ll stop mistaking the endless scroll for meaningful work. And who knows? Maybe we’ll start feeling more fulfilled by the work we actually produce, rather than the updates we react to.