Our team embraces unconventional schedules, with work often happening in non-traditional settings and outside standard hours. We recognize that creativity and productivity don’t always follow a 9-to-5 schedule.
Trying to synchronize everyone’s availability in real-time would be counterproductive. Instead, we’ve built systems that enable effective asynchronous collaboration.
Chat isn’t gonna cut it
Most teams rely heavily on chat apps like Slack, which constantly broadcast your online status to everyone. With chat comes the implicit expectation that you should respond immediately - creating pressure that never truly lets you disconnect. That green dot beside your name becomes a digital leash, and the backlog of messages after being away for just a few hours can feel overwhelming.
The “read receipt” and “typing indicator” features only amplify this pressure. You’ve seen the message, now everyone knows you’ve seen it, and they’re waiting for your response. This always-on mentality fragments attention and makes deep work nearly impossible.
That’s why we rely on thoughtful communication in cushion.so to work async. We use chat, either in cushion or with WhatsApp when we want to be social or get an answer now. This is the exception to the rule.
Embrace async
Despite rarely working at the same time, we have complete confidence that work will get done, and when synchronous discussion is necessary, we make it happen.
Our fluid, adaptable process might seem unstructured to outsiders, but it perfectly supports our creative work and the diverse needs of our team members.