Set presence to away

Set my presence to away for the two-hour client deep-dive starting at 2 PM today. Make sure my status shows unavailable and add the custom message: In deep work on client deliverable until 4 PM — reply in email for anything urgent. Tell Rachel in Product I’ve done this so she won’t expect replies in the thread.

Before I mark myself away for the presentation, make the away state useful to colleagues. Put the end time in the status, suggest an alternate contact (Rachel), and surface anywhere my calendar shows free but I’ll be focused. Flag anything that might make a reviewer hesitate: missing end time, no fallback contact, or an ambiguous message that looks like a vacation note.

I set my presence to away for a focused session, but Ben keeps @mentioning me in the team channel. I don’t know if my away status is visible to everyone, if channels override it, or if they ignore it by habit. What’s the likely explanation and the best immediate steps to stop the interruptions for the next two hours?

Whenever I set away for blocks of focused work, colleagues still expect immediate replies and interrupt via mentions. This breaks deep work and pushes deadlines. What habit should I change in how I communicate my focus blocks, and what team practice could enforce respect for away statuses so interruptions fall by at least 50%?