I’m an introvert: people distract and exhaust me, and my ideal working environment would be an empty room and silence. Next best is what I have whenever I’m in my own environment: the space is never empty, but it’s usually silent save for ambient noise. Working from public space involves dealing with noise levels that are, for me, entirely counterproductive. Right now I’m in a hotel lounge and was settling in to focus on a magazine layout job when all of a sudden they switched the music to something loud, upbeat and with lyrics. I put my earplugs in immediately, but I can still hear that crap, and my concentration’s shot. What do you all do to manage noise when working from public space, or what are your workarounds?
In my case right now, I’m here because I need several hours of electricity, not just the two hours max I could get at my off-grid location. My noise workaround is to come to town and recharge my laptop, then go back to the country to work, but for long amounts of time, that’s not an option for me (yet — but I’m working on it).