At my most recent job, I did all of my best work at home. I would actively try to avoid the office for as long as possible. At home, I had two desks and complete control over my environment. Distractions and breaks were choices.

Once I went into the office, there were constant distractions that weren’t optional — other employees, dogs barking, impromptu meetings, birthday celebrations. It was very difficult to get into flow states and incredibly easy to be broken from them. Of all the places I could work, my desk at the office was often the worst option.

When I’m in a crowded space, my thoughts also get crowded. I feel overwhelmed by stimuli and the inability to escape them. In contrast, when I have space (mental and physical), I’m able to challenge and understand my thoughts and assumptions. The quality of my thinking goes up significantly.

I’ve realized I kind of hate open offices.

The Rise of the Open Office

Open offices misunderstand psychology and design. We encourage people to stay out in the open because we believe proximity breeds collaboration. But research consistently shows the opposite — open offices reduce face-to-face interaction and increase digital communication. People put on headphones, avoid eye contact, and retreat into themselves to cope with the lack of boundaries.

The open office was never really about collaboration. It was about cost savings dressed up as culture. Fitting more people into less space is cheaper. Calling it “open” and “collaborative” makes it sound intentional.

The irony is that the environments we build for creative work actively undermine the conditions creativity requires: solitude, focus, and control over one’s surroundings.

What We Actually Need

The best work environments give people control. Control over noise, over interruptions, over when to collaborate and when to focus. This doesn’t mean everyone needs a private office — it means we need variety. Quiet zones for deep work. Open areas for collaboration. The ability to move between them based on what the work demands.

The best creative work requires long stretches of uninterrupted focus. Cal Newport calls this “deep work” — the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. Open offices are the enemy of deep work.

If you find yourself struggling to do your best thinking at work, it might not be you. It might be where you’re sitting.