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Spent a weekend at a coworking space in Portland and now I'm questioning the whole open floor plan thing
I was at this place called The Cleaners in Portland last Saturday working on my side project. It was this big open room with like 40 people, everyone on laptops. At first I thought it was great, lots of energy and people talking. But by hour 3 I couldn't focus at all. Every phone call, every conversation, even someone typing loud was pulling my attention. Then I noticed this one guy in the corner who had booked a tiny private phone booth room, and he was just cranking through work nonstop. So now I'm wondering - is the whole open office design actually good for getting stuff done, or is it just cheaper for companies? I mean I get the social part, but maybe it's better for meetings and not focused work. Has anyone else tried both setups and noticed a big difference in how much you actually get done?
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vera_roberts4d ago
Oh, I've been there and it drove me nuts too. I had a similar experience at a coworking space in Seattle a few years back, and what ended up working for me was actually switching to a quieter library for my deep work and saving the coworking spot for lunch meetings or brainstorming sessions. The phone booth trick is smart though, I started booking those same little rooms for two hours at a time and my output doubled. There's just something about being able to close a door and have your own space that makes a huge difference for focused tasks.
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simon_chen4d ago
People are WAY too dramatic about open offices. It's just a desk setup, not a life crisis. Been in both kinds of spaces and yeah sometimes you get distracted, but nobody is forcing anyone to stay glued to their laptop in the middle of the chaos. Grab some headphones or find a quiet corner like that guy did. @vera_roberts, booking those phone booths helped you because you actually tried to fix the problem instead of just complaining about it. Open plans work fine for quick chats and casual work, just need basic common sense to adjust when you need to focus.
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