> It seems easier to 'opt-out' of distractions (by putting on headphones) Very few people can actually 'opt-out' of distractions by any means except removing t

> It seems easier to 'opt-out' of distractions (by putting on headphones) Very few people can actually 'opt-out' of distractions by any means except removing themselves from the vicinity of other people. > If you have a culture where people can be sitting next to you but can signal they shouldn't be interrupted, or there is ample quiet space for private work to be done, you can have the best of both worlds. I find that culture exceedingly rare and highly dependent on the nature of the work you are doing. A webdev on a Macbook Air on the company Wifi can easily pick up and go somewhere else. A dev tied to a hard line or physical resources (books, special hardware, etc.) can't. The latter also forces impromptu meetings at people's desks, since the discussion generally revolves around something that can't be picked up and taken to a breakout space. Assuming breakout spaces exist; my previous employer was creating open plans with only a handful of overbooked conference rooms.