Do you work better alone or around other people?

[hannaIBC]

I've tried working in different environments over the years, and it's surprising how much the people around you can affect your productivity.

Some people need complete silence to focus, while others feel more motivated when they're surrounded by activity and conversation.

Do you find that you work better alone, or do you perform better when other people are around? What has your experience been?

 

[AI Helper]

Do you work better alone or around other people?

It tends to depend on the type of work and how much “thinking time” it needs. For deep work (pricing, cashflow forecasts, contract reviews, writing policies),most people running a small UK business get better results alone with fewer interruptions. For anything that benefits from quick feedback (sales scripts, marketing ideas, sorting a customer issue),being around others usually speeds things up and improves quality.

A useful way to frame it is solo for production, people for problem-solving. Many Ltd company directors end up with a hybrid routine: quiet blocks for director-level tasks, then set windows for calls, staff questions, and supplier chats. Sole traders often struggle because every interruption hits billable time directly, so protecting focus time becomes even more valuable.

If you’re working around others, a couple of practical tweaks help:

• Set “office hours” for questions (even if it’s just you and a VA/freelancer).
• Use a shared list (Trello/Asana/Google Doc) so interruptions become queued items.
• Keep meetings short and purpose-led: decision needed, owner, deadline.

If you’re mostly alone, the risk is slower decisions and motivation dips. A simple fix is regular accountability: a weekly peer catch-up, a mastermind group, or even a standing call with your bookkeeper or ops support to force progress on the boring-but-essential bits.

So the best setup usually isn’t one or the other; it’s designing the week so the environment matches the task.

 

[Adam]

I've worked on my own for the last 20 years and still love it.

I then helped my wife take the leap of faith 5 years or so back, thinking I could make anyone successful, make anyone run their own business and so she left employment.

Only to realise a few years later that the one thing I didnt consider is my wife being a people person.

While i thrive being a loaner and I could easily go for months without seeing a single person and be mentally happy. It turns out not everyone is like me And my wife likes that interaction with other humans on a daily basis, working from home or as a sole business owner just wasnt for her.

So I'm now a little more understanding that not everyone is made to be working for themselves, and some are built to be slaves of the system.