See, for me, if there's a bunch of noise in the background, I can focus. Maybe due to having worked in open newsrooms in the past? I have much more difficulty concentrating if there's just one or two noises, like my H rolling around in his chair upstairs (hardwood floors) or being on a conference call, my D being loud. Or in a past job where my coworker would leave his office door open and do calls on speakerphone.


So basically, a bunch of stuff going on, I can block out. But I also had issues recently when I went to do some work at a restaurant's outdoor space, and there was just one other table occupied, and they were being rather loud and talkative. If there were a few other tables, I could have tuned it out.