Fellow nomad in Medellin told me my workspace setup was ruining my focus

I was working from a rooftop cafe in Medellin every day, feeling great about the view but struggling to get stuff done. A British digital nomad sat down next to me and asked why I kept staring off at the mountains instead of my screen. He basically said I was overloading my brain with too much visual noise and needed a boring background to code effectively. I laughed at first but then realized he was right - I was getting maybe 3 solid hours of work done per day. So I switched to a co-working space with plain white walls and no windows, just a desk and good wifi. Now I crank out 6 hours before 2pm and then go enjoy the city guilt-free. Has anyone else had to ditch a cool location just to actually get work done?

2 comments

2 Comments

umasullivan9d ago

Have you considered that maybe the view wasn't the problem but the guilt of not being productive while staring at it? For me it's not about the background noise or visual stimulation, it's about having a CLEAR mental boundary between work and play. Like I used to work from this amazing beach spot in Thailand and I'd clock maybe 2 hours because I felt like I was wasting paradise. When I moved to a boring coworking space, suddenly my brain went "oh we are WORKING now" and I banged out 5 hours easy. The real trick might be training your brain to recognize that just because you're somewhere beautiful doesn't mean you have to feel bad for working there.

anthony_lane559d ago

Funny you mention that, I had the SAME problem working from my back porch. Beautiful view of the woods, but my brain just wouldn't lock in. What flipped it for me was putting on a specific pair of cheap headphones and a certain playlist only for work hours. Took about a week, but now when those go on, my brain knows it's time to grind, no matter where I'm sitting. Also started keeping my coffee mug on the desk as a visual cue like a flag saying "we are working here.