Picked a Moroccan riad over a hostel coworking space and it was way too quiet

I was in Marrakech for three weeks and had to choose between a social hostel with a coworking room or a private riad with a rooftop terrace. Went with the riad because I thought the peace would help me focus. First two days were fine, but by day four the silence drove me crazy. No one to chat with during coffee breaks, no random tips from other travelers. Ended up moving to the hostel after a week and got twice as much work done. Anyone else find that too much quiet actually kills your productivity?

2 comments

2 Comments

xena_taylor6421d agoTop Commenter

Remembered my friend Sarah had this exact problem in a cabin in Scotland. She booked this gorgeous remote place for two months to write her book, totally off grid with no wifi. First week she thought she was in heaven but by week two she was talking to the sheep in the field. She ended up driving an hour to the nearest cafe every single day just to be around people. She told me the silence made her overthink every sentence she wrote. She finally admitted she needs that low level background noise to feel normal and focused.

terryj4521d ago

Did she try leaving a radio on low in the background? I've seen that trick work for a lot of folks who can't handle pure dead silence. A little white noise or talk radio can take the edge off without needing to be around actual people.