>I didn't have that choice with a cubicle, because anyone could walk up at any time and cause me to shift that focus.
This isn't true of all cubicles. I used to work at a very large microprocessor manufacturer and before they "compressed" the cubicles, the cubicles were 9x9. Someone had to physically come into your cubicle to get your attention (or pop their head over the wall, but only 6-foot+ people could do that). To deal with disturbances, we actually had "DO NOT DISTURB" signs assigned to us which we could hang across the cubicle entrance to keep people from bothering us. These signs were frequently used, and to very good effect.
Personally, I wish I could go back to that environment. It was the best of both worlds when I had this nice-sized cube with privacy, but was also seated next to a coworker I frequently needed to collaborate with. It was great being able to pop my head over the wall when I needed to, but without worrying about being distracted or disturbed by other people for less-important stuff, and especially not by random passers-by the way I am in open environments.
This isn't true of all cubicles. I used to work at a very large microprocessor manufacturer and before they "compressed" the cubicles, the cubicles were 9x9. Someone had to physically come into your cubicle to get your attention (or pop their head over the wall, but only 6-foot+ people could do that). To deal with disturbances, we actually had "DO NOT DISTURB" signs assigned to us which we could hang across the cubicle entrance to keep people from bothering us. These signs were frequently used, and to very good effect.
Personally, I wish I could go back to that environment. It was the best of both worlds when I had this nice-sized cube with privacy, but was also seated next to a coworker I frequently needed to collaborate with. It was great being able to pop my head over the wall when I needed to, but without worrying about being distracted or disturbed by other people for less-important stuff, and especially not by random passers-by the way I am in open environments.