This mostly fits with my personal experience. The part where I differ the most is this:
The correct play is usually to take advantage of the isolation and lack of distractions. That makes some activities actively great to do.
The way my brain works means that I find planes to be a distraction-heavy environment:
There’s loud background noise.
There are people sitting right next to me, in the zone that I would normally consider “my personal space”.
Flight attendants frequently walk down the aisle to pass out snacks or collect trash. If I can see a flight attendant coming toward me, even if they’re still 5+ minutes away, a mandatory minimum of 25% of my brain’s clock cycles are dedicated to anticipating their arrival.
I can listen to music or “light” podcasts on a plane, but I have a hard time focusing on intellectually-demanding podcasts or books or movies or work, basically anything that requires sustained attention.
For the same reason, I can’t really enjoy being at the airport because I’m anticipating that I will have to get on a plane soon. But I still tend to leave for the airport early because if I’m at home, I’m anticipating that I will have to leave for the airport soon, which isn’t any better.
Yeah, I gave up on doing anything intellectual on planes. I’m not sure if it’s the oxygen levels or something else, but I always end up feeling not-great, so at this point I just read some trashy fiction and leave the hard work for better environments.
This mostly fits with my personal experience. The part where I differ the most is this:
The way my brain works means that I find planes to be a distraction-heavy environment:
There’s loud background noise.
There are people sitting right next to me, in the zone that I would normally consider “my personal space”.
Flight attendants frequently walk down the aisle to pass out snacks or collect trash. If I can see a flight attendant coming toward me, even if they’re still 5+ minutes away, a mandatory minimum of 25% of my brain’s clock cycles are dedicated to anticipating their arrival.
I can listen to music or “light” podcasts on a plane, but I have a hard time focusing on intellectually-demanding podcasts or books or movies or work, basically anything that requires sustained attention.
For the same reason, I can’t really enjoy being at the airport because I’m anticipating that I will have to get on a plane soon. But I still tend to leave for the airport early because if I’m at home, I’m anticipating that I will have to leave for the airport soon, which isn’t any better.
Yeah, I gave up on doing anything intellectual on planes. I’m not sure if it’s the oxygen levels or something else, but I always end up feeling not-great, so at this point I just read some trashy fiction and leave the hard work for better environments.
Active noise cancellation is a huge quality of life improvement when flying.