Adam Nicolson’s description of working alone resonated with me, as I have also nearly always done so, and it is my preferred mode, even though I thoroughly enjoyed the time I worked in close connection with colleagues.  

This doesn’t mean I doubt the benefits of team work, but I sense that we may over emphasize it as the expense of the solitary stuff. 

That said, you do need to have the disposition for it to enjoy the lone stint. 

I have nearly always worked alone and have loved that, the silence and privacy of it, the space which solitary work allows for ideas to accumulate and thicken like crystals dangling in a solution.  On your own, understanding comes not from argument but accretion.  It’s quick. 

Source: Adam Nicolson, Sissinghurst: An unfinished history (London: Harper Press, 2009), p. 103

Photo credit: Nicolas Solerieu at unsplash