I’m a bit puzzled by this kind of comment, which pops up every time someone mentions getting some work done while out in nature.

What it seems to miss is that we get to walk around while doing some work, not the other way around. The alternative would be being stuck at a desk or in a meeting room, not quietly enjoying nature on a day off.

The counterfactual is impossible to prove here, but I think it’s at least plausible that this poster, who I guess lives near the beach, could have enjoyed their morning coffee on the beach

> getting some work done while out in nature

> quietly enjoying nature on a day off

You seem to have your concepts mixed up!

I for one much prefer to do work at a desk instead of wandering around.

What is the reason you couldnt use your laptop on the beach to do work in 2019? Probably mainly that you are either working or enjoying nature, not both, and if you're working, then an office with reliable Internet, no wind or sun in your face, etc, is more suitable/efficient.

Put another way: if my twin and I are both working at competing firms doing the same job, but I do it via satellite phone while hiking the PCT and he does it from in front of a keyboard, there is no way he's not getting more done, even with AI. The bandwidth of voice/text to speech is a tiny fraction of visual.

Thanks for asking! I have had pain in my back and and shoulders and hands from being deskbound since I was 18 and it is a constant balancing act to get in enough exercise to offset the work in front of the computer. I have also used standing desks, 500$ ergonomic keyboards, and forced remote work during covid was a godsend because I could take regular breaks to pace my living room while I was worried to be perceived as unfocused if I did this in the open space. Speaking of living room, working on my TV from a distance of 2m alleviated eye strain too, compared to using the laptop screen or even a secondary monitor at my desk.

Believe it or not, it was not practical to take my gear into nature haha. But with the advent of agentic coding (and stt solutions like handy), I can be productive with much less typing and equipment.

I have considered leaving the tech sector because of the aforementioned friction, and just like in my message above, I don't think we are considering the same dilemmas. OP said work vs contemplation, I said indoor work vs outdoor work. You mention productivity trade-offs, but for me working in tech used to feel physically unsustainable.

Cheers

Yea, it seems that the OP neither did better work, or actually enjoyed the walk (I mean, how do you enjoy walk if you don't allow your thoughts to wander?)..

It may be more pleasant to work outside -or it may not (it's almost winter here in Alaska -that would be a hard pass for me!). but no -it's definitely not the same, as you pointed out.

HN/The internet:

OP: "I had an amazing time doing something. "

Commenters: "No you didn't."