In tennis or golf, the crowd is disciplined to be quiet while the athletes are performing. Between shots or rallies, the umpire (or the little guys that hold the quiet signs at the golf) are in control. They help to give the athletes focus.
But artists working alone in their studios (or in my case, the ‘spare room’ in my house) don’t have an umpire. There’s no person holding up a sign to tell others to quieten down, or go away, or stop inviting us out to social occasions that we’d rather not attend but feel obliged to anyway. Artists need to find their own focus. Control their own environment. Remove distractions so that they can hit that winning shot. We need to make our own quiet because no one else is going to do it for us.