I'm a young guy who works the same way you do. The insights I have after a few hours of hard work are worth the increased mental energy required. (It can be exhausting, and I don't want to talk to anyone after I'm done.) The downside is, as you've said, very few people seem to even attempt to focus for long periods of time.

I think a big part of the problem is the obsession with collaboration, as the article mentions. I feel it often leads to more and more 'fake work,' where employees deliberately work in an unfocused manner to avoid real work.