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The last time I officially took the Myers-Briggs test, I was INFP. I had a career coach through my place of employment one time who was so interested in the Myers-Briggs hat she had a little "sculpture" with her type in four wooden blocks. She was an E--not surprising given the stereotype of an extrovert as being "outgoing".
One thing that I recall from taking the Meyrs-Briggs and learning about some of the nuances is that the whole introvert-extrovert question is not just about whether you are outgoing or a wallflower but where you "go to get your recharge." In other words, after being in a highly externally focused social setting do I come home exhausted needing just to be alone or with a very small group or do I feel on top of the world. Do I look to spend my time in groups or do I need alone time?
As I train for a marathon this November, I am finding that I am a little of both. And it is interesting for me to think about how my energy use and rechraging fits into my daily work schedule and my workout schedule--and whether I could structure my day any better to really facilitate being on top of my game and being "on" whenever I am at work.
One example, last night, I had a reception from 6:30-8:30 (which ended up going from 6:30-9). I would have expected it to take all my effort to go meet 20+ new students whom I had only met virtually and carry on conversation for 2 hours. Particularly after earlier in the day having a large meal with family and having--for an hour prior--spoken with two colleagues about a research project. (Yes, we had a research call from 5:30-6:30 on a Saturday evening).
When all was said and done it felt completely natural and I was able to carry on conversation with no trouble. Every one in a while I would go into listening mode, but it didn't happen very often. And, as I drove home, despite having walked the dog twice, walked from my building to the Inner Harbor with family, eaten a big meal, gone to the grocery store, and done a few other things, I was on top of the world.
Of course, this morning, when I woke up I began the day with 12 miles run in a little over 1:36 by myself and that was recharging too. Or the other day when I had an afternoon full of exteranlly focused activity but I ran a very strong workout alone on the track in the morning.
My main lesson is that I am neither pure introvert nor pure extrovert. Both types of activities can be taxing. Both can be recharging.
What I have to think about as I schedule my day is how to balance the down time in small meetings with the need to be totally on as I meet others. I don't need most of one and little of the other. What I need is a healthy balance. Between activities during the day. From one day to the next. Even from one week to the next.
There may be other parts of my Meyrs-Briggs where I don't need so much balance and I just have to be aware rather than using them to think about how I would structure my meetings during the course of the day.
But as the Dean at my school talks about the rhythm of the day and the rhythm of a decision making process, I can think about the rhythm of activities and how it fits or doesn't fit with my needs as defined, in part, by my personality.
That would be a very powerful way to use personality--particularly if an entire office could work together on joint scheduling to optimize the energy use-recharge cycle that this represents.
Something to ponder--as I take care of business, take care of my family, and take care of myself. I never would have thought I'd think about the work-life-me balance in the context of the I-E dimension of the Meyrs-Briggs personality type but there really might be something there to ponder.
One thing that I recall from taking the Meyrs-Briggs and learning about some of the nuances is that the whole introvert-extrovert question is not just about whether you are outgoing or a wallflower but where you "go to get your recharge." In other words, after being in a highly externally focused social setting do I come home exhausted needing just to be alone or with a very small group or do I feel on top of the world. Do I look to spend my time in groups or do I need alone time?
As I train for a marathon this November, I am finding that I am a little of both. And it is interesting for me to think about how my energy use and rechraging fits into my daily work schedule and my workout schedule--and whether I could structure my day any better to really facilitate being on top of my game and being "on" whenever I am at work.
One example, last night, I had a reception from 6:30-8:30 (which ended up going from 6:30-9). I would have expected it to take all my effort to go meet 20+ new students whom I had only met virtually and carry on conversation for 2 hours. Particularly after earlier in the day having a large meal with family and having--for an hour prior--spoken with two colleagues about a research project. (Yes, we had a research call from 5:30-6:30 on a Saturday evening).
When all was said and done it felt completely natural and I was able to carry on conversation with no trouble. Every one in a while I would go into listening mode, but it didn't happen very often. And, as I drove home, despite having walked the dog twice, walked from my building to the Inner Harbor with family, eaten a big meal, gone to the grocery store, and done a few other things, I was on top of the world.
Of course, this morning, when I woke up I began the day with 12 miles run in a little over 1:36 by myself and that was recharging too. Or the other day when I had an afternoon full of exteranlly focused activity but I ran a very strong workout alone on the track in the morning.
My main lesson is that I am neither pure introvert nor pure extrovert. Both types of activities can be taxing. Both can be recharging.
What I have to think about as I schedule my day is how to balance the down time in small meetings with the need to be totally on as I meet others. I don't need most of one and little of the other. What I need is a healthy balance. Between activities during the day. From one day to the next. Even from one week to the next.
There may be other parts of my Meyrs-Briggs where I don't need so much balance and I just have to be aware rather than using them to think about how I would structure my meetings during the course of the day.
But as the Dean at my school talks about the rhythm of the day and the rhythm of a decision making process, I can think about the rhythm of activities and how it fits or doesn't fit with my needs as defined, in part, by my personality.
That would be a very powerful way to use personality--particularly if an entire office could work together on joint scheduling to optimize the energy use-recharge cycle that this represents.
Something to ponder--as I take care of business, take care of my family, and take care of myself. I never would have thought I'd think about the work-life-me balance in the context of the I-E dimension of the Meyrs-Briggs personality type but there really might be something there to ponder.
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