San Diego, Ca- The two-sided coin of Extrovert & Introvert very rarely lands on the standing edge in a perfect balance.
The ongoing frustration of having both traits is daunting. I am sure that many of my tricks and transisitions will no doubt be the fodder for my future self-help best seller.
Extrovert Mode allows me to perform in public, engage in conversation, motivate and engage. Sounds Cool! and it would be if it were the only thing I had to do.
Introvert Mode allows me to sit quietly in a room and accomplish a series of tasks, write pages and really finish projects.
My ongoing mission as an introvert is to finish what the extrovert started.
I obviously can pull this off but not without a internal struggle that really no one every sees.
It has taken an exhausting day in addition to my back pain for me to write this post. (This is not a tip.) However I have been trying to figure out how to make the transition between extrovert and introvert more streamlined and/or productive. Here's what I am working on.
- Write in a coffee shop. Be an introvert in a public place. A Starbucks like place is a good place to be alone in public with the ability to strike up a conversation when it presents itself.
- Excercise. This week I tried doing physically activity in order to create a physical sense of accomlishment.
- Meditation. Taking a quiet moment of meditation, self-hypnotherapy, or prayer might also be the cure to calm the mind and move forward with tasks.
- Make a short list. Yes! it still works.
One of the things that I did this week was get lost in a LARGER LIST, an overwhelming LARGE LIST. The reality is that we can't do everything at the exact same time. You can multi-task a bit but most of the time it's actually faster to accomplish one task quickly with passion and move onto the next one vs. Haphazardly working 2-3 tasks at the same time. Plus if you are in overwhelm NOT ACCOMPLISHING 3 tasks after hours of work is REALLY REALLY FRUSTRATING.
So making a short list out of the big one is a great idea. That and one of the hardest things to do for a lot of us is to acknowledge or celebrate the accomplishent of any given task. My mind is always thinking of what's next.
This is a time when good friends and social media can come in handy. Sharing the accomplishment of any given task, followed by a LIKE or kudos from a colleage can be exactly what you need. Also the old fashioned, "Let's go have a drink." angle works pretty well.
Which right now sounds great, if I actually drank.
