Extroverts tend to rise up earlier in the morning which also makes a lot of sense since they get their energy from interacting and being around other people. Daytime is of course the best time for this and rising up early gives you a head start. There are some articles online saying that early risers are the most productive. I think there is some truth to this but I would also  say that it mostly has to do with how productive you are in general and how you manage your time. The nice thing about rising up early is that your energy deposits are at their peak level. But as an introvert and from other introverts I know, we tend to be people that are slow started in the morning. It takes some time until we really ‘awake’ and are in our most functioning state. Hence maybe nighttime is a more suitable time of the day for some of us to do our best work.

Being slow started in the morning is one of the things I always wanted to change. Usually on normal working days it takes me until after lunch before I feel ‘fresh’ and at my peak energy level. The hours following waking up in the morning, I feel slow and tired and in the past I turned to coffee as my savior. I don’t think it’s connected to my sleeping patterns since they are consistent of 7-8 hours sleep each day, maybe this is just part of the introverted nature. As a side note to being slow in the morning the last couple of months I found this amazing medicinal herb called Ashwagandha which has helped me with this tremendously. I now take a teaspoon of the herb before going to bed every night and wake up full of energy, it also makes me fall asleep quicker in the evening. You can read more about it on these links:

I buy this brand of Ashwagandha:

Introverts do seem to need more sleep then most extroverts to function. If I sleep less then 6 hours, I can’t function like normally and it affects my mood a lot. Most of my extroverted friends doesn’t seem to be affected by lack of sleep  to the same degree, and same with hangovers. My theory is that since we introverts collect our energy from inside, and sleep deprivation affects our body and mind, lack of sleep will have a biggest effect on us. Extroverts collect their energy from the external world so it’s much easier for them to keep up a good mood and motivation even though they feel bad.

The last year I’ve been changing my pre sleep rituals to more suit my personality and it has greatly improved my life. I no longer use the computer or watch tv before going to bed. No electronic devices 2 hours before bed has worked to get me relaxed in the evening. Not only does the decrease in stimulation work, but also because most modern led screens imitate a light similar to that of the sun, which prevents Melantonin to be released in the body. Melantonin is the body’s natural sleep hormone and it is released when it starts to get dark. I now read books instead the last few hours a day and these two things has literally cured most of the insomnia I suffered from.

Insomnia seems like a common things for introverts and especially INFx types and HSPs (Highly Sensitive People). We are easy stimulated and even the smallest things can keep us awake at night. Like sounds, watching to much tv before bed, having a lot to do the next day or other things that are bothering us which we can’t stop thinking about. Overtime at work has been my biggest contributor to my insomnia because when I work late my mind is racing from overwork, and then it usually takes a couple of hours for it to cool down. The problem arises when you don’t get home until late and have to get up early the next day.

I plan on trying to become an early riser to see if it might help with my insomnia issues, making me more tired in the evening. I’ll update with a post at a later time concerning the results from my experiments. I think waking up early can be a good thing for some people but for introverts I’m not yet convinced. I’ll leave you guys for now with this great article:

Since then I learned how to live my life in a better way to minimize my anxiety and center myself. One interesting thing that evolved since an early age is my appreciation for music. I listen to music everyday and often for long periods of time. In a way I feel like music channel my feelings and makes me feel more at peace inside. It keeps my feelings and anxiety at bay a lot of the time and makes me feel content even when I should be stressed. I currently live in a big metropolitan area and commute to work everyday. The morning rush in the subway is one of the worst environments possible for  me as an HSP INFJ. Tons of people, no private space, unbearable noise and moving crowds. Without headphones and music I’m not sure I would be able to work in the city like I do. I think part why this works so well is the perceiving function of introverted intuition that is always collecting data for the subconscious. Music channels my feelings and subconscious and calms me down. Hence why the opposite of noise that you can not control gives me anxiety. The irony with INFJs is that we are so aware of the motives and feelings of people around us, and can channel and direct their feelings, but we cannot control or understand our own.

In order to work properly and feel well on a daily basis I’ve learned the hard way how important it is to get enough sleep. Without sleep I’m not even half the person I normally am and my intuition will drain me instantly with  analyzing everything even though my mind is to tired to keep up. When I was younger I noticed this effected  in how I could not keep up with partying like my friends without suffering mentally, when not getting proper rest. They could go on every night the whole weekend, but I could not function good socially after just one night without proper sleep while you are intoxicated. To feel at my best I usually need to get around 8 hours of sleep. 7 is doable but don’t really notice an improvement in mood and 6 is absolute minimum. There is a big difference in waking up by myself and by  the alarm also. Waking up from the alarm makes me feel tired for at least 2 hours after getting up, while waking up by myself makes me feel fresh within half an hour. I read somewhere about this effect when it comes to introverts versus extroverts. Extroverts need less time in the morning to get up and feel fresh then what introverts do.

I have also been reading some interesting articles about the different halves of the brain, right and left and what they are each used for. Here are some nice links to dig into:

Right brained, left brained image test (Pretty cool. If I concentrate enough on this image I can switch the spinning direction. Usually she spins clockwise for me, right brained.)

http://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/competitions/left-brain-vs-right-brain/story-e6frg46u-1111114517613

Here is a great book about being right brained:
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

Left side of the brain is used for logic, language, words etc and the right side of the brain is used for intuition, abstract thinking and feeling. INFJ is one of the few personalities that are well balanced and actually use both sides of the brain while some personality types primarily use one. From what I can read on the above forum posts about INFJ left brainers, it seems we are mostly balanced. I took the test and my results divert a bit from the rest with 40% left and 60% right brained, I had the highest right brained score I could see when comparing myself to the other INFJs on the forum. This is interesting to me considering I have an artistic profession and a heavy user of my intuition and abstract thinking. Maybe this is a state that have developed over time since I depend on right brained thinking daily in my life. This must also indicate even more why I am such a feeler and have issues in life when it comes to anxiety and depression. I get the feeling that I have a bit more issues from being to right brained then the average INFJs has, but still I prefer operating this way since it has given me some unusual talents. Einstein said that the intuitive mind is a sacred gift and I could not agree any more. The problem is of course that we live in a society that favors the rational mind.