Turns Out, I’m an Introvert!

I consider myself an introvert. There’s never been a time in my 30 years on this planet where I didn’t think of myself as an introvert. But over the past few years, as I became more and more involved in both work and church, I started to believe that maybe I was some kind of introvert/extrovert hybrid, or that I was evolving into an extrovert. I still enjoyed time by myself, but I was constantly going places with people, chatting with friends (in person and online), etc. And then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

When the news first came (around March 15) that people should start working from home, I’ll be honest: at first I was a little concerned with how I would handle being “on lock-down”. Would I begin to go crazy? How hard would it be for me to only be at home, by myself, and not interacting with other people (except online)?

It turns out: I’m still an introvert! As I write this, I’m now well over a month into working from home, and overall, I’m loving it. On most days I don’t talk to anyone verbally (I am still in contact with family and coworkers via various instant messaging platforms), and I frankly don’t miss it that much! I’ve been able to get more accomplished working from home, at least by my own measurement, than I normally would in the office. Interruptions only really exist if I let them, so if I really need to focus, I can put my phone on silent, close down my chat clients, and just work. It’s amazing. I think I’m actually spending more time working at home than I normally would in the office, but it doesn’t feel nearly as draining.

However, I have noticed something odd while working entirely from home. Even though I technically should have more time for personal projects, reading, exercise, and gaming, I don’t seem to be spending much additional time on those pursuits. I’m not entirely sure where my time is going, other than to work (as mentioned above). That’s in no way a complaint, more just a commentary on a lack of mindfulness on my part that I want to correct. Perhaps this week I will keep a journal of exactly how I’m spending my time…

Now, I said that I don’t miss talking to people. That is mostly true, but it’s also a slight stretch. I do, after all, still participate in Zoom chats, which keep me in some semblance of face to face communication with family, coworkers, and friends. And while I don’t necessarily want to go anywhere and hang out with people, I do miss the freedom to choose to do so. I’m not particularly a fan of being told that I can’t travel to see family & friends, go to church, concert, etc.

So, what do I think the next month of continued shelter-in-place looks like for me? I’m kind of looking forward to it, to be honest. I’ve started to get into a good groove with working from home. I want to make time to work on a few more personal projects, but I hope that my time tracking experiment will help me figure that out. I also want to take a few more workout breaks throughout the day, to counter the extra sitting that I’m doing (I have been using a standing desk at work). Stay tuned for an update!

Now, back to my morning coffee and catching up on my RSS feeds…

I’m publishing this as part of 100 Days To Offload (Day 2/100). You can join in yourself by visiting https://100DaysToOffload.com.