Tag: introvert

An Introvert In Quarantine

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I’ve been working exclusively from home for the past two months but it feels like it’s been only a few days. I’m from Michigan and our state is supposed to be re-opening at the end of the month so my work has been coming up with a re-entry plan but I’m not ready to go back. I’ve enjoyed working from home so I plan on continuing for the foreseeable future. Overall I feel less stressed and have had more time to take care of myself.

I know that many people are struggling because they have to social distance at home. For introverts such as myself, I think this has been a good opportunity for us to re-charge our “introvert batteries“. One of the characteristics of introverts is the need to be alone to re-charge after social situations. The lack of social anything has given us ample opportunity to re-charge our batteries. I know that my battery will be drained again after my first social experience.

This period of social distancing has also shown the importance of the little moments such as visiting friends and family, hugs and handshakes, and quick trips to the grocery store. I hope this helps us to not take those things for granted when society re-opens.

Being an introvert in quarantine has it’s perks. My husband is an extrovert and has been so bored. I don’t typically get bored very easily so I’ve been able to keep myself busy. I’m stuck inside my own head most of the time and enjoy being around a very small group of people. I like going for a drive with Brett every once in awhile for a change of scenery but for the most part I’m a happy camper.

I do think that it will be hard for me to go back to “normal”. I feel safe and comfortable at home but I know that I can’t stay here forever. At some point I will need to re-enter society and that is pretty terrifying. Social distancing feels like the ideal situation for avoiding draining conversations and eye contact.

My whole life has prepared me for social distancing. The new problem I face is dealing with the anxiety of re-entering the world when things start to re-open. I will always crave the safety and security of my house. I will always crave alone time or time with just Brett. I hope some of the things we all learned during quarantine will stay even after everything re-opens.

Are things starting to re-open where you live? Are you ready to get back out into the world?

 

 

 

 

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5 Ways I’m Staying Sane in Quarantine

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Happy Monday, my friends! This is the day that I dread all weekend long. For some reason I never want to go back to work after the weekend. It’s not terrible now that I’m working from home but it’s still hard.

As an introvert, this stay at home order should be a dream come true. I love working from home and not leaving the house. However, it is hard because I do enjoy grocery shopping and browsing the aisles at Target. I also live close to my parents and am used to seeing them every week. I have a lot of anxiety about not being able to leave the house and it’s caused me to have quite a few panic attacks.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ways to keep me calm and sane during this period of social distancing. From what I’ve been seeing on social media I’m not the only one who has been feeling this way so I thought it might be beneficial to share the ways I’m keeping myself sane during this time.

  1. Creating a routine. I felt really lost when I first started working from home. I was used to working 7:30 am to 4:15 pm but once I started working from home I would end up working 7:30 am to 5:30 pm with no breaks. I felt like I had to prove that I was working and available at all times which was exhausting. Since then I’ve started working around 7:45 am and logging off right at 5 pm. I also try to take a break for lunch everyday but I know I need to be better at that.
  2. Eating meals together. When Brett and I first moved in together we didn’t have a dining room table so we ate on the couch while watching tv. This became our habit and we rarely even ate dinner together at all. Since I’m home all the time now I make dinner and wait for Brett to get home from work so we can eat together. We eat at our dining room table and talk about our day. It seems simple but it’s something I look forward to all day.
  3. Embracing my skincare routine. Skincare is something that I have been passionate about since I was a teenager. I’ve always had bad acne so having a skincare routine has been super important for me. Now I have all the time in the world to spend on my skincare routine and it feels amazing. I’m testing out new products and loving my tried and true Murad products.
  4. Having coffee dates with co-workers. As you know, I’m an introvert so it’s kind of surprising to me how much I miss my co-workers. We are used to working remotely so we have great technology for virtual meetings. We have scheduled times to just sit and drink our morning coffees together which has been really nice. I don’t drink coffee but I love to sit and chat for a few minutes. I would recommend this for co-workers or friends and family as a nice way to catch up with each other while remaining apart.
  5. Checking in with friends. This has been big for me because I’m pretty bad at texting and calling. I’m typically just texting my mom, sister, and Brett but I’ve tried to make myself reach out to friends and family. My work made this a goal for us to check in with a few people every week who we don’t normally talk to and I’ve tried to continue this in my personal life.

There’s no easy way to get through this time but we will make it. I hope to look back at this period of time and cherish the memories Brett and I made together. Before this quarantine we didn’t see each other a lot. Our work schedules are different and he has a very active social life with his friends. I’ve loved spending time with him and I hope we can continue when this is over.

What are you doing to stay sane?

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Five on Friday #17

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It’s finally Friday!

It has been such a long time since my last blog post and I have a million reasons why I haven’t been on here since. Today is my first day working 80% from home due to the Corona virus. I’ve mentioned before that I work in finance so you can imagine how scary and challenging the past couple of weeks have been as we have all watched the stock market tank.

I will still be going into work every day for about an hour and a half. Only a few other people will be there including security and our executive leaders. I am considered an essential role and there are a few responsibilities that I’m unable to do at home. I will complete those responsibilities in the office and work from home the rest of the day.

I’m sure we all have a lot on our minds so here’s five random things to lighten your Friday.

  1. My sister got married on March 7th in Maine! My family was able to fly out and be with her for 6 days to celebrate her wedding. It was a small gathering on the Naval base and I was honored to stand next to her as her Matron of Honor. I’ll share pictures soon!
  2. I got my Spring 2020 FabFitFun box and it was full of some really great products. I am became a FFF member as a birthday gift to myself and I have loved all of the boxes so far! My favorite product in this box was the packing cubes! I already used them for my trip to Maine.
  3. I fell off of the Keto wagon a bit during our trip for the wedding. I did really good up until the last day when I really just wanted some fish and chips and ice cream. I’m trying to get back on track but I’m still having lingering sugar cravings and headaches.
  4. Is anyone else looking forward to a chill weekend at home? We are always busy so it will be nice to just spend some time with Brett.
  5. I read an amazing book this week called How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. I haven’t been super into reading lately but this book was addicting. It’s about a man who has a condition were he ages very slowly. The concept isn’t new but this book takes your through what was going on in history during his life. It was very interesting!

How are you feeling with this pandemic? Do you have any plans this weekend while you are social distancing?

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What I Do When I’m Feeling Overwhelmed

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One of my most annoying traits is that I am very easily overwhelmed. I’ve known this about myself from an early age and have always blamed it on the fact that I’m an introvert. Being around people drains me and I get so overwhelmed that I have a hard time functioning.

As I’ve grown older I’ve come to realize that my environment is what overwhelms me the most. I avoid being around large groups of people because having many people talking at once makes me completely lose focus. Sometimes I can’t even hold a conversation with the person sitting next to me because all I can hear are the other voices around me.

When Brett and I bought our house my mental health started to deteriorate. I was so overwhelmed with cooking, cleaning, laundry, unpacking, organizing, etc. Brett and I had an apartment before so it wasn’t the stress of moving in with him that created this monster inside of me. We had way more space in our house than our apartment and I was feeling overwhelmed taking care of all of it.

My environment is important to my mental health. When my house is clean, I am calm. When my house is a little messy, I feel a bit chaotic. When my house looks like a tornado blew through it, I am a hot mess. 

Let’s be super honest here, I’m not the neatest person in the world so I constantly feel chaotic. I’ve learned to deal with these overwhelming feelings in a couple of ways.

  1. I take a quick break. Sometimes I just need a moment to breathe away from the chaos that I’ve created around me. I’ll grab Oscar and head out for a quick walk around the block or just hang out with him in the backyard for a bit. Anything to get me out of my head.
  2. I read a book. Reading is so therapeutic to me. I love getting lost in someone else’s story and it makes me forget about my life for a few minutes.
  3. Create a to-do list. When I’m feeling super overwhelmed I grab my notepad and jot down all the things I think I need to do. This is fun to look at hours later when I’m not so stressed because I can tell how chaotic my brain was when I wrote it. Creating a list gets my stress out of my body and onto the paper.
  4. Have Brett talk me down. Brett and I have been together for almost 9 years so he almost understands me better than I understand myself sometimes. He knows how to deal with me when I’m at my most overwhelmed and always talks me back into a good place.

Being overwhelmed is a normal feeling and there’s nothing wrong with feeling it at times. I always tell myself that I’m stronger than any feeling I’m having and I’ll get through it like I always have before.

Life is for living. By being so overwhelmed with housework I was truly forgetting to live. I’m trying to be better about how I spend my time. One of my Q1 goals is to spend more time tidying and less time cleaning. I hope this helps me calm down and enjoy everyday.

I hope these tips help you if you are also feeling overwhelmed! Let me know if you have any other tips.

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How I Handle the “Real World” & Blogging

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Most people in my “real” life don’t know that I have a blog. It’s not something that I really advertise because I don’t want to answer questions or have people that I know read my blog. Most of the time what I’m posting about is really personal. I share my feelings, views, and opinions without having to worry about too much backlash but I often wonder what would happen if my family, friends, and acquaintances were reading.

I used to share the link to my blog on Facebook and Instagram so it’s not exactly a secret. My Instagram is weird because I post about my blog on stories but not really on the main feed. I’m so weird about it because so many of my “real life” friends and family follow me on Instagram.

All of this weirdness stems from me being an awkward introvert. I have such a hard time talking about my personal feelings in real life and become super awkward and change the subject ASAP.

I guess the truth is that I’m still trying to figure out how to balance blogging and my personal life. Blogging is something that I’m passionate about but I don’t know how I would feel if everyone knew about and read my blog.

How do you handle blogging?

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The Blogger Comparison Game

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A couple of years ago I took an internet marking class in college that made me decide to quit blogging. I had already been blogging for a couple of years at this point and no longer could handle it. I hated comparing myself to other bloggers and their successes. I hated looking at my stats and feeling like a failure because I couldn’t meet the goals that I had set for myself. I decided that I hated everything about blogging and shut my door to the community that I worked so hard to connect with.

I never thought that I would come out of blogging “retirement” but I’m so glad that I did! I pretty much had to build myself back up from nothing and it was rough. I let fear and self doubt crush everything that I had created and I almost let that fear win.

Blogging in the age of social media influencers is much harder than when I started this blog almost six years ago. When I started writing a blog for a college English class I never expected to love it and want to keep writing after the class was over. Having this space has become my creative outlet and all of you have become my internet friends.

Still, I find myself comparing my little piece of the internet to other’s. I feel a sense of belonging in the blogging community yet still compare my posts and pictures to everyone else’s. I cheer people on while tearing myself down because I’m a perfectionist and nothing ever feels good enough.

The blogger comparison game is real. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way and I wanted to share how I’ve been coping with my feelings.

The wonderful bloggers who I follow are amazing people. I’ve never met them in real life but I can tell because they put so much into their writing. Instead of comparing myself to them I’ve been trying to instead put my energy into engaging and building others up too. If I follow you it’s because I honestly love reading your content and I want you to do well!

As bloggers we have the unique ability to put our thoughts out into the world in either a negative or positive way. Playing this stupid comparison game with myself was a negative behavior and it was hurting my blogging. I will probably never be a social media influencer and that’s okay. I’ll always be a shy introvert who is just happy to share her truth with the world.

Do you find yourself getting caught up in the comparison game? How do you deal with it?

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Recharging the “Introvert Battery”

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Introvert Recharge

Happy Friday!

I don’t know about you but I am exhausted! I have been going nonstop lately and I am in desperate need of a break.

“What’s an introvert battery?” you ask. Great question! I don’t know if this a real term but it’s something I use to explain how I feel. If I know I’m going to be in social situations I spend some time alone to recharge my “battery” before needing to talk and interact with people. After I’m done interacting I go home and sit to recharge myself for the next outing. Being social takes all of my energy sometimes.

I’ve talked many times about being an introvert and one of my most prominent introvert tendencies is the need for alone time. I have had very little alone time as of late and need to recharge my battery. By recharge I mean not be around people for awhile.

I hate being “on” all of the time and I need to switch myself “off” for a while. I’ve been a little quiet on the blog lately just because I feel so overwhelmed right now. It’s so hard to explain this to people who don’t experience the same feelings of anxiety towards social situations. Brett tries really hard to understand but he loves being around people so he struggles to realize that I can’t do as much as he can.

Sometimes I wish I could have a personality transfer because these periods of my life suck. It makes me feel selfish and ungrateful when I have to say no to friends and family that want to see me. But if I don’t recharge soon I will crash. I’ve crashed a few times before and it’s not fun and I end up feeling guilty about it for days. Our wedding day took a full introvert battery and I crashed at the end of the night because I was so overwhelmed and exhausted.

Do you ever feel this way too?

Thanks for reading!

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What It’s Like To Be An Introverted Blogger

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Why I Struggle With Blogging - How To Survive When You Are An Introverted Blogger

Hey there,

Lately I have been asking myself a lot of questions:

Why do I struggle sharing my life with others?

Why am I so hesitant about telling people about my blog?

I obviously feel the need to share at least some of my life with the public, so why can’t I share it with people that I actually know?

The list goes on and on.

I am so tired of beating myself up over things that I can’t change or questions that I don’t have the answer to. I don’t know why I am the way that I am. All I know is that I struggle to make the changes that I feel I need to make.

I have said before that it is okay to be an Introvert. But it is SO hard living in world where everyone expects you to be an Extrovert.

As children we are forced to raise our hands in class because if we don’t the teacher will call us out in front of the class or we won’t receive any participation points. I always felt like I had to sit in the back of the classroom in order to be able to learn anything. Just because I am silent does not mean that I am not listening. In fact, when I am silent and not worried about being called on, I am actually learning so much more.

It is so important to understand the different types of personalities instead of trying to cram everyone into the same category. I, for one, am exhausted of people trying to tell me how to act or how to feel.

When you market yourself as a blogger, it seems to be assumed that you are outgoing and personable.

I struggle with blogging because I love the creative outlet but I hate being compared to everyone else. I hate trying so hard to fit in a box with everyone else when I feel so different.

I just need to keep reminding myself that it is okay to be an Introvert. And it is more than okay to be an Introverted blogger.

Does anyone else out there struggle with blogging?

Thanks for readings!

 

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It’s Okay to be an Introvert

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It's Okay To Be An Introvert

 

Hello, again!

Last week I went to a training class for work and it got me thinking a lot about different personality styles. Where I work, most people seem to be extroverted. They all like gathering and socializing with each other. I, on the other hand, am an introvert so many times I feel like an outsider because I don’t always like to socialize. I find that talking sometimes drains my energy and makes me feel really tired.

I tried to explain this to a family member once and she basically told me to suck it up and made me feel like it’s not okay to be like this. For a long time I really beat myself up over it. I hated being the shy girl and feeling like an outcast all the time. I just wanted to make friends and be like everyone else. But as I have grown older I have realized that I cannot change the way I am. I just have to embrace my differences and communicate them to my co-workers and family members.

It’s almost been a year since I have been hired and I think people are finally starting to get it. I now have work friends and they have just come to understand that sometimes I do need my alone time to re-energize and re-group. I’m not being anti-social I just have different needs than they do.

I still remember my first day of work. I started my day with walking around the whole company and meeting the 100+ employees. We chatted and exchanged names and job roles. It was really nice to meet everyone and I am so glad I got to do it but the second I got home I went straight to bed. I was exhausted!

I know that I am not the only person who feels this way. I met another introvert at training and we talked about how hard it is to be this way in the corporate world. But we also talked about all of the amazing things too. I feel like I really understand how others are feeling, I am able to watch their emotions and put myself in their shoes. I just have time to really focus on others even though I seem stuck inside my own head.

I do understand that it is not always easy to be an extrovert either. All I am saying, is that sometimes this world makes it seem like it’s a bad thing to be an introvert. Like there is something wrong with you, but I have learned that it is okay. It’s okay to be an introvert. It’s okay to need alone time or to just want to sit and watch other people socialize. I can easily gain and lose energy from those around me so I am very careful with who I surround myself with.

I hope this helps you understand yourself a bit better or maybe someone that you know. Just remember, it may seem like someone is shy and “anti-social” but maybe they are really just more introverted than you are. It’s okay to not try to change who you are to fit a certain mold. Try to look at someone and really figure what makes them tick. It’s really insightful to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

I’m thinking about doing a post on tips for surviving the corporate world. Let me know if that sounds even remotely interesting and thanks again for reading!

 

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