Welcome to Part Two of the Introvert Life Email Series! Today, we’re going to talk about introvert alone time!
You can find the first post in this series here.
For the purposes of the series, we’re going to define downtime and alone time as any time in your day that you haven’t allocated to anyone or anything else. This time is yours to spend alone, doing any activity you want to do.
Alone time is pretty essential for introverts. We need it to recharge and gather our energy.
But given that the world we live in is often geared towards a more extroverted lifestyle, it can sometimes be hard to ensure we’re getting the downtime we need to be successful.
Introversion is on a scale, so some introverts need more downtime than others.
With that in mind, today we’re going to look at how to evaluate if you’re getting enough introvert alone time and how to create more if you need or want to!
Are you getting enough alone time?
Do you find yourself too tired, drained, or lacking energy more often than you’d like?
Sure, we all go through periods where we’re overextended, but if you’re finding that your constantly lacking energy on a day-to-day basis, and that even just a little alone time gives you some relief, then it’s likely that you’re not getting enough downtime to recharge.
Depending on your needs, you may be feeling constantly tired, or you may be feeling completely rundown and wiped out.
Do you often find that wish you were alone or home when you’re not?
If you find yourself not just wanting to be home alone, but needing to be home alone, then it’s possible you’re not getting enough downtime.
When introverts get enough time to recharge, they can often go about their day and enjoy social activities. They will eventually feel their energy reservoir drain and feel the need to go home, but they should also be able to go out in the world and enjoy themselves.
If you’re finding that you’re out and about fairly frequently, and constantly wishing you weren’t, it’s likely that you need more time alone. This is especially true if the activities themselves are appealing to you in theory, but you find you don’t have the energy to enjoy them when you show up.
Do you have alone time planned into your life?
If you don’t prioritize and plan your downtime, then it’s very likely you’re not getting enough of it.
When you don’t plan your alone time, it becomes really easy to think of any uncommitted time as time-that’s-available-to-others. As a result, when people ask for that time, you give it to them largely because you don’t have a good reason not to.
And before long, other people and commitments have inadvertently chipped away at any downtime you might have had access to.
How to get more introvert alone time?
Plan it
One of the first solutions is to plan downtime if you’re not doing this already or if you don’t have enough of it.
When you actually put downtime into your schedule, it changes your mindset around that block of time. It’s no longer “free” to give away. It’s taken for yourself.
And once that time has been allocated, it’s a lot easier to tell others, “I can’t then, I have plans.”
How much time you need and when you decide to take it is entirely up to you.
Some introverts carve out one day a week that’s just for them. Others need smaller pockets of time, but more regularly. Some do both of these things.
You’ll have to play around with your schedule to see what works best for you.
Delegate, outsource, and/or ask for help
Planning downtime is easy if you have time to spare, but what if you don’t?
First, take a look at the tasks you have on your plate and see if there’s a way to get rid of some of them. You can do this by tasking a family member with that job, hiring someone (if you have the funds), or asking for help.
For instance, let’s say you take your kid to and from school every day. Is there a neighbor, or someone else nearby with a child at your kid’s school that you could maybe carpool with? If one of you takes the kids to school and the other picks them up, you’ve bought yourself some bonus free time in the morning or afternoon.
Or, is there a household task on your plate that someone else (who has more time) is capable of doing? As them to help. This is particularly true if other people are benefiting from the task.
For instance, if you’re always in charge of making dinner, maybe someone else can pitch in and take on that task a few nights a week (if they’re old enough and able). And while they’re prepping dinner, you can get some recharge time in.
The specifics of what you can delegate, outsource, and ask for are going to vary based on your own individual situation, but hopefully, this gives you some kind of idea.
Say no more often
One more way to find more free time is to give less of your time away. You don’t have to say yes to every invitation that’s extended to you.
This can be hard at first, but reclaiming your time can be kind of amazing. Start turning down invitations you aren’t truly excited about and ones that will make your day/week/month feel rushed.
You’d be surprised how much downtime you can free up by just checking in with yourself before you say yes.
For some tips on this, check out this post on the blog.
Looking for more tips on how to manage your introverted life?
If you want more tips and tricks on how to manage your introvert life and build plenty of healthy introvert habits, check out the Introvert Life Guide!
This guide was designed to help you build the introvert life of your dreams. And it’s full of plenty of tips, tricks, and ideas to help you create an introvert life that’s uniquely yours!
It will also help you embrace your introverted nature and build a life to help you thrive!
For more introvert life tips, check out the other introvert posts!
Sound off: Do you get enough alone time to recharge? How do you create more introvert alone time? Tell us about it in the comments!