The introverts guide to recharging


Do you ever have one of those conversations in which you confess to something totally normal for you and the other person looks at you like you're completely bonkers? This is a reasonably common occurrence for me. I was recently talking to someone about how I occasionally chose an online or self service option if I don't feel up to interacting with someone and I was left wondering if they didn't get it because they are not an introvert or maybe it's just a me thing and I'm a weirdo.

I have something I like to refer to as my social battery. It is not a physical thing that I carry around but more a feeling that I have only so much social interaction in me per week and some days I am able for more interaction and others I go far out out of my way to minimize it.

For me recharging can involve; time alone to think, reading, watching bad shows, napping or long walks. Without this quality time spent by myself I am especially grouchy and unfriendly and I find it hard to cope with normal things like overly chatty shop folk or you know a long day in work. 

Here is the thing about me. I am good in my own company and I need a certain amount of space to flourish plus I have mild social anxiety so I find situations with a lot of social interaction to be trying for me and I will time to recover from any big social event like a people hangover if you will.

My social battery is one of those things that starts a brand new day at 100% unless I have done a lot of things already that week or am particularly sleep deprived but so many things cause it to become depleted. Work is definitely one of those things. My job is something I love but at the same time it involves interacting with a number of people staff and other professionals without a break for many hours at a time plus attending the needs of the individuals we support and this takes a lot out of me.

Other things which drain my battery include any sort of social event, making small talk, large amounts of time spent with friends or family, having to make phone calls, going into a shop in which the staff know me well (and thus I feel obliged to make chatter), dates. You get the idea, if there are other people the social energy I have is slowly depleting until I get the warning beeps and I know I need to carve out some time alone before Im accused of being rude or monosyllabic.

So I guess this is not something everyone experiences and for some I may seem anti social or just bizarre but I guess I have become comfortable in who I am and respect what I need to function in this extroverted society.

So I am saying no to events I am not able for and I am occasionally going to a different shop to buy something just to avoid small talk. I am picking the self service queue and I am seeing if there is an option to email before I make a call.

So if I go quiet for a few days or say I am doing nothing, know it is the sort of nothing that negates other plans and I am just recharging my batteries but I will be back soon to do a thing or if I'm feeling crazy maybe two

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