When are you most productive?

When I am angry or sad, actually. All I want to do is work. I become numb, turn into a robot and all that.

But...more healthier ways! I default productive when I'm around people. I'm not fond of socializing. My brain does a 180 on me, and I suddenly prefer doing my work. It's always a trillion times better. I don't even think about it. I'll be ignoring my closed textbook for hours, side eying that thing with disgust every once in a while, until wild human being emerges into close proximity. It's just like...Oh textbook! I love you so much how are you this beautiful *buries head in genuine interest of dry textbook language*

Hmm...listening to music. This one's a hit or miss and kind of depends on the situation, probably the song too but has worked many times for me.

Aaand that's all I got. Honestly I still struggle quite a lot with this, too! I'd say that, while I've managed to become a lot healthier in other areas with diligent practice, this one in particular I still have yet to master.

nO_d3N1AL said:

I'm just wondering how you get anything done as an Fi-dom. I don't know if it's different but whenever I feel strongly I just want to crawl up in bed and do nothing. So that got me wondering: what motivates INFPs? And also how productive do you typically feel (say, on a scale of 1-10), and in what situations are you most productive / efficient / focused etc.? Thanks

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There's a wonderful book called, "The Art of Learning" by Joshua Waitzkin. In this book he explains something he calls, "Making smaller circles." The idea is like this. When you first start boxing, for your punches to have full power, you have to move you entire arm and bring it around in a large arc. The pros: it's a strong punch. The cons: It takes a long time and the opponent can see it coming. So, over time, they'll continue doing the same punch, but bring it in a little very week. After a couple of years, they have just as strong as a punch, but it's fast and straight.

This works with habits too. Originally, for me to be successful, in a day, there had to be A LOT of variables in play. I had to feel rested, it had to be at night, I had to have someone speak to me in a loving way, I had to eat well, I had to go to the gym, etc. Although, over-time, I actively removed these one by one.

Now, I wake up early, I immediately have coffee (1 cup coffee, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 scoop protein powder [25g]) and I'm ready to go for the entire day. I don't even like drinking it, but I do it because it organizes my entire day. I'm hoping some day I can remove even this, and just drink a glass of water. This took years of practice.

I don't know if that helps, but it's a way of explaining what I did to be productive. I'm productive about 90% of my days, and still working on methods for the ones where I err.

I personally am very strict about my schedule, because I know I will get nothing done and as you said, "crawl in bed and do nothing." To survive in this world, that is not an option sometimes. I would like to label myself pretty responsible, so, yes, a strict schedule is needed.

I think you learn to control your fi pretty early on when you're an fi-dom. te I think is very useful when it comes to organizations and such.

But with that said, I need a lot of recharge time after something like that. So I tend to leave as many weekends free and quiet as possible. Which means, no friends, no amusement parks. Just me and my book or laptop.

what motivates INFPs?
Reality (for repetitive work) or something meaningful (sudden desire for research, paint, inspiration, etc.)

And also how productive do you typically feel (say, on a scale of 1-10),
5..? That's what I am feeling now. I would say that's typical. It's Thursday. Ready for the weekend.

and in what situations are you most productive / efficient / focused etc.?
Definitely when I am interested. When it is a challenge or an interesting puzzle I have to solve. I get curious and motivated to figure it out. Also, when I am inspired by the finding. I will spend days writing about it. I guess those are not really reality-related though.
For things that are reality-related, after I woke up from a good night sleep.

Is this in the context of work? If yes, I am the most productive when I have a lot of autonomy, and a lot of space/ time to figure things out independently. Have you heard about the intrapersonal learning style?

"If you have a solitary style, you are more private, introspective and independent. You can concentrate well, focusing your thoughts and feelings on your current topic. You are aware of your own thinking, and you may analyze the different ways you think and feel.

You spend time on self-analysis, and often reflect on past events and the way you approached them. You take time to ponder and assess your own accomplishments or challenges.

You feel that you know yourself. You think independently, and you know your mind.

You prefer to work on problems by retreating to somewhere quiet and working through possible solutions. You may sometimes spend too much time trying to solve a problem that you could more easily solve by talking to someone."

If I am in the right frame of mind, and the environment encourages this particular learning style, then I will be really productive. I need some head-space to think, and create. This'd also mean that I need as little disruption as possible - meaning no chit chatty co-workers or someone asking me questions every hour of the day. It interrupts my flow and overstimulates me.

Also, variety. If I have tons of variety, then at least I can breathe, even if I am not the happiest.

It's the hardest for me to be productive when I am in a foul mood (as the Mood colours all my meetings in life); and I get put in a foul mood when everything feels the same, and I don't get the quiet I need. The day by day can feel like a boring shade of white, and when everything feels so one dimensional, then everything loses meaning. I feel like a caged bird all of a sudden, and my future looks like a movie on replay. Thinking about doing the same thing day in and out makes me balk, so I live true to my transient nature (as all possibilities are transient) and go look for something else to make life more meaningful again. I do things then. Small changes include picking up Japanese classes, large changes includes changing the direction of my career or deciding to go back to school. I read books. I start to connect with people. Possibilities give me inspiration and I feel like life has come back to me again, so I become productive again.

Btw OP,

nO_d3N1AL said:

whenever I feel strongly I just want to crawl up in bed and do nothing

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I'm intrigued by your sentence, because what do you mean by "feel strongly"? My first reaction is to assume that you feel negative things in such a situation, but really I have no idea.

A strong feeling is love and also hate. U know what I mean?
When I feel love, excitement, inspiration... I'm so pumped I want to take over the world.
When I feel strong jealousy, I also feel called to move and act to close the gap that I am perceiving between what the other person has that I want.
My hate functions in a similar manner, it calls me to action to change something, sometimes change aspects of the physical environment and sometimes change aspects within myself (in this latter case I will do inner work to become more my ideal self).

When I feel like crawling up my bed and be a vegetable, it's because I feel one or more of these:
- a tremedous disappointment or hurt (and want to cry, lick my wounds)
- immense vulnerability in the outside world (again need to lick my wounds and protect my raw self from the world)
- exhaustion from excess working or excess socializing
- burnout

I am most productive once I have gotten started, I'd say, I accelerate slowly, but once I have gathered some pace I can work pretty hard for long (until I for example notice that I feel faint from hunger or notice it is night and best to go home as buses don't go often at night, and then one have to sleep, I guess). In the beginning there is always some kind of resistence, even if it is something as simple as standing up and go out for a walk, don't ask me why. But once I am out on a walk I have to force myself to go back in time. With projects etc. there is also another kind of resistance, I first don't know where I am going and can't see what I am working towards, and how to get there, it is hazy, so it is difficult to choose a direction and get started, once moving though, once thing tends to lead to another and suddenly one is well on the way.

I can force myself to be fairly productive in the morning, as long as it is something that doesn't require so much from my brain, but I tend to be sluggish at least until noon. If I force myself to think a lot in the early day, I will not feel energised at all that day most likely, because I am not so in the morning, and then forcing myself takes so much energy, so then I am tired in the afternoon and evening too. But I am ok with doing more physical things, like cooking, cleaning, groceries...

My head is most clear between 19.00 and 00.00 mostly I think, when left to my own schedule, but from 17.00 to 03.00 is ok. I like to go to sleep at four/five in the morning, but society doesn't allow that kind of habit.

I am productive for some time if I feel responsibility, but that can only last so long, if there is no other motivation that give more energy. It is much better if it comes from real interest and curiosity instead, or something I feel is good/important.

nO_d3N1AL said:

I wonder if most INFPs are planners or improvisers with regards to feeling productive?

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Don't know about "most".

For me, it's a mix. I absolutely cannot live without a planner, because my mind is super chaotic and Ne won't allow my mind to stop exploring a million ideas and possibilities, so I need pen and paper on a daily basis to dump the important things from my brain that I need to remember.
So I write myself yearly goals in my ring binder, and then in my planner I write monthly goals, weekly goals, and then daily goals. There are things that are time sensitive, but they're a super minority. Most things don't need to be done by a certain hour, so I need to have that fresh air of no time restraints.
In other words, I'll write a to-do list, but no time frame. I check my list every hour or half an hour to see my "options" of what needs to get done, and I'll choose intuitively what task I want to achieve at that moment, following inspiration and flow. This is why one day I'll load the dishwasher at 9am, and the next day at 1pm, and one day I'll check my inbox at 2pm and the next day at 10pm, etc. I follow spontaneous inspirations to do the tasks at whatever hour I feel like it, but they must get done and crossed from my planner before the day ends.

nO_d3N1AL said:

I usually don't plan explicitly, for example. I can do stuff without having to think why I'm doing it sometimes, and often I plan things subconsciously on the go.

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Whoa, that is very interesting. Do you have an accessible example? do you have a mental filter and planner? I was reading a discussion with intjs and intps the other day, and observed an intj labeling 'relevant' and 'irrelevant.' I guess everyone does this to a certain extent, but they way intjs do it seemed very foreign. Maybe it's the way you articulate it. I am not sure.

I wonder if most INFPs are planners or improvisers with regards to feeling productive?

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I am mostly an improviser. Planning stresses me out. I do structure my life to avoid falling into the abyss. As I have mentioned before, I need to force myself into a structure to be responsible. But I do need a lot of time and space to be spontaneous and free. I enjoy being in an environment where I have a lot of freedom and allow leeway in certain rules. Rigidity makes me feel claustrophobic and less productive because I grow very bored easily. So, I ended up working in human services. I love working with kids, because in those environments, you need to be flexible and spontaneous. Even though I am an extreme introvert, those settings drain me a lot less.

When there is planning involved, I can do it, but I do tend to prefer having a person who enjoys planning. Especially in personal life. I have a friend who I often travel with, an infj. She loves to plan things out. She enjoys going with me because I let her do whatever. All I need to do is follow her and enjoy the moment without worrying about what I need to do next. That makes the experience more pleasurable for me.