That is, of course, a silly question. Both extraverts and introverts can be very organized, very disorganized, or anything in between. There are, however, some differences in the ways that introverts and extraverts manage their time and space.

In terms of time management, introverts like fairly long periods of time to focus on their current task. For this reason, they prefer a workspace which allows for privacy and concentration, and view people who stop by or call to chat as interruptions.

Extraverts, however, welcome people stopping by or calling to touch base, and prefer a workspace which facilitates this type of interaction.

Because introverts think before acting, they may be slow to act, and others may view the time they spend processing information as non-productive.

Extraverts are more inclined to jump quickly into an activity, often without allowing enough time for reflection. As a result, they may need to step back and redo some steps, which also hampers productivity.

Introverts may have a tendency to procrastinate regarding activities requiring interaction with others, such as making telephone calls. One thing that works for me is to get those tasks out of the way before I start my other work for the day. I can then relax and enjoy working on the types of projects I prefer, without the knowledge of those pending calls weighing on my mind.

Extraverts often dread such activities as organizing their home or workspace, but this task can often be made more interesting and effective if they work along with a group of people, whether it is friends, professional organizers, or a combination of both.

Introversion-extraversion is just one piece of the puzzle that makes up your personality type, and your organizing style. You can learn more about this subject in my new e-book, Organizing Your Life, Your Way. With this e-book, you can learn about your personality type and the ways it affects your relationship with time and space, and the reason why some people have more difficulty than others getting and staying organized. You will then be able to use your new understanding to develop organizing and time management strategies which work in harmony with your personal preferences.

Because even people who share the same type preferences have their own unique strengths, challenges, and systems that work for them, and because new organizing and time management products are developed all the time, I intend to continue my research and to publish an updated edition of this e-book in the future.

Please take a few minutes to share some information to help other readers to better understand themselves and others, and to develop their own organizing and time management solutions.

Simply go to http://tinyurl.com/your-org-style to answer a few questions. Be assured that no identifying information will be collected.

Thanks!

Here’s an interesting idea that I haven’t heard before, courtesy of Dr. Hans Eysenck: introverts have more cortical activity than extraverts. Ergo introvert brains are already full up, which is why we avoid external stimuli. Extraverts, on the other hand, have empty brains … oh, all right, have less cortical activity, which is why they seek stimulus outside of themselves.

Dr. Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) was a popular biology-personality doctor a few decades ago. His books include The Biological Basis of Personality, Know Your Own IQ, Crime and Personality, and The Psychology of Politics.

Some great thinkers get stuck in their own theories, which can separate them from their peers. (Freud comes to mind.) Eysenck accepted only pure science. He rejected Jung and Meyers-Briggs.

To my mind, Jung and Eysenck dovetail nicely, though I’m not sure either of them would be pleased to hear it. Unfortunately, that leaves me with a chicken-and-egg problem. Does higher cortical activity cause introversion, or is it the other way around?

Whatever the answer may be, I enjoy this cortical aspect of introversion. I look forward to the day when I can refer to my personality as Super Cortical, or even Mach I Cortical. Maybe I’ll be able to turn down invitations without offending anyone, since my cortex is all booked up and it’s not my fault.

As important as the introvert-extravert parts of the personality are, we need to remember that it is the interaction of all parts of the personality that makes us who we are and affects our interactions with others. A goal of Jungian therapy is to help the individual integrate the parts of the personality. We all have all the parts within us - we just don’t use some of those parts.

How we use the parts is what differentiates us. Introverts know they view the world differently. Extraverts may have trouble understanding, but introverts know. What they may not know - or understand - is the impact of the other functions.

A big difference is a result of the Thinking/Feeling function. That is how we evaluate information. Feeling doesn’t mean “emotion” but “is it pleasing or not.” Thinking types feel; feeling types think. But they do it so differently that the terms don’t have the same meaning to the opposite. Thinking types are going to focus on facts while feeling types will be asking “do I like it or not?”

If you add the way we get information (sensing or intuiting), it is a wonder that we can communicate at all. A sensing thinking type may notice a house on a hill, the sensing feeling type will wonder who would use that color on a house, the intuitive thinking type will be planning how to improve the scene, and the intuitive feeling will write a story from the house’s perspective.

I can’t let the holiday get away from me before sharing with you an article, written by Dr. Elaine Aron (author of The Highly Sensitive Person): What to Do About Extravert Envy. Introvert herself, she has some interesting things to say about it.

Enjoy, and have a warm and wonderful holiday.