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[NT] NT Extroverts - Do you need other people around to be most productive?

BlahBlahNounBlah

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This is embarrassing, because it feels like a form of weakness, but I have a lot of difficulty getting work done if people aren't there. I don't need to talk to them or know them or involve them or anything. I just need them around and visible or else my brain turns to sludge.


Does anyone else get ten times more work done around people than alone? Should I buy some cardboard cutouts?
 

simulatedworld

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The only NT type that this rings particularly true for is ENTP, but yes, it's absolutely true for me as well.

I guess it is a weakness in a way, but it's also a strength. I have trouble self-motivating without other people to bounce ideas off of. I chalk it up to Ne never really knowing if its ideas are any good without external validation. :)
 

BlahBlahNounBlah

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The only NT type that this rings particularly true for is ENTP, but yes, it's absolutely true for me as well.

I guess it is a weakness in a way, but it's also a strength. I have trouble self-motivating without other people to bounce ideas off of. I chalk it up to Ne never really knowing if its ideas are any good without external validation. :)

:doh:

So what is the strength? Ideas with more real world validity? (that doesn't even sound right to me, and I wrote it)
 

Jaguar

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Really? I'm the opposite. But then I'm smack in the middle on the E/I scale.
When I have work to do, I must be alone and shut my door.
Then when someone dares interrupt my concentration by yelling upstairs I get pissed.
My voice escalates in volume as I yell "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!!!"

I have never been able to figure out why the hell people go to Starbucks with their laptop to work.
If I am around people, the noise alone will cause me to read the same damn sentence over and over and over.
I mumble, "Fuck me!" and I get up and leave.

Lol.
 

FDG

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I perefer to have some stimulation, definitely. It can be people, music, or just background noise.
 

Usehername

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Sometimes I sink too far into Ni daydreaming if there isn't some sort of environmental stimulus to keep me in the here and now.

I can't concentrate on my work when there's just one conversation going on around me, but yes, a cafeteria buzz or a coffeshop with music and lots of talking is actually helpful. That being said, I prefer to work in my bedroom at home because then all of my resources are always with me (I tend to synthesize lots of sources into a paper, so when my Ni draws it in I get frustrated when what I want to add into my paper is not there to flesh out the idea).
 

INTPness

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I just need them around and visible or else my brain turns to sludge.

I'm also the opposite. The more people that are around, the more my brain seems to turn to sludge. What I can relate to, is often times I need the TV or talk radio on in the background if I'm doing some form of productive work. It's kind of like you said - I don't need to be talking to the person, but I want someone talking in the background (preferably a radio/TV because I won't be required to talk back or interact).

I can't concentrate on my work when there's just one conversation going on around me, but yes, a cafeteria buzz or a coffeshop with music and lots of talking is actually helpful. That being said, I prefer to work in my bedroom at home because then all of my resources are always with me (I tend to synthesize lots of sources into a paper, so when my Ni draws it in I get frustrated when what I want to add into my paper is not there to flesh out the idea).

Interesting. I'm in my own head so much, that I really enjoy "going out" and hearing the sounds of city life as you mention, but not for the sake of Ti. If I take a book or my laptop to a coffee shop, for instance, I just can't concentrate. I like the "buzz" around me in these places, but I'd rather just sit and casually read a newspaper and sip some coffee. I guess I'm too self aware (plus I like to people watch) to really get deep into something when others are around.

Even when I go to the library or a bookstore, I'm there only to pick out a book, not to stay and read it. I get my book, go home, close the door and read without any form of distraction. Seems to be the only way I can really take in what I'm reading in a way that I can process it clearly and make sense out of it. When others are around, I can read the book, but I'm so aware of everything else that's going on (hey there's that cute girl I saw last week!, what the heck is that guy doing?, the lady making coffee looks depressed), that it breaks up any kind of flow to what I'm reading. Maybe public outings are my chance to practice Si.
 

JustHer

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I can't get work done alone, but I also can't get work done when there are people around either. So I settle for getting half-assed work done around other people.
 

onemoretime

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Yup. Can't stay on task without someone keeping the conversation centered.
 

tinkerbell

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AO - great avatar


Op - yes and no, always need time with people and apart. I need stimulus and that doens't have to be people or my people, I cna go cruse and art gallary or look through post cards or things like that.

Sometime too much alone time can make you lonely.

I don't see a desire to be with people as a weakness.... I do see spending TOO much alone time as being a weakness because I think life is about human experiences.
 

Usehername

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I'm also the opposite. The more people that are around, the more my brain seems to turn to sludge. What I can relate to, is often times I need the TV or talk radio on in the background if I'm doing some form of productive work. It's kind of like you said - I don't need to be talking to the person, but I want someone talking in the background (preferably a radio/TV because I won't be required to talk back or interact).



Interesting. I'm in my own head so much, that I really enjoy "going out" and hearing the sounds of city life as you mention, but not for the sake of Ti. If I take a book or my laptop to a coffee shop, for instance, I just can't concentrate. I like the "buzz" around me in these places, but I'd rather just sit and casually read a newspaper and sip some coffee. I guess I'm too self aware (plus I like to people watch) to really get deep into something when others are around.

Even when I go to the library or a bookstore, I'm there only to pick out a book, not to stay and read it. I get my book, go home, close the door and read without any form of distraction. Seems to be the only way I can really take in what I'm reading in a way that I can process it clearly and make sense out of it. When others are around, I can read the book, but I'm so aware of everything else that's going on (hey there's that cute girl I saw last week!, what the heck is that guy doing?, the lady making coffee looks depressed), that it breaks up any kind of flow to what I'm reading. Maybe public outings are my chance to practice Si.

I think Te = goal focused enough that we don't really care about how we're coming off in public if we're working on a goal (I always avoid places where I'd run into people I know, though) but I waste way more time when I'm in my bedroom and no one can see me than when I'm out in public working. Right now I'm in my bedroom wasting time when I should be working.
 

simulatedworld

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:doh:

So what is the strength? Ideas with more real world validity? (that doesn't even sound right to me, and I wrote it)

The strength is in ability to generate and test a wide variety of possibilities and different angles very quickly, and to be able to throw out bad approaches and invent better ones as quickly as we invented the old ones. We just need someone else there to filter out the bad ones and tell us which ones to keep.

One comparative advantage that Ne has over Ni in this case is that Ni (on its own) doesn't know how to determine when its perceptions are wrong because it's completely disconnected from external influence. Theoretically, in a balanced xNxJ type, Fe/Te will be aware enough of the external world to compensate for this, but that's not always the case.

So being dependent upon others for validation of our ideas is both a blessing and a curse.
 

jenocyde

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Depends on what it is. If it's research/reading/writing, I need to be alone (after I am sparked to action by someone else). But if it's any other type of work, it helps if I am working with people who are also working. If they are slacking off and hanging out, my attention drifts to that.

But it is really difficult for me to stay focused if I'm not actively ignoring something, even when researching. This means, I must at least have the tv on, even if it's muted.

And while it's extremely difficult for me to do any sort of manual or physical task without music, I cannot deal with people speaking to me in those moments. I simply can't have someone talking to me when I am doing the dishes or cleaning the house because it takes me out of the zone. If I'm puttering around, chances are that you should not be speaking to me because I don't want to get distracted from my main goal.
 

BlahBlahNounBlah

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And while it's extremely difficult for me to do any sort of manual or physical task without music, I cannot deal with people speaking to me in those moments. I simply can't have someone talking to me when I am doing the dishes or cleaning the house because it takes me out of the zone. If I'm puttering around, chances are that you should not be speaking to me because I don't want to get distracted from my main goal.


I'm the same way!!! I can actually be extremely short and snippy with people who try to have a conversation with me when I'm doing a manual task. I know how easily I can be distracted, and unless I can fully ignore them, it cannot be done efficiently. I've hurt a few people's feelings over this, but they really didn't seem to get it.
 

BlahBlahNounBlah

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Op - yes and no, always need time with people and apart. I need stimulus and that doens't have to be people or my people, I cna go cruse and art gallary or look through post cards or things like that.


With leisure, I can have fun alone just as easily. Often more easily, because I'm free to think about what's going on around me and just follow whatever grabs my attention instead of having to focus on who I'm with.
 

jenocyde

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Oh god yes! I can be quite nasty and snippy, too. See, I get this Te kick and organize each task in a certain sequence in my head and have to keep repeating the list over and over so it never runs away in my mind - any slight distraction makes the whole list crumble and my productivity wanes. I get very fucking annoyed if someone takes me out of my momentary zone of efficiency.

My poor bf simply does not get that I don't like being spoken to or physically jolted out of my mental state in those times. So I end up being mean to him. Oops.
 

BlahBlahNounBlah

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The strength is in ability to generate and test a wide variety of possibilities and different angles very quickly, and to be able to throw out bad approaches and invent better ones as quickly as we invented the old ones. We just need someone else there to filter out the bad ones and tell us which ones to keep.


That's comforting. :D
 

onemoretime

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Oh god yes! I can be quite nasty and snippy, too. See, I get this Te kick and organize each task in a certain sequence in my head and have to keep repeating the list over and over so it never runs away in my mind - any slight distraction makes the whole list crumble and my productivity wanes. I get very fucking annoyed if someone takes me out of my momentary zone of efficiency.

My poor bf simply does not get that I don't like being spoken to or physically jolted out of my mental state in those times. So I end up being mean to him. Oops.
I know what you mean. I end up having to do the very draining "I know you need my help, but I'm trying to concentrate, and I won't be as helpful as I would be until I'm done" routine. Often, I have to mention that if I don't say this, it's likely I WOULD blow up at them. This is tiring, for sure.
 
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