it just takes us longer because we have to integrate our experience into our own inner directed private stream. we are more complex on the inside and it takes us awhile to get everything arranged, sorted out, weighed, etc.
I think this is key. Even though people may see us just nodding and smiling, on the inside we are relating every word choice and phrase, facial expression, tone, intuitive "vibe" we are sensing, etc., every single second to some internal judgement system or reasoning system. This is very tiring, but extroverts usually don't "see" this. For example, during a meeting when someone brings up an idea with two sentences, I could write about 4-5 pages about that if I had been there for years and I knew the office politics and all the players involved. What I think about, as the statement is being voiced, are things like:
-motive behind the statement
-who is supporting the statement openly?
-who is hidden support for the statement?
-who is opposing the statement openly?
-who is hiddenly opposing the statement?
-do I support or oppose the statement?
-is this a single play, or part of a longer-term strategy and if so, what strategy is it linked to and who are the other players in the strategy and how are they interwoven into the strategies that I am involved with/that affect me personally, my team, or the future of the organization?
-does this person think that I support or oppose them at this point?
-should I address the statement: what level of importance does it have?
-if I should address the statement in some way, who should I speak to after the meeting about the statement to get more information?
-what has happened in the past to bring us to the point where the statement was made?
-what does upper management, or the boss, think about the statement?
-what resources are linked to the statement?
-what values does the statement provide, and do they match my values?
-should I say anything about what was said or not?
-what does the statement say about the speaker: was it well-phrased, does it denote intelligence, lack of information, leadership, etc.?
I typed all that out in about 1-2 minutes because it physically took my fingers that long to type, but these are the kinds of things that run through my head simultaneously in about a 2-3 second time-span when someone says something in that kind of setting. This is tiring, so after a day of being around people I need to limit my stimulus to a "narrow band." This doesn't necessarily mean shutting off all stimuli; in fact, I've found that playing computer games is a good way to unwind by hyper-focusing on one thing for a period of time. This may be counter-intuitive, because in general computer games would be considered "stimulating" rather than relaxing. I am learning that it is healthy to get some true "down-time" though either by reading in bed before I go to sleep, just sitting back for a period of time and reflecting, etc.