I am outwardly a bit disordered but internally organized. Therefore, I find it distressing when people want me to restructure something internally on short notice without adequate reasoning for why or time given first to process it. It's also why it takes me a few minutes to avoid outwardly showing frustration when something important to me (plans or something I had looked forward to) is altered or cancelled.
I tend to enjoy a clean workspace and living area, but am more likely to have a good clean up every few days, rather than properly maintaining order at all times. I usually have a good sense of where things are among some disorder, so don't like them being rearranged.Most of my interests involve paper, which makes it difficult to keep everything in order without spending a lot of time keeping up with it all. I'm easygoing about a lot of things, but every now and then I can get unreasonably attached to a certain way of doing things, even though I could adjust over time and I ultimately may even like that way better.
I prefer to not be controlled, although I don't mind people taking the lead in decision making if I don't feel too invested either way. Career wise, I have no hankering to manage, but I do need autonomy and freedom to do my own thing, especially if I am likely to be at odds with people about procedure or philosophy. If I can't do my own thing, I probably will look for a situation that is a better fit. I have never really identified with the collaborative part of the INFJ description, because if I have a strong vision of what I want something to be, I find it hard to accommodate other people's ways of doing things, yet also do not wish to be a controlling tyrant. For that reason, I avoid committees, or look for a role that is self-contained, and can be a piece fitting into the larger whole. I can be pushy at times about advice or over opinionated (usually with people I know well), although I am more conscious of it now.
I don't like emotional surprises and therefore tend toward familiar habits and watching before engaging, to a fault at times. I don't listen well to someone who doesn't seem to have considered more obvious potential problems and addressed them first. I'm great at improvising externally, but not internally, so I avoid situations that require me to do so regularly. I'm quite comfortable being transparent and open about fairly private things, as long as there is a reason for sharing and they have already been processed. However, I do resent people trying to force their way into my internal thoughts or experiences if I have invited them to do so.
I think a lot of people would think I was quite accommodating and maybe even a little scattered (I get overall impressions of things, but am poor with exact details, either spoken or written) and usually unless I know someone well, they will not see my more uncensored J ways.
I am a list maker, but generally don't enjoy adhering to an exact schedule. As a teacher, I like improvising and having the freedom to borrow from one subject to make time for another, or move subjects around in the day a little bit.
I tend to avoid making commitments socially if I don't have to (like leaving my options open for how I am feeling at the time and what mix of people are there, how badly I'm needed or not, if it would inconvenience anyone if I didn't show, etc), even though I would be pleased to hang out with a group of people on the spur of the moment and sometimes I don't mind having a get together time nailed down, particularly if it is just me and one other person and we are both busy people. If people cancel out at the last minute more than twice though, I usually don't prioritize for them, or commit to any plans with them, because I don't like it when people are unreliable (feel it says to the other party that their convenience is more important than the other's).
I am rarely late, although if I know that the people I am meeting with are chronically late, I will plan to show up late. I don't get upset about other's lateness, except when it affects other people/there is an event that starts at a certain time that is important/I am not expecting lateness. Mostly it's the surprise element of lateness and how to handle my own reactions to it that annoy me. I get mad at myself when I can't adapt in the moment, because I want to be seen as being a reasonable person who can take things in stride and sometimes my internal reactions are not really logical (nor are my final feelings on the matter), even though they are very real at the time.
I like EXXJ types, but sometimes am frustrated about their inability to give up control and even want to oversee me. I admire the STJ ability to order their environment and know where everything is, although I am unable to do it myself. I like the NTJ tendency towards longterm order in matters of planning/business/career/finances. My own finances aren't bad, but are not especially ordered. I'm always uncertain of where I have various bits of information and what I have invested where. When they ask those questions at the bank about your last credit card purchase or debit card activity to verify identity, I rarely remember. In many ways, I feel like I am on the scatter-brained end of the J spectrum.
I have working theories as well about many people, but they are rarely conclusive pronouncements. It's like a file folder that can always contain new information, but I do feel a need for some basic categorization so that I have a sense of how I wish to relate to them or what I might need to expect, since I'm not as good at addressing the fallout from not knowing right in the moment. People fascinate them, so I like studying them, and when you study something, often some organization to one's research is useful for making possible observations and hypotheses from the findings.