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[INFJ] INFJs... scatterbrained?

MJ_

New member
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
72
MBTI Type
INFj
For some things, definitely scatterbrained.

I have no idea where my umbrella is. I do sometimes walk into rooms and think 'what was I in here for?'. Its taken me weeks to remember to get a picture from the digital camera. I still haven't filled out paperwork from last semester. I habitually leave the little round sticker attached to fruit (oranges, nectarines) stuck to the counter next to the sink.

The scatterbrained-ness increases when I'm sick or sleep deprived. Then I usually ask my SO 'Please remind me to .....' .

At the same time, my mind is usually occupied elsewhere. The sticker left by the sink isn't crucial. For the important things, I have lists of dates and schedules. And labeled folders of papers, 'to do' lists, and a nagging feeling of 'I'm just not organized enough because I don't write it all in a neat little day planner'. Its not that I'm forgetful, its that I'm afraid I'll forget something.
 

sych0

New member
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
19
MBTI Type
INFJ
I'm sometimes scatterbrained. Another problem I frequently have is I'll be talking, everything going fine, then suddenly the thought train stops and I literally can't think of the next thing I was going to say. All the stream of consciousness and thought is instantly cut off and replaced with an empty void. Sometimes I remember where I was going, other times the conversation ends.
 

Little Linguist

Striving for balance
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
6,880
MBTI Type
xNFP
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Geez, I know I am not INFJ, but I am scatterbrained, too unless I am focusing particularly well for some reason.

Examples:

1) I will have to return to a room three times because I totally forgot something every time.

2) Forget my own birthday (doh!) :doh:

3) Forget other people's birthdays (Tomorrow is grandmother's birthday...remember...remember [tries to hypnotize self]).

4) Forget things I wanted to bring to class

I have HAVE HAVE to have an organizer or else everyone would probably think I have a negative IQ.

Be honest, am I a stupid ass, or what is my problem??? :blush:
 

Kyrielle

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2007
Messages
1,294
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
I'm definitely scatterbrained. I'll walk into a room and the moment I get there I completely forget what I needed to do, and I literally have to go back the way I came and then back to the room where I needed to do something several times before I remember. It's so odd, it's like this utter eclipse of my memory of what I intended to do and it's so so hard to remember (mostly because there are absolutely no mental clues left...those are all gone).

Or...I'll be talking about something and what I'm saying disappears from my head mid-sentence and it can take me the better part of 5 minutes to get the thought train back. Sometimes not even asking the person to brief me on what we were just talking about is enough. When this happens, I seriously worry about whether or not I have something wrong with my brain.

Oh and another thing I do is this weird way of making typos when chatting to people online with messengers. Instead of mispelling a word, I will end up substituting whole words with other words that do not have any contextual meaning at all and, most of the time, don't give any evidence of any kind of Freudian Slip. I won't even be thinking about the words I accidently put in either...it's pretty frustrating.
 

scantilyclad

almost nekkid
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
2,106
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
I'm not an INFJ, but i am very scatterbrained. Sometimes i'll walk into a room and stand there for a few minutes before i can remember what i went in there for.

Also when i can't find something, it's usually in my hand the whole time.

My boyfriend is wayyy worse, and he is Ni dominant. I can relate to what heart said, because although i am pretty scatterbrained, he can't even get dressed in the morning without me instructing him, and reminding him where he left things.
 

Skyward

Badoom~
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Messages
1,084
MBTI Type
infj
Enneagram
9w1
I'm sometimes scatterbrained. Another problem I frequently have is I'll be talking, everything going fine, then suddenly the thought train stops and I literally can't think of the next thing I was going to say. All the stream of consciousness and thought is instantly cut off and replaced with an empty void. Sometimes I remember where I was going, other times the conversation ends.

I understand that completely! But for me it happens with every type of communication. From talking to writing a story, to talking on an instant messenger (Although... it somehow happens a lot less on the last one)

And I frequently forget words. I once forgot the word 'hallway' right when I needed to describe where a person's office was. It was worse 'cause I even forgot the synonyms like 'corridor.' (Mac Hall :: Archive)

Other Shameless (Yet Relevant) plugs:
Mac Hall :: Archive
Mac Hall :: Archive
 

Jae Rae

Free-Rangin' Librarian
Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Messages
979
MBTI Type
INFJ
I'm definitely scatterbrained. I'll walk into a room and the moment I get there I completely forget what I needed to do, and I literally have to go back the way I came and then back to the room where I needed to do something several times before I remember. It's so odd, it's like this utter eclipse of my memory of what I intended to do and it's so so hard to remember (mostly because there are absolutely no mental clues left...those are all gone).

Or...I'll be talking about something and what I'm saying disappears from my head mid-sentence and it can take me the better part of 5 minutes to get the thought train back. Sometimes not even asking the person to brief me on what we were just talking about is enough. When this happens, I seriously worry about whether or not I have something wrong with my brain.

Oh and another thing I do is this weird way of making typos when chatting to people online with messengers. Instead of mispelling a word, I will end up substituting whole words with other words that do not have any contextual meaning at all and, most of the time, don't give any evidence of any kind of Freudian Slip. I won't even be thinking about the words I accidently put in either...it's pretty frustrating.

I do all of those things. I thought the last one was uniquely mine - I don't IM, but sometimes it happens in emails.
 

heart

heart on fire
Joined
May 19, 2007
Messages
8,456
I'm not an INFJ, but i am very scatterbrained. Sometimes i'll walk into a room and stand there for a few minutes before i can remember what i went in there for.

Also when i can't find something, it's usually in my hand the whole time.

My boyfriend is wayyy worse, and he is Ni dominant. I can relate to what heart said, because although i am pretty scatterbrained, he can't even get dressed in the morning without me instructing him, and reminding him where he left things.

:yes: You understand then, :) what a strain it is on my resources, I can barely keep up with my own things, much less anyone else's! :D
 

scantilyclad

almost nekkid
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
2,106
MBTI Type
INFP
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4w5
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
:yes: You understand then, :) what a strain it is on my resources, I can barely keep up with my own things, much less anyone else's! :D

yes i completely understand.!:yes:

the worse part is how he "looks for things" he will walk through the apartment moving his head back and forth saying "DAMMIT WHERE ARE MY KEYS"

and then i will stick my hand underneath the couch and pull them out. One time he looked for his shoes for 10 minutes, and he was wearing them lol.

to his defense he is very very tired when he wakes up in the morning. haha

oh and another thing. When i first met him, he kept complaining to me that his shampoo wouldn't lather, so a few months later we were in the shower and i pick up the shampoo to wash my hair with it, and he says "that shampoo is so crappy..IT DOESN'T EVEN LATHER" and i looked at the bottle and it was conditioner. lol
 

tenINsFJ

Permabanned
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
479
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
1w9
i was thinking about getting something that attaches the wallet to my pants so i dont lose it.. lol how sad.
 

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
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9w1
i was thinking about getting something that attaches the wallet to my pants so i dont lose it.. lol how sad.
I almost never put cash in my purse, but keep it, instead, in my pants pocket. My theory: I've lost my purse many, many times in all kinds of places, but I've never lost my pants. :laugh:
 

Jae Rae

Free-Rangin' Librarian
Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Messages
979
MBTI Type
INFJ
When i first met him, he kept complaining to me that his shampoo wouldn't lather, so a few months later we were in the shower and i pick up the shampoo to wash my hair with it, and he says "that shampoo is so crappy..IT DOESN'T EVEN LATHER" and i looked at the bottle and it was conditioner. lol

Today when I was taking a shower I slathered the conditioner on my hair before I realized I hadn't used any shampoo yet. :doh:
 

wedekit

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
694
MBTI Type
INFJ
I can be extremely scatter brained. For example, I currently work in an office setting. Our xerox machine and file cabinets are in the same room. I walked into the room with the intention of filing a resident's contract, but instead I walked over to the copy machine and made 5 copies for some unknown reason.

I refer to me being scatter brained as putting myself on "autopilot". When I'm stuck doing repetitive things over and over I just turn my autopilot switch on and absorb myself in my thoughts. Most of the time I do I pretty good job, though.
 

Uytuun

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Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
1,633
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nnnn
The best example I can think of: once I was intending to get a glass of chocolate milk, but ended up somehow grabbing a bowl and filling that up instead. Also I've attempted to put various things in the refrigerator at one time or another, like a jar of peanut butter and a stuffed animal. All this is the result of a mind that won't stop going off on random tangeants, which tends to make me forget what I'm doing.

*nods*

I don't lose things and I don't forget important things, but when there's a constant stream of consciousness running in your head, you do the stupidest things...sometimes you're just on autopilot...e.g. when I clean the table, I *always* (day after day after day, you have to see it to believe it, people would deem me retarded :D) forget to leave the water on it and sometimes I have to go back several times to where I put it because I take it away, I put it back, I take it away again, I put it back etc, these mundane tasks are the worst as they hold no interest whatsoever for me and I am instantly off thinking when I have to do them. This might also be why I'm so sloooow with stuff like doing the dishes...it's just a secondary thing I do while I experience much cooler things in my head. I can also just go blank in the middle of a conversation...this happens just because, but also because something else has struck me and I'm thinking on a higher level while still trying to converse with the other person on a secondary level.

It's so hard to resist the tug of the mind...when I'm with my parents and my brother eating dinner (not super interesting most of the time), I just float off automatically and they constantly remind me to "come back down to earth".

I don't know if you guys can multi-task, but I can't because I'm essentially multi-tasking all the time with what's going on up in my head.

I refer to me being scatter brained as putting myself on "autopilot". When I'm stuck doing repetitive things over and over I just turn my autopilot switch on and absorb myself in my thoughts. Most of the time I do I pretty good job, though.

Heh, you've just mentioned the exact same thing. ;) The knights who say Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. ;)
 

Skyward

Badoom~
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Messages
1,084
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infj
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9w1
I don't know if you guys can multi-task, but I can't because I'm essentially multi-tasking all the time with what's going on up in my head.

I cant multitask at all. I get focused on what I'm doing and then I forget the other thing. It gets annoying (I have an ENFP friend who multitasks like a fiend, I get jealous sometimes.)
 

KMildenhall

New member
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
4
MBTI Type
INFJ
My kids will not be able to tell the difference when I become senile.

:D That comment really made me chuckle...

I am very scatty sometimes, mostly when I am under pressure and have lots of different things on my mind. I actually find this happens more at work than at home too.
 

gokartride

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Jul 6, 2008
Messages
100
MBTI Type
INFJ
I have to admit, among all my faults, foibles, and quirks, I have managed to avoid being scatterbrained. It's never too late, though!!!
 

Wyst

lurking....
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
1,662
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INFJ
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4w5
I'm not really scatterbrained either. It's almost like I have blinders on when there's something I'm doing and nothing gets in my way. In fact when I have to stop what I'm doing to answer a question or do something else that's asked of me it really irritates me.

I'd say on the occasion where I'm not on some sort of mission to get something done, yes, I can get distracted. I suppose if I'm under a lot of stress, that will keep me from staying focused too.

Although now that I think about it, if I'm doing some thing very routine I'll forget one of the steps in the process. ex: I'll leave my ipod in the car when I go to the gym even though I ALWAYS workout with my ipod. I suppose getting to the gym and working out is what the 'mission' is in that situation.

Anyway, that's me.
 

Shinzon

New member
Joined
Oct 29, 2007
Messages
54
MBTI Type
INFJ
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4w5
Oh and another thing I do is this weird way of making typos when chatting to people online with messengers. Instead of mispelling a word, I will end up substituting whole words with other words that do not have any contextual meaning at all and, most of the time, don't give any evidence of any kind of Freudian Slip. I won't even be thinking about the words I accidently put in either...it's pretty frustrating.

I do this as well. I thought I was the only one.

I also learned how to type in a weird way. I took formal typing classes in Highschool but they never stuck and touch typing had to be learned through years of using a keyboard. I don't use the home row and I seem to favor my first three fingers on each hand (index, middle, ring). Instead of memorizing where all the keys are, over the years I've come to know which finger movements will result in the words I am after. If its a word I don't type often I have to slow way down and think of where each key is located.
 
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