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[NT] NTs . . . Why are You Messy?

Costrin

rawr
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
2,320
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
5w4
It is, in fact, illogical and waisting precious time for "philosophizing."

No. That would assume that I have some other higher priority goal that philosophizing conflicts with. Such is often not the case.
 

Shaula

Te > Fi > Ni
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
608
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
4w5
I think a lot of it has to do with how one prioritizes things. If you don't care too much about the asthetic appearance of your home or yourself your less likely to put effort into maintaining it. Or care more about doing other things that take up your time, this could include activities like playing video games all day. One thing I notice about messy people is that in their rooms they will have 'a path' carved out so it meets their basic mobility needs. An organised and cleanly house is often an effort to maximise astheitcs and practical application of serving duties.

Also if you tend to live more in your head (versus your environment) then you're less likely to take note of how bad your environment has gotten. An example of which is when I noticed how much cat fur there was on my carpet only after I packed all by things up and moved into a new house. While I was living there I thought the carpets looked fine so I didn't think I needed to vacuume. When you add clutter into the equation then what I have found what my mind does it that it concentrates solely on what I need at the time while all other things are sort of blocked out. I once lived in an extremely cluttered house that seriously needed a professional cleaning crew to keep it up. There were even mushrooms growing at the base of the toilet! A LOT of daily work was put into that house just to keep it functional. When a person was assigned to do the dishes (which was done every night) it also meant they had to clean the entire kitchen too which usually took on average two hours. Then the next morning all that hard work had usually been undone and the next person in line had to do exactly what the last had did. It was once suggested that in order to keep the kitchen clean we would need to do it three times a day. :doh: Things were also constantly breaking. I can't remember how many times the kitchen faucet needed to be replaced or how many vacuume cleaners we had purchased. That house was under an organisational system from hell and had came into existence from an accumulation of problems. When I moved into a cleaner, well organised house the sight of it blinded me, it looked so... sterile.
 

Economica

Dhampyr
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
2,054
MBTI Type
INTJ
I have to own up to irrationality on this score. I prefer for my home to be sufficiently clean and perfectly tidy, but it's only ever the latter just before guests arrive (thankfully, I have guests over fairly often, so it never gets to be that bad) and as of this writing I have like ten cleaning chores on my to-do list (e.g. mop kitchen floor, wash windows, clean shower tiles), which is about average, not to mention all the practical or aesthetic home improvements I've been meaning to get around to, like taking down an ugly lamp I never use or unpacking the last moving box (I moved in two years ago :blush:).

I can't tell you why I so acutely lack self-discipline in this area, but at this point I'm taking my wiring as given and brainstorming alternative solutions, meaning that as soon as I feel I can afford it I'm going to start paying someone to come clean for me.
 

sunset5678

New member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
145
MBTI Type
XNTJ
that's funny about the shoes jenocyde! Lol you should see the inside of my
purse...I can pack anything to busy myself with from books, nintendo DS, ipod, a can of pop, daily supply of nicotine longenzes, make up, sinus headac-
he medicine since my allergies hit in different places...I'm always having to
make sure my wallet is in there as I head out the door...lol! Oh and where the
heck are my darn keys pops into my head while I'm blow drying my hair and
other things.
 

Lethe

Obsession.
Joined
Aug 26, 2007
Messages
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so/sx
I used to be anal-retentive about cleanliness and order beyond the call of duty. (My SJ family's living styles were no match for my highly effective organization systems.) Then I suddenly hit depression at the age of 15 (2004) and my room & work space have been consistently messy since. I lost joy in creating external order and retreated back into my mind for three years to lessen the impact of my chaotic environment (troubled social & family life, fulfilling the "parent" role once my father left to pursue a martial affair, dealing with an unstable mother, mentoring my younger siblings, extreme inability to trust others, academic disappointments, a mental disorder, etc.) I basically had to reconstruct every department within my life, if I ever hoped to achieve the same stability I previously exhibited. While shifting paradigms, maintaining an orderly house was the last of my priorities. Things have settled down now and though I've successfully rebuilt most areas, there's a few months to a year left before I start working on that aspect. (It's not merely the one-time cleaning deal; it's finding a faster, enduring strategy to implement.)
 

Salomé

meh
Joined
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The words "rational" and "systematic" are not synonymous.

Your argument is weak.

Tidying up is for those left-brainers with nothing more creative to do.
 

Alwar

The Architect
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
922
MBTI Type
INTP
It may be that my bathroom violates several health codes, but I always associated that with being a single male. Do any of you INTP's go through phases where you will purge your worthless belongings? I do that like once every six months but my computer area is always an explosion of unorganized books and dozens of post-its with notes on them.
 

ragashree

Reason vs Being
Joined
Nov 3, 2008
Messages
1,770
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Mine
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1w9
The words "rational" and "systematic" are not synonymous.

Your argument is weak.

Tidying up is for those left-brainers with nothing more creative to do.

*nods, as enthusiastically as is possible without dislodging anything*
 

Fluffywolf

Nips away your dignity
Joined
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Last time someone commented on the mess in my house, specifically work desk, I asnwered quite simply.

"I'm on the verge of disproving feng shui."
 

digesthisickness

✿ڿڰۣஇღ♥ wut ♥ღஇڿڰۣ✿
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
3,248
MBTI Type
ENTP
last time someone commented on my mess, i said, "does it bother you?" to which they replied, "actually, yeah, it does a little bit." which got for them from me, "the cleaning stuff is in the laundry room. knock yourself out."
 

runvardh

にゃん
Joined
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last time someone commented on my mess, i said, "does it bother you?" to which they replied, "actually, yeah, it does a little bit." which got for them from me, "the cleaning stuff is in the laundry room. knock yourself out."

Woooooooot! :rofl1:
 

wildcat

New member
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
3,622
MBTI Type
INTP
Because the external world doesn't matter doesn't matter as much? Hmm.
Yes. A truly Oriental answer.
And the correct one.
It is about values.

Life is short. Do not waste it in polishing the exterior.
Be bold. Be rusty.
 

Fluffywolf

Nips away your dignity
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A life is best spend on the outer edges of morality. Live wildly, live broadly. Expose yourself to all good and bad. Thrive on the unknown. Shape yourself and your view on the biggest picture you can aquire during your short stay in wonderland.

You only get one chance. Why waste it on the safety of the known.
 

Lethe

Obsession.
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Tidying up is for those left-brainers with nothing more creative to do.

SPs can be pretty tidy out of pure functionality. Being tidy doesn't take as long as you think - a few seconds-minutes on average. (On the other hand, being orderly does.) What prevents most people from keeping a neat place is their inclination for compulsive hoarding. They keep insignificant possessions until it clutters the room. Even at this point, the old junk would be shifted over to another storage area for the new junk.
 

Alwar

The Architect
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
922
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last time someone commented on my mess, i said, "does it bother you?" to which they replied, "actually, yeah, it does a little bit." which got for them from me, "the cleaning stuff is in the laundry room. knock yourself out."


:rofl1:

I have a theory that clean freaks have a higher probability of skid marks because they are more concerned about draconian timeliness then they are about actually wiping properly. Who wants to conduct a study?
 

Salomé

meh
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SPs can be pretty tidy out of pure functionality. Being tidy doesn't take as long as you think - a few seconds-minutes on average. (On the other hand, being orderly does.) What prevents most people from keeping a neat place is their inclination for compulsive hoarding. They keep insignificant possessions until it clutters the room. Even at this point, the old junk would be shifted over to another storage area for the new junk.

Who let my Mom in here?
 

Costrin

rawr
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What prevents most people from keeping a neat place is their inclination for compulsive hoarding. They keep insignificant possessions until it clutters the room. Even at this point, the old junk would be shifted over to another storage area for the new junk.

Indeed. That's the main reason when things get overly messy for me. I tend to not throw things away. But when it gets out of hand, then I have a purging day and throw all that stuff I don't need anymore away.
 

Lethe

Obsession.
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Who let my Mom in here?

She borrowed God's omnipotent powers and teamed up with Martha Stewart. :devil: Together, as the divine cleaning force, they're keeping the world tidy by tackling one INTP home at a time.

Indeed. That's the main reason when things get overly messy for me. I tend to not throw things away. But when it gets out of hand, then I have a purging day and throw all that stuff I don't need anymore away.

My ESTP brother's way of cleaning takes him approximately one minute or less. He disposes things immediately after he's done. There's no "But what if I need this in the future?" dilemma.

As for my INTP father.... let's say there's still items in his office dating back from the 80s. Getting him to clean anything is as tedious as getting him to do the taxes.
 

Costrin

rawr
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My ESTP brother's way of cleaning takes him approximately one minute or less. He disposes things immediately after he's done. There's no "But what if I need this in the future?" dilemma.

Well it's not quite that a "what if I might need it?" dilemma, but I just don't think to throw it away. I just kinda leave it where I last used it.
 

Lethe

Obsession.
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Well it's not quite that a "what if I might need it?" dilemma, but I just don't think to throw it away. I just kinda leave it where I last used it.

That too. :) I think what happens is the person had already moved to a new activity and forgot about those finishing details because they're completely immersed in something else.
 
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