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In this episode Joel and Antonia talk about how to manage energy based on your personality type.
In this podcast you’ll find:
Time management isn’t always about managing time. It’s about managing energy.
The management of energy is key to understanding everything else we do. Energy is very important for us as people.
The world is plagued by stress and burnout.
This requires us to manage the information we take in, who we communicate with, and the way we manage priorities and to-do lists.
Time/energy management is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
What works for one person may not work for another.
Begin by making sure the energy in the food we take in is high quality and nutritious.
Make sure to get enough rest and R&R.
How does each type manage energy?
8 Cognitive Functions in MBTI system.
4 are perceiving processes – how we learn info. What we find interesting to observe and explore.
4 are judging functions – decision making. Natural vetting process to determine the value of things.
4 Cognitive Functions are particularly influential to each type. These we call the Cognitive Function Stack.
2 will be our biggest strengths – 2 will be our biggest weaknesses.
Each Cognitive Function has a mirror opposite. If you are using one function, its direct opposite will be getting ignored.
We spend 10,000+ hours working on our strengths.
Driver is dominant cognitive function. Flow State. How we see ourselves.
Copilot rounds us out and keeps us balanced. If Driver is an introverted perceiving process, the Copilot will be an extraverted judging process.
Copilot isn’t a flow state. It is a conscious process that doesn’t feel as good to use as the Driver. It is a growth process because it will round us out as individuals.
There are 2 passengers behind Driver and Copilot. Exact opposites of Driver and Copilot.
Behind Copilot is the 10 year old process. This is where we go to in times of defensiveness. It can become a very insidious energy drain.
Behind Driver is 3 year old process. This is the least sophisticated part of you. Don’t let it run the house, just get its occasional needs met.
Driver gives us energy when we are using it. This makes our energy needs unique to type.
Copilot has some skill. It can give us energy, but it can also rob us of energy.
Driver/Copilot used in tandem can create flow and huge amounts of energy.
Focusing on Copilot and singling it out as a growth exercise can cause fatigue. Like building muscle.
Stress can be caused by over engagement. Constantly burning hot. Inefficient energy loss.
Burnout is a lack of engagement. You’re done. Nothing left to give.
Stress comes when Driver is trying to solve the problem and it doesn’t have the right tool for the job.
Burnout happens when we don’t feel we are allowed to use our driver. If we are in a context where we can’t be in our Driver we won’t be able to regenerate our batteries. So we will eventually burnout.
(Stress and burnout can have causes unrelated to type (diet, nutrition, temporary life challenges, etc. If there are no obvious reasons for stress/burnout in life, then it is time to look at your Cognitive Functions and find out what is missing.)
Driver/Copilot form an unstoppable team.
If every day is a bad day then you may not be exercising your dominant process enough.
Create an environment that honors your Driver. Like the little daisy that pushes through concrete, our flow state will force its way to the surface.
- INFJ & INTJ: Driver is Ni – the opposite of Se. Ni works the best when it is not gettting sensory input. INxJs often complain of lifelong insomnia. If they aren’t honoring the needs of their Driver during the day, it will wait until they are quietly in bed before firing up and getting the attention it needs. This puts the person in flow and gives them energy which makes it hard for them to sleep. INxJs should allow themselves some sensory deprivation earlier in the day so their minds can relax when it’s time for bed.
Driver always needs to be supported.
- ESFP leads with Sensation. This process requires sensory stimulation. A job that removes sensory stimulation (desk jockey, cubicle rat, etc) will cause depression and fatigue to an ESFP. Solutions: Ride a bike to work, Play basketball with some friends at lunch, engage with the community in some team sports, go to the gym.
Strengthening the Copilot and gaining ability to use it in conjunction with the Driver give the Driver the adult companionship it needs.
Oftentimes, we find it more comfortable to pair our Driver with our 10 yr old. Driver will have either a Extraverted/Introverted attitude. Copilot rounds us out by having opposite I/E. 10 year old is opposite of Copilot, so it goes back to being of the same attitude as the Driver. So, it is easier to use at times than the Copilot.
We can cruise along like this for awhile, but eventually a barrier will occur that a child can’t help us overcome. As stress builds the 10 year old becomes more unreliable.
Look at exercising the Copilot as going to the gym. And using 10 year old sitting on the couch as eating potato chips.
Exercise gives us energy. Not exercising and eating fatty foods robs us of energy.
When you do decide to exercise or use your Copilot it may seem really hard at first, but the muscles grow and it becomes easier.
10 yr old can hijack us if it is completely ignored or dishonored in some way. Whatever is making the 10 yr old feel icky needs to be solved or it becomes an energy drain.
- Harmony – Fe – 10 yr old can feel “dirty” or dishonored if interpersonal relationships devolve somehow. It can hijack the Driver and Copilot – all mental and emotional real estate – until a resolution is reached.
- Effectiveness – Te – 10 yr old can feel dishonored if projects don’t get completed.
If there is something you need to handle and you aren’t handling it a lot of psychological energy will be drained.
- INTJs lead with Perspectives – Ni. Their Copilot is Te. 10 yr old is Authenticity – Fi. Fi is about how things impact the user on an emotional level. The average INTJ has a lot of protective mechanisms here, but if you dig down you may find a lot of offense or injury. To clean out Fi and get back into a fully functioning Te, the INTJ needs to remove the hurt pride or fear of injury. Energy can be drained by old pain.
- INxJs perfectionism usually comes down to a dishonored 10 yr old. INTJs Fi can be about artistic expressiveness, so to an INTJ it can show itself as “I’m the only one who can do it right!” INFJs 10 yr old is Accuracy – Ti. Precision. Perfectionism can be a massive energy hog.
Last process in car model is 3 yr old.
Top performers always need rest and the 3 yr old allows our Driver some time off.
We don’t want to live in the 3 yr old because it causes burnout.
But we can use it strategically and it gives our driver a much needed break.
Schedule time to be in 3 yr old.
- For a Memory (Si) inferior – watch old movies, listen to music from the past, read a favorite novel, look at old photographs, etc.
We can manage our energy by fully comprehending how our Cognitive Function Stack interacts and either robs or replaces energy.
Resources Referenced in this Podcast
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26 comments
This is the part of personal growth that I have been struggling with the most. Trying to find a way to integrate energy management into all of my daily responsibilities. Sometimes I will get systems set up, and they’ll work for a while, but then something will throw me off balance, I’ll lose my momentum, and then I’ll have to build myself up to it all over again. It just feels like the being “thrown off balance” thing happens way too often, and that it has way too large an impact on me.
Also, my work relies heavily on my dominant and tertiary functions, so that provides me with a very challenging environment for accomplishing integration of Fe. I’m an INFJ programmer who is surrounded by extraverts, thinkers, and sensors– and as much as I love them all, they drain me so much. So much so, that I can get hugely (enormously, really) annoyed at someone for typing as though they are endlessly torturing their keyboard day in and day out– like it had committed some unforgivable sin. ( Just as a random, totally hypothetical example, of course. coughs )
And sleep is something that I struggle with as well. One look at my eyes usually reveals my cumulative sleep deprivation. I’ve isolated this as the first thing I need to tackle, but didn’t understand quite why it was such an issue for me. I gave up caffeinated drinks (and most soda in general), thinking it was that, but now I know why that didn’t work, I believe.
Thank you so much for an incredibly helpful podcast. I’ve been ill for several months now and it made me realise that I am actually in serious burnout. I am an INFJ and so will now be consciously trying to spend more time in my driver process of introverted intuition in order to help expedite my recovery. Other than complete sensory deprivation, do you have any suggestion of activities that might help to get me into flow? I am in a pretty difficult place right now so any suggestions would be very welcome! I’d particularly like to hear of any workbooks or exercises that you might recommend? Thanks.
So what can I, as an ESFP, do to give chill time to my Ni? Like practically, exactly what are some things that I can engage in?
Thanks,
Lindsey :)
Thanks for an interesting episode! I am an INFP or INTP, not 100% which one (identify more with INFP but find flow in accuracy-type activities.)
Anyways, I was curious to hear more thoughts from you Joel about your strategies for getting things done. I have also tried the GTD method now for 6 months but I find myself getting really stressed out by it. I got the impression in the podcast that you also have negative experiences with the GTD system. Do you have any ideas on a version more suitable for NPs?
Many thanks!
Depression usually comes from not spending enough time with your Driver process – Fi/Authenticity. It sounds like you are interacting with your back seat way too much. Focus on your front seat. Create ways you can pair Authenticity w/ Exploration (your copilot). This will give you the energy you need.
If you need ideas for pairing Fi with Ne, you might try asking the community over on our FB page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1066580883382024/?fref=nf.