Introverts – Has the Pandemic Made You More Introverted?
This week two fellow introverts informed me that they are more introverted now than before the pandemic began. Lately I’ve been thinking the same thing about myself. Is it possible to become more introverted?
I had to stop and think about this as I’ve spent much of my adult life trying to flex my extroverted muscle.
As a result of the pandemic, you too may find that many of these “extroverted skills” like communicating in groups have become rusty with disuse.
The pandemic has made it possible for us to do things at home, alone, that would have been virtually impossible prior to 2020:
- Working
- Studying
- Exercising
- Community service
- Listening to music
- Communicating with friends and family
Prior to the pandemic I worked out regularly at a local community center. Once the community center stopped offering classes I quickly adapted and found online alternatives. Now Zoom allows me to join a live yoga class on Monday nights. I’m a member of an online yoga community. and I found countless exercise videos on Youtube. Add some outdoor activities like walking and cycling to the mix and I’m able to maintain my fitness on my own.
Like many of you I worked at home before the pandemic. But the pandemic provided an unexpected gift in the form on a vast, global, online community of writers. I’ve been able to attend webinars and conferences that prior to the pandemic were prohibitive due to cost and distance. Some of these events are now being offered live but many will continue to be held in cyberspace.
At the beginning of the pandemic my Toastmasters club moved our meetings online. Thanks to ZOOM I can now participate in TM clubs anywhere in the world. Toastmasters also moved its education programs and conferences online.
And who doesn’t like a ZOOM happy hour with friends who live out of town?
Is there such a thing as too much isolation? Yes, I found this out while writing my book The Dynamic Introvert: Leading Quietly with Passion and Purpose. At first it was enjoyable to be able to work at home on my own but after months of this solitary existence even I needed to connect with other people.
As I was doing some research for this post, I came across the following quote:
“Asked to consider what life will be like in 2025 in the wake of the outbreak of the global pandemic and other crises in 2020, some 915 innovators, developers, business and policy leaders, researchers and activists responded. Their broad and nearly universal view is that people’s relationship with technology will deepen as larger segments of the population come to rely more on digital connections for work, education, health care, daily commercial transactions and essential social interactions. A number describe this as a “tele-everything” world.”
What does this mean for introverts? We may be better prepared for 2025 than extroverts but spending too much time alone can have its downside.
I challenge you to take stock of how your life has changed since early 2020. Have you become more introverted during this time? How has this affected your relationships, mental, emotional health, spiritual and physical health, etc. Perhaps its time to push yourself out of your comfort zone yet again.
I don’t know about you but I, for one, don’t want to live in a “tele-everything” world. There are lots of things that are more enjoyable live or in-person: concerts, theatre, dining with friends. The list is endless.
Be kind, be well and stay calm!
Lesley