How do you have the perfect day as an INFJ?

By “perfect day” I’m referring to the way you’d organize your day if you were completely in control of it.

Many of us work jobs or have responsibilities that require us to begin the day working in an area of weakness while leaving our strengths on the shelf. For instance, you may have to start by cooking breakfast for your family or you may have to answer emails first thing in the morning at your job when you’d rather be learning, advising, or creating.

Elaine Schallock of PersonalityJunkie.com theorizes that, if given the choice, INFJs would be happiest working through their functional stack, or four mindsets, starting with our greatest strength and ending with our weakness. Would scheduling your day as I describe in the rest of the article make it more meaningful, productive, and enjoyable?

If you were to progress through your functional stack, as Schallock proposes, you’d move from introverted intuition to extroverted feeling to introverted thinking to extroverted sensing. If you’re not familiar with these functions, or mindsets, and how they impact your INFJ personality, you learn more about them in my book, The INFJ Personality Guide. (Click here to download a free copy.)

1. Start your day with intuition.

The ideal would begin with intuition. First and foremost, you’d get a chance to study or learn about something that interests you. You’d be reading, watching videos, or taking a course. Alternatively, you might be thinking about what you’ve learned and synthesizing the big ideas you’ve picked up on. When you get down to it, you might be writing, listening to a friend to give advice, brainstorming ideas, working on a creative project – anything that allows you to use put your intuition to work. You’d also be working alone and uninterrupted for several hours so that you could focus and put your best foot forward.

2. Work with another person or a couple people.

By noon or early afternoon, the ideal day would move to helping people. This is one of the major challenges INFJs face: We need several hours of uninterrupted alone time to do our best work, but we don’t want to be alone all day. We need people too.

Most INFJs prefer to work with people one-on-one or a couple at a time, so a great day would give you the chance to connect with a family member, close friend, colleague, or client in a quiet setting where you can focus on the conversation and help another person grow. You’ll be happiest when you get the chance to apply your dreams, visions, ideas, and problem-solving skills and help others make progress in important areas of their lives.

3. End the work day with logic.

By mid to late afternoon, your day would wrap up with introverted thinking. You’d be applying your logical side. This might entail fact-checking or might have to do with brainstorming ways to make your work and workplace more efficient. Introverted thinking also plays a role in problem-solving and coming up with custom solutions, so if you’re trying to think up solutions to common problems, this would be a way you could apply your introverted thinking.

Generally, any time you’re trying to understand a system and all its part or determine what your priorities are and what activities are a waste of time, you’re applying introverted thinking. During my work day, I apply this process when I think about to get the same work done with less effort. I rearrange furniture, organize documents, and create original systems that allow me to work faster and automate what I do. I enjoy coming up with ways to eliminate unnecessary busy work.

4. Relax by enjoying the moment.

Finally, the perfect day would conclude with your senses. You’d exercise, soak up a sunset, enjoy a fine meal, or visit a place you’ve never been to before. If there’s a trail beside your house, you might go for a hike and listen to nature. Anything that allows you to focus on the moment works.

Many INFJs enjoy art and music. A year ago, I spent several hours at the end of each day playing guitar. Now, when I come home from work, I’m constantly listening to original music on YouTube or catching up on NBA basketball highlights, which just happens to be a personal interest of mine.

Having to “be in the moment” most of the day is stressful, but ending the day by enjoying what’s around you and doing something you really love can bring you great joy.

Conclusion

If you can’t rearrange your schedule this way due to your current life circumstances, please don’t let this idea discourage you. Think, instead, of small adjustments you could make to improve your current schedule. Could you, for example, wake up a bit earlier and start the day with reading or writing? Could you carve out more alone time in the morning? Be creative.

What would your ideal day look like?