How Your Personality Affects Productivity | How To Be More Productive

I think we’re all guilty of searching Google for “productivity tips” every now and again. Sometimes it seems like we’ve tried it all. But have you ever thought about how your productivity is tied to your personality traits? How you work is a product of the natural cadence of your inner world. So next time you’re feeling down about a lack of motivation or accomplishment, don’t think of yourself as lazy or unambitious. Perhaps you just need to find the best way to be productive for your unique personality.

how your personality affects your productivity

introverts and extroverts

Can both find themselves in entrepreneurial or creative positions. It’s important to know how your own personality works when diving into any job, particularly one that requires self-starting, self-motivating, and major independence. On the Myers Briggs personality test, I’m an INFJ. I think my introverted nature both helps and hurts my job performance, at times.

Being an introvert works for me because constantly being surrounded by people zaps my energy, and thus my workflow. I find that when I go to work meetings, it really helps with the social aspect—which I lack working from home—but I’m not as productive. On the other hand, it’s difficult as an introvert (and someone as reflective as me) to break away from the isolation that comes from working alone. If I want to be social—which everyone craves at some point or another, I really have to go out and force it! You can imagine the struggle for someone who doesn’t naturally put herself out there to maintain social connections in this environment. And social connections to some degree, are important to career success.

What about the extroverts in these types of positions? I can’t speak from personal experience (chime in if you can), but I feel that these people can be great for the job too. They just operate a little differently. For extroverts and others who feed off of social interaction, they will likely seek out opportunity—which will only grow their business. Extroverts may struggle focusing and maintaining clear goals when constantly going at it alone, as they crave those social connections.

your enneagram type

Another way to learn how your personality affects your productivity is to get familiar with your Enneagram number. While you may identify with multiple numbers in different situations, any insight into how your inner world operates is valuable. There is no definitive test to learn your Enneagram number, but you can learn a lot just by reading about the types and seeing which numbers resonate. (I’m a four, btw.) Here’s a quick overview (again, this is our own interpretation of the Enneagram, not everyone will automatically relate) of Enneagram types and productivity:

• 1s are usually their own worst critic. It’s important to set realistic goals and remember that perfection doesn’t exist.

• 2s are known for taking on a lot of responsibility for others, so it’s important to schedule rest + “me time”

• 3s love efficiency so setting up a clean workspace + organized workflow can boost productivity

• 4s are creative so their productivity may be in spurts and not super logical. They should honor when their motivation sparks and when it’s time to take a break.

• 5s love to research and get things just right, so sometimes they can avoid taking action until they have all of the details nailed down. They should be conscious of any resistance to getting started!

• 6s might work better on a team full of supportive people.

• 7s might be motivated by rewards (ie. celebrating with a nice dinner after finishing a huge project)—if this is you, find healthy ways to celebrate your accomplishments.

• 8s are self-starters already but it’s also important to take a step back and think about how a task will be handled before diving in.

• 9s do well separating large tasks into small, achievable goals.

Do any of these productivity styles relate to you?

highly sensitive people (hsp)

A HSP (about 15-20% of people) would score highly on the highly sensitive person scale. You might think it’s just about whether you cry in romantic comedies and get your feelings hurt easily, but an HSP is sensitive in both physical and mental ways—such as being easily overwhelmed by loud noises or being sensitive to pain. Just sitting in my studio, I’ll be distracted by temperature, sounds outside, and lighting, so I’m constantly battling this outer world while trying to sit and write! This hyper-sensitivity means that we’re more affected by our surroundings (and inner worlds too) than other people. Over the years, I’ve realized that I function well when I eliminate distractions (often even music). Other times, having background noise such as the clamor of a busy cafe can help me get lost in the task at hand.

HSPs “feel very deeply”. This means that when something triggers an emotion, it’s more intense for us. People are beginning to see how this can be an asset (see careers HSPs thrive in here!), and when it comes to my creative side I love that about me. However, being affected by feelings creates challenges. It can magnify common work challenges like handling criticism. And, since I also struggle with anxiety, there are days when I have 30 things to do but I’m not sure how to work through my emotions, so I honestly just sit on my couch and think for a good hour. I have to really pull myself out of all these emotional stimuli before I can get back to work.