4 Tricks To Help INFJs Stay Focused

My word of the year is: focus. One goal I’m focusing on is leveling up in my INFJ personal growth journey. Every step that I take is carefully calculated to ensure that it helps me continue my journey to become the best version of myself. With future-oriented Introverted iNtuition (Ni) as our dominant function, INFJs are often thinking about our goals. As long as we’ve organized our goals, Ni does a good job of focusing and getting things done. However, it’s just as easy for an INFJ to get distracted and lose sight of his or her goals as it is for any other personality type.

As an INFJ entrepreneur, I’ve struggled with distraction and lack of focus often, but there are a few things that have helped. Here are four tips to help INFJs stay focused.

(Want more information about your personality type? Take the TypeFinder Personality Test.)

Be careful about who you give your time and energy to.

Oprah Winfrey once said, “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” I can’t stress how essential this piece of advice is. It took me a long time to realize the value in it. Thanks to Introverted iNtuition, INFJs are first and foremost focused on our long-term visions. However, our auxiliary function, Extraverted Feeling (Fe), can easily sneak in and distract us. We feed off of the energy of others. If that energy isn’t flowing at the same rate as your natural energy it may make you distracted or less motivated. INFJs are often victims of emotional vampires, people who take advantage of our empathy and quiet natured personalities. It’s essential that we set boundaries and limit our social time to people who lift us up and support our growth endeavors.

Use a journal or planner.

Life happens. It’s easy to lose sight of long-term goals when we’re balancing several responsibilities. Once we get distracted from our goals, it’s nearly impossible to figure out a plan for getting anything accomplished. Suddenly, we’re overwhelmed with responsibility. We’d rather retreat into a dark corner than think about anything we have to do. One easy and stress-free way to stay on track is to start a goal journal. Taking five minutes a day for journaling can help INFJs stay focused on our goals. I recommend the BEST SELF Journal. This journal helps break your long-term goals into practical steps. Since we’re big picture thinkers, anything that helps push us into action is a life saver.

Take time for education daily.

Just as it is important to spend time with people who encourage you, it’s equally as important to regularly exercise your mind. Prioritizing time for daily education is another technique that helps me stay focused on my goals. Whether it’s listening to a podcast on the way to work, skimming a helpful article during my lunch break, or spending fifteen minutes reading before bed, I try to make learning something new a daily priority.

Often these things are related to my interests, so it doesn’t feel like “work”. It’s even better if I can do it while doing something mundane like cooking, driving, and cleaning. I highly recommend signing up for a 30-day free trial of Audible if you haven’t already. (That’s how I downloaded two great books, The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain, for free!)

Make self-care a priority.

It’s common for INFJs to put others’ priorities above their own. Especially when the others are our loved ones. As much as we embrace our Fe and let it shower others with love and care, we still lead with Ni. If we suppress our Ni visions and ideas for the sake of caring for others, we’ll find ourselves drained of energy quickly. This is why is crucial for INFJs to practice self-care.

If we want to be our best selves (and show up for others as our best selves) we have to make time for self-care. This can be meditation, exercise, or practicing a craft you enjoy. It’s important to make this time with yourself a high priority. While lying in bed and scrolling through your Twitter feed may feel restful, it’s not the same as self-care. Self-care should be mindful and growth oriented. This will help restore suppressed Ni, give Fe a break for awhile, and allow you to stay focused on your goals.

Do you have any other tips and tricks that help you stay focused on your goals? Share them in the comments!

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About The Author

Megan Malone

2 COMMENTS

  1. Thurzday Next | 27th Jun 17

    Thank you very much for recommending the BEST SELF Journal. I always have many ideas, and recently, have found myself using several (up to 4) different notebooks to write in. Reading your post gave me an epiphany about why I have been feeling so stressed and like I hadn’t accomplished anything. A journal like that will ease my overworking mind.

  2. James | 28th Jun 17

    It is like you are in my mind, so freaky. This is exactly the way I think.

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