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Calendars and
Personality Type
by: Janet Barclay
I recently conducted a survey to
look at the relationship between an individual’s
personality type and his or her organizing and time
management style, and noticed that the majority of
participants said they have a calendar system that works
for them. As there are so many time management systems
available, both paper-based and electronic, I thought it
would be interesting to find out which calendar systems
are most popular with each personality type, and asked
my ezine subscribers and visitors to my website to
describe their time management system, what they like
and dislike about it, and their personality type
according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®).
The MBTI measures your preferences in four areas:
The source of your energy (Introversion / Extraversion)
Taking in information (Sensing / INtuition)
Decision-making (Thinking / Feeling)
Dealing with the outer world (Judging / Perceiving)
Because the Judging / Perceiving preference pertains to
the way you deal with the outer world, it has the
greatest influence on the way you manage time and space,
however, the other preferences also come into play. Your preferences in the
four areas listed above combine to form one of 16
different personality types.
This article is a summary of the responses I received,
according to the participants' stated personality type.
Where specific time management products were named, this
information has been included.
Due to their preference for planning and their attention
to detail, the Sensing Judging types are generally
considered natural organizers with a strong attachment
to schedules and deadlines. Most formal time management
systems on the market were designed by and for SJ types.
Although one ISTJ participant stated that he doesn’t use
a time management system at all, the others showed a
preference for a paper-based system. Most like the
week-at-a-glance format, either the Day Runner® or the
Taylor Planner®, because it allows them to visualize
what they have to do. One student supplements her daily
planner with a wall-mounted dry-erase calendar as well
as a dry-erase board containing her weekly time map.
ISFJ participants also showed a preference for a
paper-based system. Although one stated that she loves
technology and was given a Palm Pilot®, she has no
desire to give up her Day-Timer®, which has a monthly
calendar that allows her to see her commitments at a
glance. It also includes two pages for each day, with
space for a to-do list and daily schedule, as well as
blank space for jotting down phone messages and
important thoughts. Others are less concerned with
scheduling, but use daily to-do lists.
The only ESFJ who responded to the survey indicated a
preference for the Palm Pilot®, which allows her to
easily search for and retrieve information and to sync
with her Outlook® calendar. She prefers to use paper for
ideas that she needs to "sketch" visually and for
face-to-face situations with clients where the Palm
Pilot® might seem a distraction or even rude.
Unfortunately, no ESTJ's took part in the survey, but
according to Sandra Krebs Hirsch & Jean Kummerow,
authors of LifeTypes, and Larry Demarest, author of Out
of Time: How the Sixteen Types Manage Their Time and
Work, ESTJ's like to-do lists and use a calendar or
planner to keep track of what has been done and what
still needs to be addressed. ESTJ's typically plan
thoroughly, scheduling preparation time for meetings as
well as for the meeting itself. Although a wide variety of systems were reported, due to
their preference for Intuition, INtuitive Feeling types
generally prefer time management systems that allow them
to see the big picture.
ENFP's reported using multiple calendars for different
functions. One uses a Palm Pilot® for scheduling, but
creates a daily to-do list using Microsoft Word®, so
that she can cross out tasks as she completes them.
Another uses an electronic calendar and task list along
with a manual tickler file consisting of a folder for
each day of the month and a folder for each month, where
she keeps all the paperwork to back up her electronic
system. A third uses a Day-Timer® system, one page per
day, folio size, with monthly calendar inserts to keep
on track, along with a calendar on the kitchen fridge to
keep track of family activities.
INFP's had the widest participation rate in the survey,
and reported a variety of time management system
preferences, encompassing both paper-based and
electronic systems. One successfully manages her busy
schedule with a PDA to schedule personal and private
practice appointments. She schedules job appointments on
her computer at work using Outlook® and syncs her PDA
and work computer upon arrival and again before leaving
work. Another uses the Palm Pilot® for scheduling and
alarms, along with Microsoft Streets and Trips® to find
locations and download to the PDA. She likes the ability
to print her calendar and have the entire month in front
of her.
Another uses a Franklin Planner® “when she thinks of
it,” sometimes recording tasks that have been completed,
in case she need to remember when she started something,
and uses the Microsoft Works® calendar occasionally as
well. One INFP designed her own multi-ring planning
system.
All INFJ participants identified very strong preferences
in terms of their time management tools, although their
preferences varied widely, and included both paper-based
and electronic systems. One likes the compactness,
durability, and portability of her black leather
Day-Timer®, in the week-at-a-glance format. She doesn’t
feel her computer is reliable enough to use as a time
management tool. Another tried using the Outlook®
calendar, but found it wasn’t functional for her, since
she isn’t always at her computer. She believes a PDA
would be useful as it would allow her to easily transfer
information between the two, but until she can afford
one, she uses paper Day-Timers®, one page per day
format. She likes the monthly planner for seeing the
whole picture and the one page per day gives her enough
space to "explode the detail" when necessary. She also
keeps a family calendar in the kitchen. Yet another
makes maximum use of technology, combining a Palm Pilot®
with desktop contact management software, and
synchronizing the two regularly.
The only ENFJ participant uses Outlook® combined with a
Palm V®. She likes the ability to set recurring meetings
and dates like birthdays, organize a list of tasks and
memos by category, flag email for follow up, and set
reminders. Other benefits she enjoys include only having
to handle paper when she chooses to print something, and
the Palm®'s compactness. On the downside, she mentions
the Palm's fragility and the risk of losing data.
Individuals with preferences for iNtuition and Thinking
also reported using a wide variety of time management
tools.
All of the ENTJ's who participated in this survey
reported using a combination of paper and electronic
systems. One prints her own calendar from MS Outlook® on
Day-Timer® computer paper (Desk size, 7-hole punched)
and uses several of the Day-Timer® accessories that are
available. Another uses a combination of "brain power,
paper calendar and electronic organizer".
ENTP's reported a distinct preference for portable
electronic systems. One found a Palm Pilot® to be
effective because she could sync it with her computer,
but no longer has the technology available to her. She
has had little success with paper calendars. Another
uses a Palm Zire71® with the Palm Desktop® system. The
features she considers most important are the color
screen, the ability to take hand-written notes, and
alarms and snooze buttons. She found that a paper
planner was too much trouble to carry around.
INTJ's, on the other hand, showed a preference for
paper-based planners. One stated a reluctance “to go the
Blackberry® route” because she likes to flip ahead to
whole weeks of appointments and to staple information to
pages in preparation for various events.
As no INTP's responded to the survey, I will share the
following quotation from Larry Demarest’s Out of Time:
INTP's tend to be conceptual planners – their plans
being neither specific nor fully developed. They work in
blocks of time, and what gets written down may be
sketchy and seem incomplete. INTPs are not likely to use
the planning categories, structure, or systems provided
by the manufacturer of an organizer (unless it somehow
happened to make good sense to a particular individual).
Like many other aspects of life, most INTP's will find
their own way of planning and organizing. (Though, this
may not be typical, one INTP reported using three
calendars – two electronic and one hard copy).
As I found with my previous surveys on organizing and
time management, not many people with preferences for
Sensing and Perceiving responded. It may be that as
action-oriented, spontaneous individuals, they are not
likely to be interested in doing Internet surveys or in
the topic of time management itself.
In fact, the only SP respondent, an ISTP, said about
time management, “I think those words do not go together
for my type.” She uses a thin 2-year monthly at-a glance
calendar, and writes appointments with a time and an
initial e.g. 5-T, which is enough to remind her. She
puts labels of frequently called names, addresses, and
numbers in the back and keeps a paper clip at the front
to attach temporary notes.
In Out of Time, Larry Demarest states that ISFP's keep
track of what needs to be done in a variety of different
ways. Some use the popular calendars and organizers
while others attend to due dates and plan for the
priorities, leaving considerable leeway to be flexible
and spontaneous about remaining work.
Demarest also states that many ESTP's don’t use a
calendar or planner and that those who do tend to use
them selectively. For example, one reported using a
planner for work but not for his social or personal
life. Another records only the important activities for
each day. Some think and work in terms of chunks of time
rather than hour-by-hour. ESTP's also report using
electronic calendars and organizers.
ESFP's keep track of their work, according to Demarest,
in a variety of ways, ranging from the prevalent, more
formal systems and computer calendars to relying on
reminders from team members and keeping a simple to-do
list or a mental list.
Before the new year arrives, take some time to evaluate
your current time management system, and if it’s not
working for you, consider what other people of your
personality type find effective. If you’ve never taken
the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, maybe it’s time that
you discovered the many ways that a deeper understanding
of yourself can benefit you, both personally and
professionally.
Although there are many online assessments claiming to
be the same as the MBTI®, the best way to understand
your personality type is to take an official MBTI®
instrument from a professional who has met the standards
necessary to be "qualified" to administer the test.
Further Reading
Out of Time: How the Sixteen Types Manage Their Time and
Work by Larry Demarest
LifeTypes by Sandra Krebs Hirsch & Jean Kummerow |
