Life as an introvert: What are the different types of introverts?

There are many types of people in today's world but generally we can all fall into one of three categories: Introverts, Ambiverts and Extroverts.

Recently, I attended the Quietly Influential Summit for Introverts online. The summit occurred over five days and involved seminars run by different people talking all about introverts and being introverted entrepreneurs.

The seminars covered a variety of different topics from what an introvert actually is to how to communicate in the best way whilst networking. My sister and I both attended the summit and I must say, it was a fascinating way to spend my afternoons.

We both class ourselves as introverts - although sometimes I feel a bit like an ambivert - so learning how to utilise our introversion as best we can to maximise our performance whilst working was incredibly helpful.

After learning a lot from the summit, I thought I'd share some of my key takeaways on WriteWatchWork in case there are fellow introverts out there.

One thing that piqued my interest was knowing the many types of introverts - there isn't just one. In fact, there are four. They are the: Thinking Introvert, Restrained Introvert, Social Introvert and the Anxious Introvert.

Now, before I share what the different types are, let's take a look at the definition of an introvert. Oxford Dictionary defines an introvert as:

"A shy, reticent person"

Or the psychological definition which is: "A person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than with external things."

And whilst these may be true, I prefer my definition:

'An introvert is someone who thrives on being in solitude and having an inner focus.'

From the summit, I learnt that one key difference between introverts and extroverts is the effect of social interactions. Extroverts are more outgoing people who thrive on socialising, whereas introverts, as above, are the opposite.

During the summit, we were given a metaphor to help convey this difference. For example, imagine having five spoons. Each day an introvert would wake up with those five spoons, fully energised. As the day goes on, with each social interaction a spoon is used up so that by the time the day ends, an introvert has no spoons left.

For extroverts, they would wake up with zero spoons. For them, as they go about their day, each social interaction would provide them with a spoon because they get energy from interacting with others.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the different kinds of introverts.

Thinking Introvert:

The thinking introvert is someone with high levels of thinking introversion. What that means is generally during social interaction, they're the quieter ones.

They like to think and ponder and process. Thinking introverts also tend to be good strategists, making it easier for them to analyse and communicate their personal brand.

Restrained Introvert:

Now a restrained introvert is probably what you think it is. These people are not very good at being spontaneous - they're restrained.

Restrained introverts like to have a plan and prepare themselves for the day ahead and for every eventuality.

Social Introvert:

Typically, people think all introverts are very shy and rather anti-social and whilst some may prefer to not socialise, it's not a definite trait of introverts.

Social introverts are those that find socialising easier, compared to the other types. They are also the ones who find themselves happy in small groups as well as in their solitude.

Anxious Introvert:

The anxious introvert is the type of introvert that can be misconstrued because of its name. In truth, the anxious introvert isn't always a sufferer of anxiety.

Instead, they're introverts who seek more solitude and try to take the focus off of themselves and place it on someone else. For example, in the business world, an anxious introvert would focus more on their clients and spotlighting them.

What type am I?

Now you know the main four types of introverts, do you see yourself in them? I took a quiz and it revealed that I'm a social introvert. My results said:

This actually suits me as I do express myself as an extrovert sometimes but do find being on my own refreshing and recharging. Also I am a bit of a people pleaser so the final sentence about not overloading myself and accepting that I can't make everyone happy is something I should probably take onboard a lot more.

If you think you're an introvert, let me know what type. It's not something to be ashamed of, no matter what society may convey.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be writing more blogs about introversion and things I learnt from the Quietly Influential Summit, so if you enjoyed this post, stay tuned.

Until next time...