Introverts and extroverts have different ideas of what activities are fun. The following five leisure activities are things that probably only introverts will enjoy.
Most likely, this list of leisure activities will sound fun to you if you are an introvert and will seem somehow weird if you are not.
1. Staying home alone
Oh, the bliss of an evening with no plans. Better still a weekend! Us introverts are not afraid of time by ourselves with nothing particular to do. When the house is silent and empty, we feel relaxed and happy. When we have a few hours when we can focus on our inner lives without worrying about what other people think, it’s bliss! Being alone is one of our all-time favorite leisure activities.
For us introverts, an evening without plans is usually something of a relief. If we have had a busy day with lots of people around, we look forward to solitude and not having to worry about making a good impression or pleasing others. We will happily lock the doors, pull the curtains, switch off our phones and bask in the solitude.
Being alone is also an opportunity to do some deep work without any interruptions. We can really focus on that French subtitled film, our new book or a particularly tricky knitting pattern. With no need to please anyone else for a few hours we can be truly ourselves.
2. Going out alone
Many introverts are also happy going out alone, eating alone, and even going on holiday alone. When we do something by ourselves, it gives us an opportunity to really think about something without having to be sociable at the same time.
For example, we may visit an art gallery to look at an amazing artwork and be really able to focus on it without the need to uphold our end of the conversation. Introverts have a rich inner life that needs feeding with beautiful experiences. It’s hard for us to take anything in deeply when there is too much distraction.
3. Solo activities
Introverts do not like team-building exercises or icebreakers. The thought of making a raft and then racing across the river with the rest of the group fills us with horror. Some introverts like team sports and group activities, some of the time. But most introverts choose leisure activities that are purely solo pursuits.
Many love to create. They will happily spend an entire weekend writing alone, painting alone or gardening alone. Some love to do solo sports like running or swimming. Introverts often have projects they are working on just for the fun of it.
Of course, we introverts love to spend time with our favorite people, too. It’s just that we need to be alone to fully recharge.
4. People watching
Introverts love people and are fascinated by them. This is why people-watching is another of our favorite leisure activities. We can sit on a bench and happily watch the world go by for an hour or two. We are not judging others, when we do this, we are simply curious about what makes other people tick.
When we go to a party, we can often be found at the edges of groups simply watching, for the same reason. We don’t feel the need to be the center of the attention.
5. Daydreaming and night thinking
Perhaps the introvert’s top leisure activities are daydreaming and night thinking. There is so much going on inside our heads we sometimes just need to spend some time in there by ourselves.
Admittedly, sometimes inside our own heads can be a tricky place to be. We can spend hours worrying that we said the wrong thing in a past conversation, especially during sleepless nights. Equally, we can spend hours rehearsing possible future situations that will probably never happen!
But having the time to process all these things is important to us. It’s like having a tidy up inside our heads, sorting and filing our thoughts to make sense of our world.
And we have fun in our own heads too. After a profitable session of people watching, we might make up stories about the people, we have seen. Or we might daydream about our plans for the future. Just sitting and staring into space or watching the clouds go by is enough to keep us amused.
It’s easy to see why it can be hard for extroverts to understand introverts. It’s such a different way of being.
But the world needs a balance of these two types of person and neither is better than the other. The important thing is to accept who you are and not force yourself to be more outgoing than you are.
There is no shame in spending an evening alone – just you and your macramé, oil paints or stamp collection. Embrace your introversion and make time for the leisure pursuits that support you.
