Here’s How You’re Sabotaging Your Sleep, Based On Your Myers-Briggs® Personality Type

Do you ever have trouble sleeping at night because there’s just so much to think about and do? Perhaps you fall asleep easily, but keep waking up! In today’s article we’re taking a slightly humorous look at why the different personality types just can’t get the shut-eye they crave.

To preface the article, here are some crucial tips and techniques for improving your sleep, regardless of your Myers-Briggs® personality type:

• Increase bright light exposure during the day
• Avoid blue light at night (from phones, computers, televisions, or lights)
• Don’t consume caffeine late in the day
• Reduce naps after 3 PM, and try to keep naps to 20 minutes in length
• Sleep and wake at consistent times as much as possible
• Keep your bedroom between 60-67 degrees
• Reduce light in your room
• Play white noise
• Don’t eat late in the evening
• Exercise during the daytime, but not within the hour before bed
• Make sure you have a comfortable mattress, comforter, and pillow

Okay, now that the practical stuff is out of the way, let’s take a look at why you’ve been staying awake!

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Here’s How You’re Sabotaging Your Sleep, Based On Your Myers-Briggs® Personality Type

If you’re an ENFP

You’re probably up late theorizing about the how amazing your life would be if you could just sell all your possessions, live in an RV, and travel the world. You start listing your material possessions and valuing them based on how helpful they would be in your new nomadic lifestyle. You’ve read about people who have done this and you’re convinced that it’s the only way to be truly happy. The thought of a 9-5 job feels like slow death.

Read This Next: 10 Must-Read Books for ENFPs

If you’re an ENTP

You’re up late because someone on Reddit told you about a new conspiracy theory and now you can’t stop thinking about it (or the arguments against it). Even though you know the theory is most likely inaccurate, you can’t help but be fascinated by it. You start to look for evidence to support the theory and you find yourself scrambling down a rabbit hole of related theories. As you try to sleep, you keep waking up with “aha” counter-arguments to every possible theory, and new counter-arguments for your own arguments.

Read This Next: 10 Must-Read Books for ENTPs

If you’re an INFP

You’re up late because you’re imagining a utopian universe where everyone is kind and accepting. This world is so perfect that it almost makes you cry. You then start to worry that you’ll never find a partner or friend who shares your ideals and you’ll die alone. To make matters worse, all the happy couples you know seem to be miserable behind closed doors. You start to feel like love is a lie and you’ll never find true happiness. You watch your favorite Harry Potter movie so that you can believe in the best of humanity again.

Read This Next: 3 Weird and Wonderful Secrets of the INFP Personality Type

If you’re an INTP

You’re up late because you have an unfinished podcast, report, or project that’s due tomorrow. You’re trying to finish it, but you keep getting sidetracked by new ideas related (and, let’s face it, unrelated) to the project. Suddenly, you have a Eureka moment and you start working on a whole new project or venture. The new idea is so much better than your original idea that you can’t help but work on it till 5 AM. Finally, you close out of your internet browser (and the 57 tabs left open on it), plug in your phone, and dream about giant algorithms fighting each other to the death.

Read This Next: A Look at the INTP Leader

If you’re an ENFJ

You’re up late because two of your friends are not speaking to each other, and you’re trying to mediate the situation. You can easily see the inconsistencies in each of their arguments, but you know that they’re both too proud to admit they’re wrong. You start to write a long message to each of them, explaining why they should make up, but you eventually fall asleep at your laptop. In the morning, you wake up to find that you accidentally sent the message to both of them.

If you’re an ENTJ

You’re up late because you know it’s only a matter of time before the world ends due to global warming, warfare, or a rogue asteroid headed towards the planet. You put together your dream team of people to help you save the world and you start making a plan. But then you realize that your dream team is full of people with different opinions and worldviews. Eventually, everyone would start having pointless arguments and the plan would fall flat. As the sun starts to come up, you finally fall asleep after deciding that the only way to save the world is to take over as its dictator.

Read This Next: 10 Must-Read Books for ENTJs

If you’re an INFJ

You’re up late because your friends keep calling you to trauma-dump all their problems on you. As the designated listener of the group, you feel obligated to stay up and listen to their every problem, even though you have your own problems to deal with. You lie in bed wide awake, trying to figure out your own feelings about things because you’ve been so busy managing everyone else’s personal problems. Right as you’re getting close to an epiphany about one of your own issues, you fall asleep and dream that you’re being chased by a giant, amorphous blob.

Read This Next: How INFJs Process Emotions

If you’re an INTJ

You’re up late because you can’t stop thinking about all the things you have to do tomorrow. You make a list in your head of all the things you need to do and then you start planning out how to do them as efficiently as possible. But then you get sidetracked by an article about a new study that debunks the efficiency of your current method. You read more and more articles until you’ve completely lost track of time. As the sun starts to come up, you finally fall asleep after deciding that the only way to really be efficient is to clone yourself.

Read This Next: 12 Stress-Busting Techniques for INTJs

If you’re an ESFP

You’re up late because you’re trying to find a way to make your life more exciting. You feel like you’re stuck in a rut and you don’t know how to get out of it. You start brainstorming ideas for new hobbies, but then you realize that you don’t have the time or money for any of them. So, you start looking up ways to get rich quick. But then you realize that all those methods are illegal. You spend the rest of the night watching videos of people who have been arrested for trying to get rich quick and you finally fall asleep feeling glad that you’re not one of them.

If you’re an ESTP

You’re up late because you convinced your friends that white-water rafting under the moonlight would be a fun adventure. But now that you’re actually in the raft, people are starting to complain about the icy-cold water (it is March after all) and the fact that the moon is hiding behind the clouds. Wimps. You try to rally the troops and get them pumped up for the adventure, but it’s not working. Eventually, people start bailing out of the raft and you’re left alone to navigate the rapids by yourself. As you finally make it to shore, you realize you lost one of your friends somewhere along the way. You spend the rest of the night searching for them, but you never find them.

Read This Next: Understanding ESTP Sensing

If you’re an ISFP

You’re up late because you have to make a playlist to help you channel the right mood during your painting session tomorrow. But then you get sidetracked by an article about a your favorite artist and you start reading about their life and work. This leads you to watch a documentary about them, which then leads you to watch a movie that was inspired by their work. You finally fall asleep as the sun starts to come up, feeling inspired to create your own masterpiece.

Read This Next: 10 Things That Excite the ISFP Personality Type

If you’re an ISTP

You’re up late because you’re trying to figure out how to make a working replica of the Batmobile. You’ve been tinkering with it for months, but you just can’t seem to get it right. The wheels keep falling off and the engine keeps catching fire. You’re about to give up when you have a sudden epiphany. You work through the night and finally finish your creation just as the sun comes up. As you take it for a test drive, you realize that you may have created something that is even better than the original.

Read This Next: 5 Reasons Why You’ll Need an ISTP During a Zombie Apocalypse

If you’re an ESFJ

You’re up late because you’re worried about your friend who is going through a tough time. You try baking them a chocolate cake, but then remember that they’re trying to eat healthy. Carrot cake? No, they have a nut allergy. You spend the night looking up recipes and finally settle on a zucchini bread. You stay up all night baking it and then deliver it to your friend’s house early in the morning. They are so touched by your gesture that they start crying and you spend the rest of the day comforting them.

If you’re an ESTJ

You’re up late because your kitchen is poorly organized. Your significant other has put the toaster in the wrong place and it’s driving you crazy. You start moving things around, but then you can’t find your favorite knife. So, you start unpacking all the boxes that are still in the kitchen from when you moved in. But then you realize that you don’t know where half of this stuff came from. You spend the rest of the night sorting through everything and trying to find a place for it all. But in the end, you just throw it all in the dumpster.

If you’re an ISFJ

You’re up late because you just remembered an embarrassing moment that happened in middle school. Determined to never let anything like that happen again, you start brainstorming a list of social rules that you will never break. However, the more you think about it, the more you realize how many social rules there are and how often you break them without even realizing it. You start to feel overwhelmed and anxious about all the ways you could potentially embarrass yourself.

Read This Next: 10 Things You Should Never Say to an ISFJ

If you’re an ISTJ

You’re up late because you’re preparing your taxes. You want to make sure that you take advantage of every deduction possible, but you’re not sure if you’re doing it right. So, you spend the night reading through the tax code and trying to figure it out. Then you start Googling everything to make sure you’re not missing anything. You finally fall asleep at your desk just as the sun comes up, accidentally spilling your mug of tea over your laptop in the process and losing all your work.

You Might Also Like This Article: What ISTJs Do When They’re Stressed Out

What Are Your Thoughts?

Did you enjoy this article? Do you have any insights or tips for other readers? Let us know in the comments!

Find out more about your personality type in our eBooks, Discovering You: Unlocking the Power of Personality Type,  The INFJ – Understanding the Mystic, The INTJ – Understanding the Strategist, and The INFP – Understanding the Dreamer. You can also connect with me via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!