Courtney Ellis

I love people. People are awesome.

I’m also an introvert. Like, a serious introvert. As in, if I don’t get a decent chunk of time to myself each week and at least a little bit each day, I start feeling like my soul has been rubbed with sandpaper.

How can you tell whether you’re an introvert? Here are ten (decidedly unscientific) signs.

1. It takes you a minute to prepare to be social

Not that I’ve ever hidden in a hoodie, mind you. That’d be childish. Or introverted…

2. Party invitations are exciting but also kind of make you want to run away

Introverts can make small talk for about six minutes before they want to pull the fire alarm.

3. Unexpectedly getting a night to just be at home fills you with delight

“No meeting tonight? Guess that means I get to hang out with myselllllf!”

3. Sitting next to someone suuuuper chatty on an airplane is your worst nightmare

Time to pretend to sleep for the next six hours!

4. When you get home after a long day of being “on,” you collapse

Don’t mind me. I’ll just be over here TALKING TO NO ONE EVER AGAIN.

5. You dread the words: “I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d stop by.”

If you need a 10-minute warning to work up to having visitors, you’re probably an introvert.

6. People have told you “You don’t seem like an introvert!”

Introverts aren’t antisocial. We like people. We just need breaks from them sometimes.

Side note: the majority of pastors are introverts who have learned to function as extraverts because their jobs are so people-focused. I definitely fall into that category.

7. You rejoice when someone asks if you want to leave a big group to hang out one-on-one

I’m pretty sure my husband and I started to fall in love the day he asked me if I wanted to leave a club in Oxford to go to the library.

“It’s too loud in here to read anyway,” he said.

Our nerddom knows no bounds.

8. Spending a whole day with people and still having a little social energy left over is a victory

It always feels like a little bit of a miracle.

9. You can find ways to be alone, even in a crowd

Nothing to see here! Just need to wear my helmet/go to the bathroom/check my phone/crawl under the table for a sec…

10. Sometimes you even decide to go out with people after a really busy week

Living on the edge, you are.

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Are you an introvert or an extravert? How did you first figure it out?