Introverted Women of Reddit: How do you increase the capacity of your social battery?

16 comments

1. Alcohol

2. I respect my capacity by not engaging with people when I’m not up for it. I can increase it temporarily with alcohol or when I absolutely need to, but I always pay the price after.

3. Adderall

4. I find knowing my limits and respecting those limits helps me to recover faster. Also having adequate recovery after big social interactions allows me to be fully charged for the next interaction.

5. I listen to my body when I may need to be in social situations. If I’m doing okay, I’ll power through it, but if not, I’ll try to cut out early or just not go. I’m generally not a very social person so forcing myself to do something I’m unable to do can only end badly. In desperate cases I’ve chugged black coffee or a Bang and just went on with it and hated every single second, but thankfully those cases are rare.

6. I just to smile and be kind (say good morning and stuff like that). It makes people around me happier and makes me feel comfortable

7. I don’t. Once it’s out, I’m out.

8. I just get tired of being lonely, talking to people is usually less difficult than being alone! At least until I get tired of talking to people 😂

9. You hang out with people that are easy going and people that don’t mind silence. Nothing is more draining than hanging out with someone that has to constantly talk because they don’t like “awkward” silences

10. If I’m in a situation where I absolutely have to stick it out, I either go quiet and merely observe whilst trying to engage through facial expressions, keeping my responses to a minimum or I look for a way to escape for a mini solo adventure and then come back… eventually.

    Though deep down I just want to crawl back into my hermit hole.

11. I charge up by only talking with those worth my time and whose company I enjoy. Then I do some self care after. College really made me more socially comfortable.

12. Honestly, I am tired of the subtle and sometimes not so subtle messaging in our society: introverts need to be fixed. No, no we don’t.

13. Alcohol.
    Its not pretty.

14. I always make sure to take time for myself. I have an extremely social job and it is incredibly draining, so it’s really imperative to get that time at home where I’m not bothered by anyone and I can just chill out doing my own thing, with zero talking or other forms of socialising.

15. By learning to set boundaries and say no to things I’m not comfortable with/don’t want to do. This has actually increased by capacity to socialize as I don’t feel burned out all the time. Alcohol also helps although I tend not to go down that route anymore. Also living alone…. As I naturally have more time on my own so I do feel like I now enjoy social contact more.

16. Okay, this might seem counter intuitive to all the information we have in the public domain about introverts. Turns out introverts have well functioning neuro transmitters that give them their dose of dopamine by just few social interactions. Extraverts on the other hand need loads of social interactions to produce the same amount of dopamine. I’m an introvert and don’t need to increase the capacity, I’m happy with the quality of my social interactions, I connect seldom but connect deeply when I do.