Handling Time Alone

I've recently been thinking about the way that different people handle being all by themselves for periods of time. .When I was younger and first living on my own, I realized that I automatically kept the TV on much of the time when I was alone. Now that I'm older, I can sit with music or total silence and either works fine. I've also noticed that, when I'm traveling on business, I'm a very different person alone than when I'm with a group.

So tell me, what things do you do, when you're all alone? Do you find yourself resort to "tricks" to keep yourself occupied? Does it matter whether you're at home or away? Also, does it matter if the isolation is short-term or long-term?

 

I find that a lot of how one handles alone time is dependant upon the degree to which one is an introvert or an extrovert. (Introverts are those that get energy from being alone, extroverts are those that get energy from being with others.)

The more extroverted one is, I believe, the more one seeks to fill alone time with the voices of others: TV, radio talk shows, books on tape, constantly being on chat with people, etc. The more introverted one is, the more one is comfortable with silence, or with reading (which, though it incorporates "voices of others" in the sense of an author's words or the "voices" of the characters, is filtered through one's own mental voice and images), or at least with a little music.

 

I'm an introvert. Silence is fine with me, indeed, voices on the TV or radio would drive me crazy if I'm not directly listening.

 

I'm very happy to be alone.
And now that we have kids I treasure alone time even more.
And I do not ever want the TV on providing random noise.
What really flips people out is my wife and I spending hours together at home, saying nary a word yet both being very content with each other and with our relationship.

 

Interesting observation, @Levite. My personality has migrated over the years from introvert to more of an extrovert. I now find a silent room to be a joy to experience.

 

Interesting! That's very unusual for an extrovert. Maybe you (like me) straddle the border in some ways. Have you taken the Meyers-Briggs (MBTI)?

 

I like alone time. At home, I have music on and only turn the tv on to watch something.

I do a lot of reading. I also tend to go to the pub, alone, for food and reading. I make time for a massage. I ride my bike.

I tend to get about six weeks each summer where the family is gone for the summer. This year it looks like I will be halving that as I am looking to spend three weeks in Canada with them.

 

I enjoy being alone. Silence is fine, unless I'm cleaning, in which case I'll crank up the radio. I don't like the TV going if I'm not actively watching it, though...too distracting.

I usually get Saturdays to myself, and it's marvelous. I occasionally get evenings during the week alone, and it's a super sweet bonus. I spend most of that alone time reading, working out, or playing video games.

Going on vacation with other people is what gets to me. I try to steal moments to myself so I can just breathe, and when that isn't an option, I put headphones in for a bit.

 

I'm perfectly good with alone time. It's feeling lonely—left out, forgotten—even if I'm surrounded by people, that sucks. As introverted and "loner-ish" as I may have been characterized by many people in my life throughout the years, I have always valued feeling included and being part of something bigger than myself perhaps more than I should. Feeling like—and, more importantly, being made to feel like—the odd one out is never fun.

 

Streaming videos of various types.
Playing guitar.
Messing with computery stuff.
Writing.

I need alone time otherwise I start getting über twitchy.

 

I read. I might or might not have the TV on for the noise. I do a lot of internet reseach that's not job related. Since my schedule is flexible, I sometimes go out bargain hunting at thrift stores & resale shops to get out of the house.

 

I just want to go on the record as saying you might have had some less than ideal people in your life that made that happen.

Remember that you're the life of the party with my friends and they love you very much.

 

I know it. More importantly, I feel it.

 

I know that feeling all too well. I've never been a joiner, usually felt that what some people expected of me in order to accept me wasn't worth the effort. How much of that was real, and how much was my misperceptions, can be debated, which I've frequently done in my mind. Thankfully that's changed, at the least gotten somewhat better, over the years.

 

When I was younger, especially in my teens, I spent a lot of time alone. I tried to find an emoticon with raised eyebrows suggesting masturbation but failed to pick a satisfactory smiley. I actually spent a lot of my time watching TV, mostly when I didn't have much time to hang out with friends (during weekdays and such). I rely less on that now, and actually find some enjoyment in going out to eat or just to walk around town when I'm not busy. I'm a good mix of an introvert and an extrovert: I like spending time with my few very good friends, but would be perfectly content with being alone for a while.

 

I get panic attacks. Its people, not spaces. I am hardly ever alone. I have my dogs. Sometimes, like in the bog, I would rather be alone than have this semi-circle of little faces staring at me. Perhaps its partly due to us all treating the dogs droppings like gold bullion - racing over and wrapping it up all safe and snug.
I do like to have the radio on when I am driving (with dogs), and even sing along badly with a fair amount of gusto at times. I have conversations with the dogs.
As another one who feels or felt like an outsider looking in - is it our expectations? Is the idea of 'normal socialising' as much of a fib as a snow covered Dickensian xmas scene where none of the kids have nits or ricketts?