Personal blog: Differences between introverts and extroverts in Covid-19 times

Due to the Covid-19 coronavirus, practically everyone is in different stages of quarantine. In China and some other Asian countries it has already been completed, but in some parts of Europe and America the virus is still in important contagion stages. Possibly for the first time in history, everyone is quarantined at almost the same time, and this is primarily based on social distancing, which does not imply not interacting with anyone, but keeping our distance from others when we do.

During this quarantine, my life has not changed except for the greater contact I have with my students via social networks and WhatsApp to be able to teach them remotely. But apart from that I have not resented the so-called social isolation that quarantine entails, largely because I live alone and I am an introvert. Which made me think that for the introverts, or at least for a good part of them, the impact of the quarantine is not going to be as strong as that for the extroverts, who usually "feed" on the company of others.

To the natural consequences that it implies for the society of a good part of the world to spend more time at home than they are used to, such as a greater family coexistence, taking up forgotten hobbies, seeing how to exercise at home, and a long etcetera that has become the subject of countless videos on YouTube, in short, introverts and extroverts live in different ways the confinement in general, and that puts in advantage introverts accustomed by their own nature to spending more time with themselves and not necessarily so much surrounded by the others.

With my books, my collection of movies, series, music and video games, I can spend weeks and even months without feeling the urgent need to leave. I can also start drawing, writing, painting and designing to occupy my time, activities that are usually done alone.

For an extrovert who likes to go out and spend time with his friends, family and acquaintances, much more than introverts, I consider that the quarantine can be heavier and will be more resentful of the confinement. Fortunately, there is Skype and other similar applications that allow them to interact, even if not in person, with other people as much as they want, although for some this may not be enough.

If you are an extrovert, try to stay busy and live more with those at hand: your family. You may find that you don't know them as much as you thought. But don't forget to give them their space, especially if there is an introvert among them, or you may inadvertently complicate things.

Play online, enter forums, find a community on a topic that interests you and join it, you will see that you can make valuable friends at a distance that after this health contingency you can even meet in real life and add your group of friends.

If you are an introvert, be patient with your extrovert relatives but give yourself your place, claim your space, and also take the opportunity to get closer to them, this may be an opportunity to get to know them better and strengthen ties, and even heal wounds or shorten distances.

Don't run away from coexistence as much and try to be more sociable, at least with those closest to you. Take the opportunity to immerse yourself in those projects or plans that you had pending, read some out, see some series from start to finish, let yourself be carried away by your hobbies and make the most of your time.