Thinking Personality Types: Adulting Superpowers and Projects

People who filter their decisions through a more rational process would seem to be perfect at adulting. It makes sense to organize one’s life. Some among the Thinking personality types might even infuse adulting tasks with a strategic significance to blend into a broader vision. “How shall I make my life well-lived?” But those with the Thinking trait may also run into some real problems when they come across the more mundane and conventional aspects of taking on adult responsibility.

Let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Thinking personality trait as it relates to adulting. But before we start, if you don’t know whether you have the Thinking trait or not, follow this link to our free test to find out.

The Adulting Superpowers of Thinking Personality Types

These will make things easier for Thinking types when it comes to adulting.

New Information from New Experiences

Most Thinking personalities are always on the hunt to increase their collection of facts and ideas. If you think about it, adulting, by definition, involves novel experiences and something to explore. If a person with the Thinking trait takes the right attitude, it can become an opportunity to learn.

That said, we don’t want to make a lot of it. So little of adulting is rocket science. But there may be some hidden gems that might challenge Thinking individuals’ rationality. The area of finances comes to mind. Depending on their other traits, people with the Thinking trait could find some aspects of adulting quite interesting and thus motivating.

The Inherent Logic of Adulting

People attempt adulting because it makes sense. A person could wander through life without any of the skills associated with adulting – and some probably do. But most attempt to take on adult responsibilities independently because they know it’s the smart way to live. A little buckling down now means less pain later. The rational nature of it all is likely to appeal to Thinking personalities and motivate them to explore the secrets of adulting.

However, Thinking types aren’t likely to take things at face value. Just because adults have always done something one way won’t mean that it’s the right way in their eyes. These personality types will likely look for ways to improve upon adulting and to bring it more into the range of rational behavior. “I was taught to wet my toothbrush before adding the paste. But, if you think about it, that’s a wasted step. Why do you need water at all?” Nothing is safe from their challenges.

Potential Adulting Projects for Thinking Personality Types

Nobody is perfect. Everybody needs to pay attention to the obstacles in their lives and maybe even turn some into projects for improvement.

Adding a Little Warmth and Compromise Could Help

It does an injustice to Thinking personalities to paint them as unfeeling. Nonetheless, their sometimes deep feelings are not where they go first when reacting to others, and they can appear a little harsh and exacting. But how does that affect adulting?

If adulting involves someone else – a spouse, a roommate, children, or whoever – it may be necessary to consider others’ feelings. Depending on your other personality traits, you may find yourself insisting that others do things your way. You might think: “Doing it this way makes the most sense, right? So what’s the objection?” Your confidence in your conclusions is laudable right up to the point where it becomes rigidity. At that point, it may cause more conflict than it’s worth. Try to build in a little flexibility and respect for the ideas of others involved.

An Endless Loop of Questions

Thinking types sometimes probe a matter until they are either satisfied that it makes sense or they find a justification for replacing it. Questioning is usually healthy and often useful when adulting. However, if people with this trait question everything, they may end up doing more questioning than adulting. How long should one explore the efficiency of the steps of washing dishes at the expense of making actual, nontheoretical dirty dishes clean?

If you possess the Thinking personality trait, you may want to prioritize the different adult tasks of your life. If the task takes a lot of extra time or energy, perhaps it’s worth exploring further for alternatives. A few tweaks might make it less taxing or more efficient. But you want it to be worth your time. If it’s a small, manageable task that just needs to be done regularly, you may not want to focus on its processes that much. Sometimes you may want to pick apart an adulting activity just for the mental exercise and for your amusement. That’s up to you. But don’t sacrifice completing the task to such puzzles.

Final Thoughts

You’re probably good at mindful adulting and bringing practical solutions to everyday problems. But keep in mind that the tasks that are part of adulting are more than concepts. At times, it may be more important to just do the tasks rather than spend a lot of time thinking about them.