How to Charge Your Social Battery
Feeling drained after the Thanksgiving holiday? Have you been stuck behind a computer all work week and you’re feeling down? These could be signs that you need to charge your social battery. However, the way in which you recharge will depend on your personality.
First, what is a social battery? The term social battery refers to a person’s capacity to interact with people or groups of people in social situations. When your social battery is full, you feel ready and energized to engage in conversations and interactions. When depleted, you feel irritable, fatigued, or you find it difficult to concentrate. A full battery allows you to more effectively interact with others. And in doing so, it strengthens your relationships and provides you with a feeling of connection and support. This meaningful social interaction is strongly connected to your happiness and your mental health.
The pandemic has caused us to spend increased time at home and to interact with a smaller social circle. Although this may be a welcome transition for introverts who enjoy their solitude, it can be quite taxing emotionally for extroverts. Depending on where you fall on the introvert-extrovert spectrum, how you charge your social battery will vary.
Here are some tips on charging your social battery…
For Introverts
Introverts get energy from within. They tend to think things through carefully and they do not enjoy being the center of attention. Spending longer periods of time in crowds or with many people will drain their social battery. Therefore, solitary activities are helpful to balance and recharge their social battery. Here are some examples:
Journaling
Exercising on your own (i.e., yoga or running)
Meditating
Reading
Using one’s creativity to make something (i.e., cooking, painting, woodworking or crafting)
Taking a break from social media and going for a walk
For Extroverts
Extroverts draw energy from other people and their surroundings. They enjoy being with large groups of people, they tend to be talkative and outgoing, and they dislike being alone. Socializing with others is what fuels an extrovert’s social battery. Here are some ways extroverts can recharge:
Making plans with friends and family (i.e., biking outside, video calls with family, or meeting friends for coffee)
Zooming with co-workers to talk through plans
Attending concerts, book clubs or workshops either in-person or online
Volunteering your time to help others
Omniverts and Ambiverts
Although these two terms have been used interchangeably, their meaning differs. Ambiverts tend to lie in the middle of the extrovert-introvert spectrum. Whereas omniverts fluctuate being introverted or extroverted depending on the social situation. Regardless, both types of people gather energy from both social settings and from being alone. This makes gauging one’s social battery needs more challenging. Finding an equal balance of the combined above activities will be a balancing act in order to make the most of your social battery charge.
No matter how your personality draws its energy, remember that you are a unique individual. Falling on one end of the spectrum isn’t better or worse than the other. However, it’s important to understand how you take in the world around you and how it affects your mood and energy. This will allow you gauge when and how to recharge your social battery.