So you've done a personality test and the results are in: you're a Judger. If you're not too familiar with Myers and Briggs' way of describing personality, being called a Judger may sound like cause for concern. But there's no need to feel defensive! Judging, in this context, has more to do with how you approach life—not how judgmental you are.
By now, you’ve certainly heard of the term “social distancing”. In case you’ve been living under a rock, it’s a bona fide strategy for minimizing the spread of COVID-19. Guidelines for social distancing may vary based on geography, time and the severity of the situation but, ultimately, the advice is to avoid (or at least limit) in-person contact with others. Basically, it means canceling events, avoiding crowds, limiting yourself to tiny social gatherings and staying 6 feet away from others. Yes, even in the grocery store.
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when feelings of holiday cheer and terrible anxiety flooded the Judger. The holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year — for the most part. But as an INFJ—one of the eight Judging types in Myers Briggs typology—my Judging component often gets tested come November and December.
The Sensing-Judging or “SJ” personality type is ideal for certain career tracks and vocations that involve the practical application of knowledge in a structured way. Libraries, laboratories, spreadsheets and engines, call to us like sirens. We are masters at pulling together vast amounts of minutiae and arranging them into cohesive and efficient wholes. When we focus in on a profession, we tend to become “Masters of One”.
With Perceivers described as indecisive, freewheeling, impulsive types and Judgers described as focused, organized and dependable, you'd think that Judgers had it made. After all, the Judging side of the fence is where the lawyers, executives and Marie Kondo hang out, all pushing the "Inbox Zero" movement and telling us that radical organization is life-changing in its ability to increase productivity and lower stress.
The dirty little secret? It's actually a bit rubbish being a Judger. Here's why.
My husband and I were married in 1988. While you do the math, I want to mention in passing that we had not taken any personality tests at the time, so we were blissfully unaware that we were both TJs. The fact that he had firmly decided against getting married before we were both twenty years old should have raised a flag, but at the time it seemed like common sense.
Thinking is the function based on how you make decisions, found in the four-function stacking of your 16-personality type. It comes in two distinct flavors: Introverted Thinking (Ti) and Extraverted Thinking (Te).
If the final letter of your Myers-Briggs personality type is a J, you are a Judger. You’re a planner, scheduler, and list maker. Your opposite is the Perceiver. They tend to make decisions as they go, and might change their plans at the last minute.
As a Judger, last minute changes can be a real challenge to your balance. They’re also unavoidable. When they happen at work, you’re expected to roll with it and remain productive. That requires some coping skills. Fortunately, there are some strategies to help you handle these situations.
How do you look at life? According to the brilliant Swiss-American physicist Albert Einstein, our choice of how to live life is simple. “There are only two ways to live your life”, he reportedly said. “One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
I'm British and we're famous for how frequently we say sorry.
If we sneeze, we say sorry. If we stop someone to ask for directions, we say sorry. If you're rushing around like a reckless fool and you crash into us (your fault, not ours), we'll be the one to say sorry. It's like a verbal tic on a national scale.
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