Does anyone else need time alone regularly to get there head clear?

[itsathing]

I've always enjoyed doing things alone like shopping etc but at the same time love spending time with family and friends and really enjoy it when we all get together over a BBQ etc.

However, over the years especially since having kids I've noticed that I need this alone time. I'm currently a sahp so am constantly with someone 24/7 and all I want to do is runaway and be alone for a while. Recharge and then join in again!

Is anyone else like this?!

Yep!!! I have toddler twins, work full time but it’s 12 hour shifts so I’m off four days a week. When I’m with the kids is just constant noise, constantly. They never play quietly it’s always shouting, screaming, fighting, jumping over me. I have to leave the room sometimes and just go sit somewhere else.

I have the headspace app which I use when the kids are in bed, it’s wonderful!

Yes I need it!
Only one DC who is now 10 but I can't be joined at the hip with DP either and need lots of time alone

I end up staying up ridiculously late to get this alone time (mum to a 2 and 4 year old) which does me no favours because then I'm physically exhausted the next day which makes the mental exhaustion of constant company even worse....!

Yes. Needing time alone to recharge is essentially the definition of being an introvert. The book 'Quiet' by Susan Cain is very good on this.

I only realised that there was a glaring difference between introverts and extroverts when I did the Myers Briggs questionnaire. One of the recurring questions was something like "to relax, would you rather go for a walk in the wood, or to a party". My first thought was " who would go to a party to realax? Stupid question ". Turns out that a lot of people would do this.

I'm not an introvert, in the sense that I'm shy of withdrawn ( not that there is anything wrong with these things). No, I'm an introvert in the Myers Briggs assessment because I recharge my battery ( so to speake) by getting some alone time.

At the time I did Myers Briggs, I was a trainer who had no problem at all talking in front of a room full of strangers. But I had two rules when I was training in a residential course. I would, if possible, have breakfast in my room, and would never have pudding after the evening meal. The latter have me 15/20 minutes to " regroup' before evening activities.

I had twins and then a singleton straight after, and for a few years I hardly got any headspace and it made me quite ill. I remember what that was like and deliberately make time to shut down. A perfectly reasonable day is one spent on the sofa with my earplugs in.

i used to think i was an extrovert but since kids i just want to be left alone and am antisocial.
i go for lunches alone despite getting on with colleagues

Yep me too! Love nothing more than getting out on my own with the dog or a bike ride by myself for a bit of piece after a day with my toddler.

Yes me! I do need time on my own. I even took up running when DD was nearly two just for some headspace.

I'm home alone tonight for the first time in ages, it's great.

I do!

DH suffers from anxiety so often accompanies me when I go out and he works from home so gets lonely in the day. So I'm at work surrounded by people all day (teacher) then get home/have the weekend and he needs to hang around with me because he doesn't see many people all week. Argh! I get to a point where I have to go off on my own for a coffee or shopping or just to the bloody supermarket, or I cry or we end up having an argument or both!

He's more understanding of this than he used to be. I'm fine with hanging with him 98% of the time as long as I get a little time to myself.