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As someone who is an introvert, yet spends a significant part of her days with people, either coaching them, networking or otherwise engaging them, I know first-hand the challenges of balancing my business needs with my innate tendency for solitude, and the impact of ignoring it.

When I forget to balance the two, I find myself quickly frazzled, my mood deteriorates (I become quite snappy! Just ask my husband), and I start to get fewer and fewer things done, because I just want to drop everything and go hide in a cave away from everyone.   But when I give myself the alone time I need, everyone benefits: my clients, my family, my productivity, and, most importantly, myself.

As a productivity and work-life balance coach, I have met many clients who are like me and need to balance their introversion with an extrovert career or simply living in an extrovert world. Here is what I teach them:

Balancing moments of solitude and calm with moments of interaction is absolutely necessary for everyone. The difference between the introvert and the extrovert is in the amount of time needed. Introvert need a lot more of it. In a extrovert’s career (sales, marketing, representation, etc.), it is particularly difficult to find those moments, since the job requires you to be on representation all day long. However, there are still ways that you can do it, so that you can enjoy your work and balance it with your need for recharging alone time:

-  Block in your calendar, every day, alone time. This is not time to focus on your work without interruption, even though you need this too, this time is for recharging your batteries in solitude. It can be time you choose before or after work; it could be lunch taken alone, in a quiet place; time spent going to the local library and read a book in a calm environment; time walking in nature.

-  Take advantage of the natural slow moments to do a mini-recharge session. For instance, try to go to a client’s office on your own, as a solitude time. After a meeting with someone, take a couple of minutes alone to recenter.

-  When you can’t be away from people, for instance if you work in a cubicle, use relaxation and meditation techniques for a few minutes several times a day, if possible with earphones on your head to drown out the ambient chatter - just make sure to listen to relaxing music or noise such as white noise or the sound of ocean waves rather than rap or hard rock.

-  Make sure to sleep enough. Sleep is the most important element to being able to face the more challenging aspects of our lives. Sleep deprivation dramatically reduces our resiliency and makes it much easier for us to have difficulty dealing with the challenges that people around us come to us with. 90% of the population needs between 7.5 and 8.5 hours of sleep. Take them, you will see a dramatic difference within a day or two.

Following those tips will allow you, as an introvert, to engage more fully in the extrovert world - and to be much more productive as well. And if you are an extrovert reading this article? Put those tips in action as well. While you may need less of it, and your recharging activities may be different, you too need regular time to recharge.

Do you want to learn how to truly master your day so that you can have the life you want and enjoy it?

Visit DailyMastery.com to download your three gifts, The 5-Minute Time Management Solution, Daily Mastery’s 10 Top Time Management Mistakes and The Best-Kept Secret for Peak Productivity.

Karin Stewart, Ph.D., is a specialist in time, stress and energy management and work-life balance, and shows service professionals, solopreneurs and working moms how to get more done, in less time, and without the stress every day, so they can fully enjoy their lives. Working both in person and by phone, Karin’s clientele spans the country and the globe and includes individuals as well as organizations.

Productivity Secrets for the Introvert in an Extrovert World is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

Reason #1 - Networking

Having an extrovert friend at a networking event makes walking in the door much easier for the introvert.  Instead of resting by the punch  bowl waiting for someone else to reach out, tag along with your extrovert friend.  You'll be introduced to their circle as well as meet new people right along with your extrovert friend.  It's a great way to take the pressure off.  It also helps you conserve your energy so you can enjoy more and longer networking opportunities.

Reason #2 - Brainstorming

When it comes to developing new ideas, two heads are better than one - especially if they are different kinds of heads. Having an extrovert friend to help you brainstorm increases your potential ideas exponentially.  Let me explain.  You may come up with an idea.  Then your extrovert friend adds to it or adds two or three ideas to it.  Then you can look at the idea again and add multiple thoughts to it, too.  However, without the inclusion of your extrovert friend's differing viewpoint, you would have only had your single idea to start.

Reason #3 - Marketing

Nothing beats an extrovert friend to help you market your ideas, your business, whatever!  Once an extrovert gets excited about a concept or product, they want to share.  With the social media outlets available today, you want your extrovert friends to share their excitement with their large circle of friends.  With a little encouragement, they'll be sharing your ideas and connecting you with people who need you.

Reason #4 - Encouragment

While we extroverts seem a little crazy and a lot over busy (as my introvert husband reminds me), it is encouraging to see what can be done.  Extroverts will be the first to tell you, you can do it!  Having an extrovert friend, to help you garner some speed and enthusiasm just when you need it, is a blessing!

Reason #5 - Balance

Since I live with a strong introvert, I am constantly confronted with his desire to stay at home and recharge.  In fact, over the years, I've learned to protect the time he needs to rest and re-energize.  However, I sometimes need to provide the counterweight with my desire to get out and see people.  While my introvert may fuss at the process of leaving home, he finds he enjoys the time to share with friends and business associates.  Without each other, I would be an on the go, non-stop, all the time extrovert and he would huddle in his man cave letting the world pass him by.  Together, we have balance in our lives.

As an introvert you don't have to marry an extrovert to enjoy the balance, just recognize the need to have some close extrovert friends.  You'll be glad you did.

Theresa Wagar is the owner of Premier Design Websites.  With 15 years experience in helping small business successfully market themselves online, she has worked with extroverts and introverts alike.  Her latest video training project, www.blogkickstart.com is designed to help anyone starting  in online blogging overcome their technical challenges without a webmaster.  Theresa lives in the Virginia countryside with her introvert husband (thus the countryside) and two teenage sons.

5 Reasons Every Introvert Needs an Extrovert Friend is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

Manage your introversion without compromising personality issues

Introverts have more control over situations and on-the-job issues than they usually think they have. Introverts also have one huge social advantage – They recognize and respect other people’s space and sensitivities in any social environment. If you've never done sales training, you may be surprised to hear that's very good sales technique. "Managing introversion" really means adapting it to situations and issues.

Introverts often feel that they're being pushed into being pseudo-extroverts by social situations. This is a particularly irritating concept, and almost personally insulting in that it feels like you're actually being asked to be somebody else.
As a matter of fact, it’s a version of a far more familiar situation – The general cluelessness of non-introverts who simply don't understand even the basic ideas and emotions involved.

If you're asked to make a presentation or interact with a large group of people, you may feel you’re being asked compromise some core values and preferences.

This is where the “recognition and respect” sales technique approach comes in and it's very effective. Sensitivity and awareness of the space and feelings of others also means heightened social skills. Introverts, by definition, are better social navigators than most people.

When making a presentation a statement to a group, you have full control over where that situation goes.

For example:

• You can choose the topics
• You can choose the information available
• You can direct the logic of the situation
• You can ask questions

This is actually a sales technique. Good sales people don't charge up to customers and talk to them to death. Quite the opposite. They simply raise the issue of what the customer wants, provide information as required, and make suggestions.

Instead of "This is a terrific product…", They’re far more likely to start a dialogue with the simple control question, "Can I help you?" This approach is exactly what it looks like – Managing social interactions. The good salesperson is very much aware of the likely sensitivities and reactions to a hard sell sales pitch.

Some of the best motivators in the world will tell you that intrusive spiel and invasive babble are the worst possible techniques for talking to anyone about anything. They can be extremely counter-productive and often lead to conscious sales resistance. These are the behaviours that introverts avoid on principle. The introvert’s best social mechanism in these environments, ironically, is simply to be oneself.

These are situations where compromising personality traits really would be a bad move for an introvert. In customer service training, the common factors between customer service and introversion are that customer service training teaches people to listen to others and exercise their own their judgment, as introverts do naturally.

You don't need to be "fizzy" and outgoing to manage any social and business situations. Best practice, ironically for introverts, is to stay in character. You will get more respect for being yourself and not being superficial. Claude Hopkins, the father of American advertising, said long ago that people strongly resist hard sell. The introvert’s natural approach, which is soft sell with substance, always works better in any social environment.

What other natural tendencies do you have that you believe will help you in your marketing, sales and networking?

Manage your introversion without compromise is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

"The third little pig built his house out of bricks." My kind of pig! Go Piggy! When it comes to business, he thinks through his strategy, and he listens even more so to his true inner guidance. In life in general he is regularly recharging his energy, as he is aware and respectful that it is what it is. He asserts himself by saying "No," if needed. He plans for those required times of socializing – whether it's a family reunion or an association meeting – with purposeful alone time before and after. It's also a good idea to occasionally sneak in an unneeded trip to the restroom during activities with a good deal of extroverting. The wolf couldn't blow down this house.

Even the moral of the nursery rhyme has wisdom for the introvert, "The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can." Operative phrase is - as well as you can, not like someone else.

Be piggish today my introvert friend – it's National Pig Day and the Three Little Pigs want to play. When that hungry wolf knocks and says, "Are you in?" just answer that you prefer to rest right now. Or do something creative to raise your energy - that was my choice. What's yours?

Introverts and the Three Little Pigs: Happy National Pig Day is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

Pat and her recent guests have discussed how introverts see the world and how they can work collaboratively with extroverts. I’m an extrovert. In fact, my good friend Shoya Zichy, creator of the Color Q personality profiling system, calls me a “raging” extrovert.

By that she means that I need to be involved with community – people at work and in my personal life. I’m very outwardly focused. But I personally think the differences between introverts and extroverts in the business world are exaggerated. My recent collaboration with Pat on our ebook “Repairing the Elevator Speech to Burnish Your Brand” is evidence that introverts (Pat) and extroverts (me) can have stress-free collaborations that work.

Pat and I met on LinkedIn and neither one of us can remember who reached out first. We both belong to the Bloggers Helping Bloggers Group on LinkedIn and our relationship first started by our commenting on each other’s blogs. You know, one blogger helping another.

Discovering a Shared Interest

Soon we discovered that we shared a common distaste for most of the “elevator speeches” we are victim to at networking events. We started talking about how elevator speeches could be so much better. Eventually we interviewed each other in a series of blog posts that appeared on each of our sites. Then we decided to take all this good advice on what makes for a good elevator speech and turned it into ebook, “Repairing the Elevator Speech to Burnish Your Personal Brand.” We’re using it as an incentive to build our subscriber base and to promote our companies.

We also appeared as guests on Free Webinar Wednesdays about how we leveraged our relationship on LinkedIn. Now we’re cooking up ways to repurpose the book and get it more exposure – and more PR for ourselves.

So how did Pat and I get along? Splendidly. We agreed on a common goal – turning our blog posts into an ebook and we each pulled our own weight in dividing up the tasks. The fact that we are different personality types didn’t even register on the radar screen.

You know, introverts and extroverts have more in common than you think. We like alone time, too, but we usually don’t plan for it. We just fall down dead tired. Small talk annoys us too. I’m an ENTJ and I’m always ready to move in for the kill. “Let’s get this thing going!” I have to be careful that I respect introverts who need more time to think things through before acting. Just because they don’t speak up right away doesn’t mean they don’t have anything meaningful to say.

And if Pat hadn’t told me, I don’t think I would have guessed that she’s an introvert. She’s full of energy, outgoing and talkative. Just like an extrovert.

Jeannette Paladino is Writer-in-Chief for Write Speak Sell. She helps clients leverage social media to make more money.

Reflections on Being an Extrovert Working With an Introvert is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

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Just briefly, this is Stephanie’s 4th Self Improvement Giveaway. Stephanie started this style of event in 2006. I think I participated first in 2008. It’s in the form of a “Giveaway” which is sort of like a giant electronic trade fair where 100’s of experts offer their products free to the public.

Because it has become so popular, this year Stephanie has enlisted the services of Carolyn Hansen, renowned fitness professional, and Self Exteem Expert, Dr. Joe Rubino.

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Would you let me know what you think about the quality of the gifts you choose?

Self Improvement Gifts 5 Offers 100s of FREE Personal Growth Related Products, Services & Memberships is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

- Less small talk. When we are communicating, in particular in-person, let's have more meaningful conversations. Oh sure, I love jokes and humor as much as the next person, extrovert or introvert. But let's have less small talk.
- Hold on a moment. Before you think about interrupting me if you associate my quietness with taking a break, hold on! Don't interrupt me because it is likely I'm processing something in my mind.
- Be comfortable with silence. When were talking there is no need to fill a quiet gap with babble. We kind of like a quiet rest once in a while.
- Do use email and voice mail. I welcome communicating this way. It gives me time to think, if I need to, about what I want to say. You'll appreciate the answer better too!
- Allow me to be friendly, in my way. Just because I don't stay until the end of the networking event or the end of the party does not mean I wasn't friendly and having a good time. I just do it differently.
- Admit it: you relish some down time too. In particular after the hectic frenzy of holidays, I don't know of one person who doesn't welcome a breather, some down time or just a little alone time.

Are you an introvert? What's remaining on your preferred gift list?

Happy Introvert Day! is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

I recently was reminded of my stubbornness with my husband. I was resistant to the idea of my being resistant to change and then - I remembered a self-assessment, which told me this several years ago! The assessment called it, inflexible but it's the same thing. I started to get angry and then grew silent. I asked myself: "Maybe it's time I let this go!"

Once I gave myself the needed time to emotionally process the news, which I've more and more come to recognize these ah-ha moments, I decided I was going to do something constructive about it.

That was the beginning of the end to being resistant to change in the areas of my life that still need mastering and influence my ability to be more healthy and happy. I was determined to demonstrate there was a new and improved me, open and willing to change, even if only to myself.

I made it a high-priority goal: to improve my level of reaction.

I took something familiar and small to work with: to react with curiosity when my husband tells me of something he did which I disagree. It's something that comes up often so I was quite soon to be tested! I was surprised how differently I replied. He was too.

Some of my habits (like being upset with unreliable vendors) I gave myself more time to accept the change: that is, be open to the idea that they will make a problem right.

While other habits, like recharging my morning routine, I jumped into right away. A new idea came to me while working out in the morning. It was necessary and also something I wanted anyway. The reason for two approaches to habit change, we are all human and some habits we are more attached to than others. So, it's helpful to allow the time to embrace in particular a less-than-healthy habit for a little while, and then go cold turkey with it, or ... lessen your reliance on it.

The secret to positive change is to leverage your stubbornness and use "practical baby steps" for meeting your goals. It's both in stress management and physical fitness that I can find ways within little or no time, to feel more empowered, confident and healthier. I feel like I learned something after all from two Chef's Table for Entrepreneurs Telesummit health and wellness speakers, Snowden McFall and Chalene Johnson.

Hope knowing that either stress management or physical fitness helps you the next time someone calls you "stubborn" or you're feeling stuck in the area of wellness.

PS - As a result of making these changes, I now regularly feel free in other situations that require some change in me. Do you ever get labeled "stubborn?" Have you ever tried to improve on that?

Stubborn Introvert Can Have It’s Upside is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

Holidays and introverts may seem like an oxymoron but think of it this way. A holiday is generally a time to relax. Add this with an introvert’s contemplative nature and you can have the environment needed to recharge. It can be a time of joy and love if you plan first to remain true to yourself. You aren’t alone during the holidays with the craving of wanting peace, reflection and celebration. Even your extrovert friends are seeking some tranquility, so lead the way, be the role model and in the process you will satisfy your true nature.

A version of this article was on Embracing My Journey in November and I felt compelled to finally bring it here.

What other being happy tips for the introvert during the holidays do you have?

Top Ten Ways to Stay an Introvert and Be Happy During the Holidays is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

Forty minutes later, checking my cell phone, there was a voice mail from my husband. He left a voice mail asking me why did I left without him? Did I forget him? That's almost too funny.

Introverts, maybe even some extroverts, who are tasked with marketing or networking, do you think you might be too much in your head? Do you think you might be marketing and networking but forgetting the customer?

Here is how to know you might be making too-much-time-in-your head marketing mistake in-person or in social media:

1) You have never surveyed your prospects or customers for anything let alone what their needs might be so you are focused on your own agenda.
2) You don't have the business you want and yet you network often.
3) Customer referral program? What's that? You don't have one let alone know what one would do for you.
4) You don't follow-up for further conversation with people who come onto your radar screen as a prospective customer or referral partner. Leads. What's a lead?
5) You focus on getting more and more new prospects and fail to continue selling to your current customers. I suffer from this one even knowing that it's said that in marketing 80% of your business comes from existing customers and 20% comes from new customers.
6) You focus on the sale instead of the customer's problems.
7) You make it difficult in to easily connect with you.
8 ) You lack a clear message and communicate as if the world is your prospect.
9) You don't know what either an elevator pitch or brand statement does for you, or you don't have a clear one.
10) You do more talking than listening.

You might be able to even to add to this list some marketing ideas that you know are helpful but they are still in your head but forgetting to put them into action. Please do tell us those in the comments.

The forgetting was funny with my husband. We had a little laugh about it. And he did forgive me. But, it's not maybe so funny with your prospective customers. Do a check-up for yourself: what are you not doing in real life that you might be doing in your head that could be sabotaging your marketing and networking?

Top Ten Marketing Mistakes an Introvert Might Make in Their Head is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer