ENTP Organizing Profile
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Today we look at the organizing style for ENTP, the fourth “NT” personality type. ENTP stands for Extraverted – Intuition – Thinking – Perceiving. If these terms are new to you, you’ll find it helpful to read How does the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® work? before continuing with this post.
ENTP Organizing Strengths
Individuals with ENTP type preferences tend to be adaptable and able to tolerate a somewhat cluttered working environment. Because they thrive on activity and variety, they enjoy multi-tasking. Many get an energy rush from working on a project at the last minute.
They generally organize according to concepts, rather than by date or alphanumeric system.
ENTP Organizing Challenges
They have a tendency to hoard items that may be useful “some day” and those with sentimental value, and have a lot of clutter because they don’t know where to put things. They may avoid having visitors due to the clutter in their homes.
They often forget about social activities, scheduled meetings and appointments, tasks, birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions.
They sometimes have difficulty prioritizing tasks and activities, and often procrastinate when they don’t want to do something. One survey participant explained:
“I have difficulty estimating the time it will take to accomplish something. This is probably due to the fact I don’t see all the steps clearly. It also has something to do with motivation: if I want to do it, the time doesn’t matter; if not, all the time in the world wouldn’t be enough.”
ENTP Time Management Systems
Even when I conducted my research 15 or so years ago, ENTPs showed a distinct preference for portable electronic systems.
One survey participant found a Palm Pilot® to be effective because she could sync it with her computer. She reported having little success with paper calendars.
Another used a similar system, considering the color screen, the ability to take hand-written notes, and alarms and snooze buttons to be the most important features. She found that a paper planner was too much trouble to carry around.
Learn More
For more insight into the ENTP organizing style, read about Smart Freedoms on Pixies Did It.
For a broader view of the ENTP personality type, check out the following resources:
Keep in mind that we are all unique, and even people sharing the same type preferences will not be the same in every way. Personality type is only one factor to consider when developing organizing solutions for your clients.
Are you an ENTP?
Help others understand your personality type and organizing style by answering one or more of the following questions in the Comments:
- What are your organizing strengths?
- What are your organizing challenges or weaknesses?
- What organizing strategies work well for you?
- What are your time management strengths?
- What are your time management challenges or weaknesses?
- What time management strategies work well for you?
- What type of calendar(s) do you use?
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Love this series, Janet! So fun to hear the words “Palm Pilot.” Back in the day, that was my device of choice. I remember being so upset when the technology was discontinued. I didn’t want to “fix” what was working. But through that experience of having to move on to another tech, it reinforced once again that change is the constant and with it comes great things you would never have imagined. It also made me realize that I’m more flexible than I realized.
I know what you mean, Linda! The Palm Pilot was so far ahead of its time, it’s hard to believe that it became obsolete such a short time later. Makes me wonder what we’ll be using 15 years from now!
Me too. I get really attached to the things that work…not so anxious to give up my Mac products. But as history teaches us…things change as do we. 🙂
My prediction is that everyone over a certain age (13?) will have their own device that serves as their phone and computer – maybe like today’s tablets, but much more powerful.
I have found many of my clients fall into this profile to a certain degree. Double or triple reminders help these people from my experience. For example, if you have an appointment on an online planner, setting the alarm for about 30 minutes before. Then, using an external clock alarm set for 15 minutes before the meeting gets you focused. Then 5 minutes before have another alarm go off when the meeting starts. It sounds like overkill, but when they do this, all day, every day, it retrains them to keep on schedule.
Great tip, Sabrina – thanks for sharing!
This has been an interesting series Janet. I love the Myers Briggs and seeing what Personality Type others are, especially those I am close to or those I work with. It would be really helpful to know what type our clients are. I am sure it would help us to understand what would work for them, especially around time management. Do you have the simple test that could be given to clients? Are clients receptive to this?
Humanmetrics has a free online test based on the MBTI.
When I offered the MBTI to my organizing clients, not many were interested, but there’s no harm in asking!
Some people just want a “quick fix.” It’s like when I was an employment counsellor, most clients didn’t want to take a career assessment and explore their options, they just wanted a resume so they could apply for a job – any job – right away. It’s too bad really, because you really need to understand yourself and what works for you if you want to achieve long term success in anything you undertake.
Janet, I love hearing how the subject of organizing styles overlays with the Myers-Briggs indicator. Natural tendencies do make a significant difference, and I am enjoying following your series.
Thanks, Maureen! I’m happy to hear it.
I really enjoyed reading the traits of an ENTP. One thing I can definitely relate to would be, if I don’t want to do something – there isn’t enough time in the world to make me. Loved that! Such a great series.
I used to work with an ENTP, and he was notorious for that. Thanks for sharing!