Dear Whakate Readers—

I recently had a friend introduce me to a personality test that is probably familiar to many readers, but I had never heard of. It’s called the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and was developed by two American ladies during World War II, based very roughly on some of Jung’s work. Originally created to help match people with suitable types of work, the test is still around today and like many of these types of questionaires, taking it can be quite illuminating.
The MBTI online test I took had 72 yes or no questions. To complete the test, none of them could be skipped or omitted. Once you take the test, you are classified as one of sixteen possible types. These are a combination of four types, based on your preference on four sets of dichotomies: Extraversion vs Intraversion, Sensing vs Intuition, Thinking vs Feeling and Judging vs Percieving. After answering all questions, based on your answers, you will be classified as preferring one or the other in all four of those categories, including the degree or strength of your preference. Of course, there is no „right” type and any of the potential sixteen combinations has its strengths and weaknesses.

What struck me most upon completion was not, of course, that this test had revealed something extraordinarily obscure about my personality that I had never known before. I suppose that for most people, the results of a personality test such as the MBTI are not that shocking. Yet, it was also interesting to be reminded of some subtle traits I knew I possessed (but perhaps chose to ignore) and to see the sheer variety of types. Though the test questions do lead you, you realise how even subtle differences in answers produce different results, and how these subtle differences lead to so many vastly different personalities.

When the test pointed out things about myself I had let melt into the background and reconfirmed traits I knew to be strong, I wondered how accurate such a test would be not only for determining personality preferences, but preferences for organisational methods such as GTD. I invite other readers to take the test themselves, Human Metrics – Jung Typology Test, but I personally was classified as INFJ (introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging). This personality type is said to be very intuitive and because they use their intuition so much, they often have complexly messy physical lives that defy physical organisation. (To read an in-depth description of your type, go to The Personality Type Portraits). I had to smile when I read that spot-on analysis: for years, my desk and shelves had a madness only I could interpret. It made me wonder if this is what makes me repel GTD from my very cells. Don’t get me wrong: I have tried to implement the GTD system several times, whenever I craved order. Degeneration was usually swift, but I had never given much thought to it. I didn’t think there were others of my type who might have problems with the system, only that it works for an individual or doesn’t. I would be very curious to hear from other Whakate readers who are familiar with their MBTI types and are fans or failures of the GTD system: do they find their type plays a big role in the success of implementing the system? Have they been able to find a system that fits their personality preferences better?

I’m looking forward to hearing what other readers think!

By Emily Bronson

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