Messy or neat? | INFJ Forum

Messy or neat?

Kwistalline

Permanent Fixture
May 16, 2008
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Are INFJ's messies by nature, or are we neat? Or does it even apply to our type?

I, for one, am a neat freak.
 
The appearance of neatness is more important to me than actually being neat. In other words, my desk at work looks very tidy...but don't open the drawers.
 
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Interesting. I like the word "appearance".

My apartment is usually very messy, but if I am ever going to have company, then I am extremely dedicated in picking it up and making it look as clean as possible. One of my old roommates figured this trait out about me, so whenever he wanted the room cleaned up, he simply told me that he invited some of his friends over. It was incredibly manipulative of him, and I knew he was doing it, but I am always compelled to clean when I might be judged on appearances.
 
My nature is to be neat and tidy. I love everything to have a place and I hate clutter. So yes, I am very neat.
However ..... my laziness, slothy thing and procrastination often get in the way of it. So yes, I am messy.
But, whenever I go on a cleaning spree I am awesome, if I do say so myself. Everything glistens and shines and I ruthlessly declutter!
 
Organized, But by no means neat.
 
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Elizabeth said:
The appearance of neatness is more important to me than actually being neat. In other words, my desk at work looks very tidy...but don't open the drawers.

. . . after much thinking, I think I'm the same!! Clean is a whole 'nother story. I'm not "clean". I forget to wash the floor and the bathtub on a regular basis . . . and I hate to vaccuem.
 
Messy.
 
I like the idea there of appearance.. I fall in that mindset.. the appearance to me is more important that actually be so. I know where the stuff is at.. why should there be some logical order to things. Well Ill dip a little into that and make it look logical in orderly. But like it was said, "don't open the drawers" or pay attention to empty boxes left there next to the other supplies just so it looks neat. :D
 
sumone said:
My nature is to be neat and tidy. I love everything to have a place and I hate clutter. So yes, I am very neat.
However ..... my laziness, slothy thing and procrastination often get in the way of it. So yes, I am messy.
But, whenever I go on a cleaning spree I am awesome, if I do say so myself. Everything glistens and shines and I ruthlessly declutter!

+1
 
ensign_m said:
sumone said:
My nature is to be neat and tidy. I love everything to have a place and I hate clutter. So yes, I am very neat.
However ..... my laziness, slothy thing and procrastination often get in the way of it. So yes, I am messy.
But, whenever I go on a cleaning spree I am awesome, if I do say so myself. Everything glistens and shines and I ruthlessly declutter!

+1

Seconded.

I once read an article that said there were two motivations for neatness - one was purely for aesthetic reasons, and the other was because it was necessary for practical functioning. I'm in the former - so I like it when everything is pristine and in order, but because I'm lazy and have better things to do than indulge that particular sentiment, my place frequently falls into a zone of messy but functional chaos. At some point I will get tired of it and go insane with the cleaning/tidying.

And I do tidy when company is coming. :) My ISFJ mum does it even though the house is already spick and span - it just gets spicker and spannier! :mrgreen:
 
I am infamous both at work and at home for being conspicuously neat. I, however, am generally the one who is also quick to point out the chaos that lurks just beneath this veneer of tidiness. The way I look at, neatness (especially of workspaces) represents a clean canvas from which I can go in any direction depending on the project I have to work on or (at home) the direction my creative energy may take. It's as if I have to load one entire project...and all it's components...in my mind/workspace, to execute it well. In this regard, neatness for me is a means of making room for creativity. Clutter, conversely, saps my energy.
 
i am all for functional neatness... but actual, pristine clean is not my style...
 
Motor Jax said:
i am all for functional neatness... but actual, pristine clean is not my style...

This is why I can love an INFJ but not live with him ... :(

Everything in my home has its place and is out of sight, unless it is meant to be decorative. God help the poor soul that misplaces anything or leaves anything laying around. Sometimes my room can get messy (clothes, purses and shoes everywhere,) but never under any circumstances, the rest of the house.

My home is not only tidy, it is very clean - I am disgusted by a greasy kitchen, stained furniture, unvacuumed carpets and rugs, dirty laundry laying around, etc ...

That said I will admit that when I am too busy to bother (work, friends, volunteering, etc) the only things that I will let go for a while are dusting, scrubbing the tub, and laundering the linens.
 
sciski said:
ensign_m said:
sumone said:
My nature is to be neat and tidy. I love everything to have a place and I hate clutter. So yes, I am very neat.
However ..... my laziness, slothy thing and procrastination often get in the way of it. So yes, I am messy.
But, whenever I go on a cleaning spree I am awesome, if I do say so myself. Everything glistens and shines and I ruthlessly declutter!

+1

Seconded.

I once read an article that said there were two motivations for neatness - one was purely for aesthetic reasons, and the other was because it was necessary for practical functioning. I'm in the former - so I like it when everything is pristine and in order, but because I'm lazy and have better things to do than indulge that particular sentiment, my place frequently falls into a zone of messy but functional chaos. At some point I will get tired of it and go insane with the cleaning/tidying.

And I do tidy when company is coming. :) My ISFJ mum does it even though the house is already spick and span - it just gets spicker and spannier! :mrgreen:
+3
This is starting to become an unofficial poll.
I decided to clean all my drawers up along with my room one time and it still works.
I just have trouble maintaining my room clean. My mom is ESTJ so she makes sure
I get my room clean. :( I sort of like the disorganized but not chaotic feeling of my room.
 
I'm extremely organized everywhere outside of my home, especially at work (I was in the Air Force last year...and if something isn't perfect, it's WRONG! Of course, I was a big perfectionist even before I joined anyways. :mrgreen: ), but my room is an organized mess, though I do tend to forget where things are sometimes. It ends up getting to where I have a hard time walking around, at which point I eventually go on a cleaning rampage and get it perfect again, only to let it go back to how it was a few weeks later. :lol:
 
I am a very outwardly orginized person living with two very messy and unorganized people who never can see my need for clean as anything other than OCD (husband and daughter) I cant stand having a messy house and no one but me will clean it and seriously I have let it go over the last few months because I started working again and now they are all complaining about the mess! :eek: :shock: Seriously! UGH!
 
Eric86 said:
I'm extremely organized everywhere outside of my home, especially at work (I was in the Air Force last year...and if something isn't perfect, it's WRONG! Of course, I was a big perfectionist even before I joined anyways. :mrgreen: ), but my room is an organized mess, though I do tend to forget where things are sometimes. It ends up getting to where I have a hard time walking around, at which point I eventually go on a cleaning rampage and get it perfect again, only to let it go back to how it was a few weeks later. :lol:


That's basically exactly how I function.
Haha!
:lol: