There is one word that most people use to describe people with the INTJ personality: “smart.” The architect personality type is incredibly efficient and independent; they generally don’t need supervision. So, why do many people find that INTJs can come across as somewhat lazy?
INTJs are brilliant, but they do not readily engage in activities or talk that they do not find productive or stimulating. For this reason, many INTJs will neglect tasks that don’t match their priorities or don’t challenge them. Because of this, they can be perceived as lazy.
The perceived laziness that people experience when dealing with INTJs has a lot to do with whether or not the INTJ is operating at their best or struggling with their darker side. Let’s find out more about this contradicting feature of the brilliant INTJ.
The INTJ Personality
INTJs have a specific mix of qualities that dictate how they show up in the world. Of course, the way people see them and the way they see the world may differ markedly. These individuals are described by Myers-Briggs as Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging.
The dominant function of the INTJ personality is the tertiary Introverted Feeling function. This means that INTJ people will want to spend time on their own when dealing with an emotional issue.
A healthy INTJ will balance the time needed to isolate so that they deal with their emotions with quality interactions with their loved ones. They will make sure that their key relationships stay healthy, even if they need some time on their own. Unhealthy INTJs will cut people off entirely, often giving the silent treatment.
When INTJ gets overwhelmed, they need time to shut out the world. Being overstimulated or overly busy would require spending even more time by themselves trying to recharge. They are, after all, introverts.
INTJs have introverted intuition as a dominant function which means that they are excellent at perceiving things, coming up with solutions, and developing strategies. But they struggle with putting their plans and strategies into action.
So, despite being highly intelligent and often very good at articulating their ideas, they are not very proactive. This could come across as someone passive and, at worst, lazy.
INTJs have the unfortunate trait of being quite stubborn and inflexible when they have their minds set on doing a task in a certain way. Unfortunately, if they are not in charge, they may become rebellious and choose not to give any input to the project.
This often happens when the INTJ starts to look down on people they deem less intelligent than themselves. The result is that the INTJ refuses to take their leadership seriously, often neglecting to finish tasks, making them appear rather lazy.
Strengths Of The INTJ Personality
INTJs are capable and independent individuals, and they are incredibly cerebral, being able to dissect complicated concepts, build and improve systems, and are masters at ingesting new information.
Innovation, determination, strategy, and eagerness to learn new skills are key interests. Organizations may seek this personality type if they need to build efficient systems, solve complex problems and move the organization forward.
Even though social skills are not their strong suit, they are very confident in their cerebral and cognitive abilities. They are smart, and they know it and will not shy away from making people aware of this fact. They can generally communicate their ideas confidently and eloquently.
The problem is that INTJs have particular requirements for applying themselves to a task. Firstly, they are highly independent, so they prefer not to be micro-managed. They like to do specialized jobs to show off their skill and innovation.
INTJs often excel at high-level jobs such as Aerospace Engineers, Computer Programmers, Judges, or Industrial Designers. They prefer to be able to do things in a way that makes sense to them. For this reason, INTJs don’t cope well working in organizations that enforce rules that don’t make sense to them.
Even though INTJs are not very emotional beings and rate very low on social skills, this doesn’t mean they are not passionate individuals. INTJs prefer only to put effort and time into projects they care about and find stimulating and fulfilling.
If you have ever met an INTJ operating outside of their ideal environment, you have met a demotivated, slightly frustrated individual who puts the least effort into something they most likely find pointless or uninteresting.
INTJs need to have a certain amount of agency as to how they operate. These introverts are pretty happy working on their own and may become frustrated having to work in a team.
One of the things that stress out the INTJ is dealing with people. They are not diplomats at all and struggle with these kinds of interactions. They may avoid these stressful situations, appearing lackluster and lazy regarding specific tasks.
They don’t take kindly to being forced to follow along with inefficient systems and regulations and require them to go along with meaningless rules.
They prefer to deal with ideas, systems, and problem-solving, and when they have to deal with tasks outside of their preferred scope, they try to avoid and procrastinate, appearing lazy and unmotivated.
Are INTJs Procrastinators Or Just Lazy?
The key to understanding the motivations of the INTJ is to realize that they do not perform very well in a rigid structure. They need the freedom to work in a way that makes sense to them.
For example, suppose there is a rule that all employees need to do a progress report by 10 am every morning. In that case, the INTJ may find that this effort is a waste of time since it’s inefficient and their time is more valuable solving an important problem-chances are that they will not return the report.
So, these Masterminds are not only very specific about their area of interest but also very particular about the environment and structure they perform.
Social graces and Emotional Intelligence are not an INTJ’s strong suit, and everything they do needs to make logical, practical sense to them. Often, an INTJ will win an argument simply by stating facts and logic without considering other people’s feelings and preferences.
They can come off as somewhat abrasive and difficult to get along with when facing confrontation. In certain situations, though, an INTJ will opt to procrastinate doing a task they find uninspiring and (in their minds) dumb and pointless. This is one of the ways an INTJ can assert themselves by simply disconnecting from the task.
Having to deal with incompetent people can drain the INTJ’s energy. They resist pouring energy into people or projects that they find ‘unworthy.’ The INTJ may not care to verbalize this thought as an introvert, but it comes across in their attitude.
Procrastinating and outright neglecting tasks and chores are an INTJ person’s way of showing that they do not care about that particular thing. It’s nothing personal; it’s just that it’s not a high priority for them. They need to engage in activities that are meaningful to them in a way that they deem best; otherwise, they will rebel against the entire system.
Control is a huge necessity for INTJ personalities. Laziness and neglect are not so subtle signs of rebellion that these introverts use to take back control.
Conclusion
The next time your usually conscientious INTJ friend or family member appears lazy and demotivated, it would help if you asked whether they are fulfilled with their work life. Applying their brilliant minds to a worthwhile endeavor means so much to them, and they may feel uninspired or struggle to follow through on their ideas.
