thoughts on outdoor work

[phantom]

It seems like a lot of INTPs like to do jobs that involve being hunched over computers or books all day and don't like manual labor. Although I do thrive on the former type of activity, when I stay inside and allow my mind to run continually I start maxing out and end up depressed and exhausted. I don't do well without some brain work, but I also don't do well if all I have to do is brain work. Which is partly why I have a love-hate relationship with college. I need to go outside and DO something every day to keep my sanity up. I like having a simple manual task to do, be it shoveling a driveway or driving from a to b or watering the garden. I love riding horses and all the associated farm work. I feel better when I get some exercize every day and am in decent shape. Are there others who have the same experience?

 

[Duxwing]

It seems like a lot of INTPs like to do jobs that involve being hunched over computers or books all day and don't like manual labor. Although I do thrive on the former type of activity, when I stay inside and allow my mind to run continually I start maxing out and end up depressed and exhausted. I don't do well without some brain work, but I also don't do well if all I have to do is brain work. Which is partly why I have a love-hate relationship with college. I need to go outside and DO something every day to keep my sanity up. I like having a simple manual task to do, be it shoveling a driveway or driving from a to b or watering the garden. I love riding horses and all the associated farm work. I feel better when I get some exercize every day and am in decent shape. Are there others who have the same experience?

I share your difficulties. If I let my mind run for too long I end up exhausted: even Ti needs a break. So I usually drop down to Ne, and when that runs out, Si, and when I'm totally, completely, and utterly spent, I regress to Fe and try to find something warm, soft, and stable (most often a bed) to hug until I can recharge.

-Duxwing

 

[Montresor]

I work construction (res. framing) and it's the exact type of fit for a brain like mine.

Daily use of triangle maths and geometry.

Requires knowledge of circular geometry.

Frequent mental exercises pertaining to working with inverse powers of 2 (like 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc), as well as mental addition and multiplication of rational numbers. Requires a strong sense of spatial awareness and powerful intuition.

Enough daily exercise to justify a large and calorie-rich high fat high sugar diet.

Frequent encounters with dangerous situations especially those perceived to be dangerous due to the height one regularly finds oneself at.

Frequently must work in temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Then you can come home and hunch over your computer.

The only problem is the people you work with are generally not college students, or introverted at all, very rare to find INTP type people ... this is a true <1% situation you'll find yourself in if you frame houses.

 

[Wolf18]

It seems like a lot of INTPs like to do jobs that involve being hunched over computers or books all day and don't like manual labor. Although I do thrive on the former type of activity, when I stay inside and allow my mind to run continually I start maxing out and end up depressed and exhausted. I don't do well without some brain work, but I also don't do well if all I have to do is brain work. Which is partly why I have a love-hate relationship with college. I need to go outside and DO something every day to keep my sanity up. I like having a simple manual task to do, be it shoveling a driveway or driving from a to b or watering the garden. I love riding horses and all the associated farm work. I feel better when I get some exercize every day and am in decent shape. Are there others who have the same experience?

Yes. Precisely. I need both brain work and physical work to keep from going insane. Sometimes I spend just too much time with brain work and then I can't sleep at night because I'm too intellectually stimulated. If I exercise during the day, I can sleep.

 

[Beholder]

I work as a digger in an archaeological dig.
Get up at six every morning, walk about fourty minutes to work, on the way watch the sunrise from Mount Zion. Good physical work, but not too tiring, lots of interesting and fun people, everyday I laugh so much and have awesome conversations. -Best temporary job ever-
The people there stimulate my mind plenty, so that's covered. I'm in amazing shape, as Montresor put it - "Enough daily exercise to justify a large and calorie-rich high fat high sugar diet."
And every day I come home thinking 'I just can't believe I found such a perfect job!'.

Unfortunately it doesn't leave much strength for other intellectual pursuits.

 

[Architect]

I spend so much time thinking I need to get out, but physical labor drives me nuts. I go on long walks or hikes, there's some wilderness nearby so I'll go hike up a mountain. Funny thing is I'm really just shifting gears, as I do it so I can think. More like digest and process what's been going on.

Einstein (INTP poster child) said he liked sailing because he thought so hard it was the only way to unwind. It was the least physical thing he could find to do.

 

[EditorOne]

"I work construction (res. framing) and it's the exact type of fit for a brain like mine."

I did this for seven summers and one full year (after college), framing and all other phases of construction, and everything you said is spot on. What I had problems with was taking orders from any authority figure (keeping in mind I was an "undiagnosed INTP" and was generally classified as moody, never working up to my potential, all the negative stereotypes. I have kept up my carpentry skills; I've never tackled a full-blown house on my own, but additions, sheds, tool shops, and wooden boats have all come out of my hands and into the world.

I enjoyed one additional aspect: Journalists create ephemeral work and even more ephemeral results. When I built something, however, it had a permanent existence.

Working in cold weather did not appeal. Most things, no big deal, but putting wooden shingles on an H-shaped hip roof with dormers in
February on the frozen, wind-blasted beach in Stone Harbor, NJ, was the single biggest event that drove me to use my college stuff and get a newspaper job.

 

[Nezaros]

I don't mind manual labor; actually I kind of like it if for no other reason than I'm not going to get exercise any other way. But it feels more or less the same compared to doing menial tasks indoors. Maybe with more room for thinking, since indoor tasks generally require some small degree of thought. But I'm also lazy and prefer the comfort of an air conditioned / heated building to being outside. So...

 

[Montresor]

everything you said is spot on

I wish people could just say that to me all the time I'd be a way happier person.

 

[phantom]

Einstein (INTP poster child) said he liked sailing because he thought so hard it was the only way to unwind. It was the least physical thing he could find to do.

That's interesting, because the only time my brain seems to stop running almost completely is when I'm either driving a very familiar route with the radio blasting or working with a horse. (That's why I love riding lessons - 40 min drive, get horse ready, ride in circles for an hour, 40 min drive home = 3 hours of brain rest). It seems like it has less to do with the actual physical demand (riding can be very physically demanding, whereas driving is not) and more to do with the activities being sort of repetitive/monotonous while requiring continuous attention (mind wandering while driving down highway or on energetic horse = bad). The activities are stimulating enough that they keep my complete attention but not so stimulating that my brain starts jumping tracks.

Cool to hear some of you do and enjoy outdoor jobs. I've always assumed I'd be going to grad school but now I'm pondering quitting after my bachelors and getting a job with a large outdoor component.

 

[IdeasNotTheProblem]

Another carpenter here. You could say the body fuels the mind, or the mind is just another body part. In order to stay sharp and finely tuned the brain needs that regular increased blood flow just like any other body part. Not to mention the increased alertness and awareness produced by regular exercise. I find this elevated state to be optimal for Ti and can be achieved by shoveling snow, jogging, digging or going for nice long walk. Construction is great for this once you've reached a certain skill level and no longer need to concentrate on what you're doing all of the time (I tend to make a lot of mistakes because I'm just too spaced out).

-Pounding nails, building dreams...

 

[Montresor]

I'm pondering quitting after my bachelors and getting a job with a large outdoor component.

I quit my Bachelors at the end of my final semester before graduating, in 2009.

Graded for an F in PSYCO 478

University guidelines are strict and don't permit me to "re-take" the one class so please don't be among the hundreds who have asked such an obvious question ...

More to the point, yes I agree that carpentry has its limitations on how much it can stimulate your mind. That's why I focus more on gaining pleasure from building projects at home where I can incorporate more than just hammer and nail (i.e. a nice friggen drill, some electricity, stain and sandpaper, decorative bolts, and some PVC).

 

[motrhead]

This sounds like me as well. I've finally stumbled into what seems like my perfect job (after having done the office thing, shop work, and outdoors work). I really enjoy having a balance of indoors and out, and now I spend two days outside, and one in the fabrication shop (three days on, four off). I spend way too much time on the computer when I am not working, but I do a lot of hiking as well, so it does balance out.
My biggest issue is having enough variety, and some kind of mental challenge. If I don't have to think and be creative on the job, I will soon be bored silly, and will eventually quit and move on.

 

[Kirsanov]

I enjoy some physical activity everyday to spur my mind. Generally I go on a walk for about an hour. For the most part it involves a recharge and appreciation for nature, with some pondering that inevitably occurs. Now I do not enjoy doing yard work everyday, but there are certain activities that I take pleasure in occasionally since it makes the surroundings or atmosphere nicer.

 

[phantom]

I wish I had some more practical/trade skills so I could go into carpentry or mechanics like some of you. I can work with plants and livestock, but it's harder for a single person to make a career out of those...

 

[Montresor]

Start with a hobby phantom. If you wish for something the onus is on you to make it happen.

All it takes is a drill and a saw, tape measure, and a square. All I can say about learning carpentry is to learn the thickness of your materials because you will be using them to compute every single measurement when you build.

Hobby mechanics are pretty fool-proof if you take the time to use the forums (not this forum). There are step by step guides on practically any job in older cars. You do need more tools as you progress.

6h of reading for one job ... yeesh. I do not have a garage so my mechanics lessons came to a grinding halt as the snow began to pile-up.

Do you have the luxury of a work area? ... like a garage or a basement?

 

[phantom]

Do you have the luxury of a work area? ... like a garage or a basement?

No, I'm in college so living in an apartment.

I do have several "practical" hobbies, but they tend to cost a lot without much prospect of making money. It would probably be more realistic for me to get a higher-paying indoors job in order to support my hobbies. Frankly it probably doesn't matter what kind of job I get, since I become bored/stressed/miserable with anything I do for longer than 6 months. I doubt there exists a job that would keep me content and interested for super long. In fact I'll probably just end up staying in school because that's less of a hassle than trying to figure out what job to apply for and how to apply for it. Oh well....

 

[redbaron]

I like strenuous sports/exercise, I get bored pretty quickly of manual labour though. Basically feel like I'm just wasting energy for no real benefit. The act of playing sport/exercising is the benefit in the activity for me.

Unless it's something fun like using a chainsaw, I spent 6 hours 'landscaping' with one once.

 

[steveo1421]

I absolutely love being outdoors. I feel like if i am inside for too long I am rotting. I feel like nature allows my mind to go wild! I am studying outdoor recreation at my University and I am really enjoying it! I switched from a political science major when I got frustrated with all the ridiculous people in the program. however one thing that is always nagging at me, is that i feel like i am wasting my "intelligence" in the outdoor rec field. i sometimes feel like i am too philosophical to be in this program, but it is what makes me happy.... i don't understand it.

 

[JimJambones]

I come from a family of manual laborers. My first job was helping with roofing jobs and replacing windows, and a lot of painting. In all honesty, I didn't mind the work, it was only over summer vacation. I used the money to buy comic books and video games.

I bought a house a few years back and it is a fixer-upper. While I'm not that great at physically performing construction work, I'm not all too bad either, but I am incredibly slow at it. I have to sit and think everything out ahead of time and I don't like being interrupted at all while doing this. It is a slow and tedious process, which is probably why I try to avoid it as much as possible, or at least put it off for as long as possible. As the "man of the house", it is pretty much expected of me to work on the house, do yard work, and shovel walks, especially if I would like more sex.

Seriously though, the demands of life often demand manual labor, unless you are rich enough to pay someone else, which I am not. So I do it out of necessity, but I would much rather be doing something else with my time.

I do love the outdoors though, and spend a lot of time walking, riding a bicycle, hiking, and sometimes kayaking.

 

[FlowerThug]

I love gardening and playing basketball outdoors, what you said rings true, it just SEEMS that INTPs don't like physical work, I don't think any of the cognitive functions directly affect a person's desire or love for physical activity, because I've seen that behavior by people from all the personalities.