Highly Sensitive People Need More Unstructured Alone Time Than 80% of the Population
As highly sensitive people (HSPs), we take in more data than most of the population. Imagine tubes of information flowing into the brain. A non-HSP, someone without the trait of high sensitivity, may take in just 3 tubes of information. Those at the highest level of sensitivity (like me) might take in up to 100 tubes! Because we take in so much information, we need more time to process all that we take in.
Think of your brain as a supercomputer…
This supercomputer takes in so many downloads simultaneously that it needs downtime to download everything and process everything.
What happens to a computer that downloads too many things at once? It freezes. We have all experienced computer freezes. As HSPs, our brains are like that too. Without enough unstructured downtime, our supercomputer freezes, and our limbic systems become activated, leading to increased anxiety, sleep disturbances, and medical and mental health issues.
To stay well, your self-care as an HSP needs to look different than most. One of our important pieces of wellness comes from having daily unstructured alone time where you are not taking in anything new and giving your brain and sensitive nervous system time to rest and restore.
To help you advocate for your needs, here is some language you might find useful…
I need a sensory break
I need some quiet time
I need some alone time
I need to recharge my social battery
I am currently "off duty”
I’m peopled out, so I need to restore on my own
I need some downtime
These phrases are great examples of what we can say when we need a break or some time to recharge. It’s such a clear way of communicating a need for some quiet recharge time to yourself. I love having go-to language to use to express our need for time alone.
I LOVE helping HSPs develop tools that reduce the challenges of high sensitivity so you can live your fullest and best life.
Get more tools
Join my new course!
Embrace the Gifts of Neurodiversity as a Highly Sensitive Person
Practical tools to remain balanced, navigate sensory overload, and help activate a heart-centered world.
It's going to be life-transforming.
As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), your mind and heart hold an expanded capacity for creating a deeply meaningful and enriched experience of life — once you learn how to mitigate the many challenges to your sensitivity.
One of the biggest obstacles is sensory overload... the challenging side of your heightened senses, deeply perceptive nature, and keen awareness of the emotional and mental states of others.
As your senses become overloaded, anxiety, energy depletion, and irritability can take over your health and your life...
... creating cascades of new challenges such as sleep disturbances, exhaustion, and a loss of productivity, creativity, and focus in the process.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
During this deeply transformative course, you'll uncover the gifts of your neurodiverse nature and learn how to thrive in an insensitive world by mastering practical tools.
You'll use potent tools to balance your sensitive nervous system and ease stress, emotional overwhelm, and reactivity — regaining clarity and calm.
You'll likely have more energy and feel more joy and self-love as a result — and those around you will also benefit by the emergence of your gifts of sensitivity.
As you begin to deactivate stress and activate calm, you'll instill a deep sense of safety and balance throughout your entire being that allows your high sensitivity to shine... and light up the world.
I'm so excited to bring these tools to you in this course!
It's fun and powerful to be together live, but if you can't attend live, video, audio, and transcripts will be available!
Explore more details and what we will cover every week
Julie Bjelland, LMFT, is an HSP Psychotherapist specializing in high sensitivity, the author of The Empowered Highly Sensitive Person, and founder of The Sensitive Empowerment Community. Her HSP Podcast ranks top 5% of most shared and listened to worldwide. Julie's free webinars and resources, online courses, and blog have helped millions of HSPs reduce the challenges of living with sensitivity in an overstimulating world. Her greatest joy is helping sensitive people discover their significant value and see them share their much-needed gifts with the world. Julie loves connecting in her community and warmly invites you to join this positive, professionally moderated, ad-free, inclusive, welcoming, sensitive family. Explore her resources and learn how her brain training program reduces anxiety within the first two weeks at JulieBjelland.com❤️🌈❤️ (she/her)
Some men have expressed frustration about my focus on women’s autism experiences, but this emphasis addresses a longstanding research gap that makes women-centered support essential.