In week 2 of my Myers-Briggs trials, I’ll be focusing on sensing. Sensing and intuition refer to the way we prefer to take in information.

• Sensors rely on what their five senses tell them. They’re detail-oriented and well grounded in reality and practicality.
• Intuitives pay less attention to the raw data coming from their five senses, and more attention to their interpretation of it. They look at the big picture, patterns, connections, and future possibilities. (While the word intuition is often used to refer to psychic flashes, that’s not what we’re talking about here.)

I thought this would be an easy trial, because I’m not too far on the intuitive side. I don’t consider myself to be impractical or adverse to detail at all.

For years, I did my taxes with pen and paper, not even using a calculator because I liked adding and subtracting by hand. I also did my taxes twice each time: once by rounding amounts off to the nearest dollar (which the IRS encouraged) and once without rounding (which the IRS allowed), to see if it made a difference. That’s about as far to the sensing side as you can get. (I eventually started using a calculator, and then TurboTax as my situation got more complicated.)

I’ve done one day of my sensing trial, and I’m finding it very hard to turn off my intuition. What you see when you look at a sunset is supposed to tell you whether you prefer sensing or intuition. Today I saw a sunset, and I tried to see it like a sensor by thinking about what color the sun was, what time it was, how the days are getting shorter, etc. But whenever I see a sunset, I always hear Will Smith’s watch beeping in I Am Legend, telling him to hide because the monsters are coming out soon. I hear that every single time.

I was working on the sensing vs. intuition section of The Personality Puzzle when I read Brip Blap’s post big picture, little picture. He said:

“One of the most apt criticisms you could make of the writing I do on brip blap would be that I’m awfully big picture. I like to think in terms of grand goals (’achieve perfect work/life integration, have a perfect lifestyle, achieve financial independence’) without attention to the detail to support that (’fix your credit score, maximize your tax credits’, etc.).”

When I read that, I realized that his focus on the big picture is exactly why I like his blog. I’m interested in finance, but I had a hard time finding finance blogs I like because so many of them like to overload you with details, most of which I’ve already known for years. Of course, many people like that kind of stuff, and sensors are in fact the majority.

Since I’m on this topic, let me give you a quick list of the best finance blogs for people who prefer intuition over sensing:

(In alphabetical order)

1. brip blap – personal finance, wealthbuilding and the journey to financial freedom. Not purely about finance, but it’s all good. Steve has written about many interesting things, such as how he lost 100 pounds (meaning weight loss, not a drop in his British stocks).

2. erica.biz – Erica Douglass shows you how to make millions! She’s a number cruncher, but she also has huge aspirations for herself and the world. Selling her web hosting business for $1.1 million was just a start.

3. Sentient Money – Financial intelligence for an ever changing world. Chad is very heavy on details, but he’s really good at seeing what the data means. He’s also an INTP like me, so you know he must be cool.

Jon Morrow’s magnificent blog OnMoneymaking.com would have been on this list, until he sold it.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah. I’m going to approach this trial by thinking about what new things I should do, not what things I should stop doing. So for example, I’m not going to change the posts I write, because that wouldn’t be good for anyone. I’ll just be adding some sensing on top of my normal activities.

I don’t mean to come off as all anti-sensing, because there are definitely some great sensing role models, such as Tim Ferriss (a pretty clear ISTP in my opinion) and Darren Rowse (probably an ISFJ). I’m just having a hard time keeping the upside of sensing in mind. However, there are plenty of overly intuitive freaks who have absolutely no connection to reality. Still, I find imagination so much more interesting than facts.

I’m not exactly sure what to do in this trial, but today I made a point of describing what my senses were telling me. Just talking to myself and saying “Those leaves are red” or “This apple is crunchy.” Yeah, that’s pretty obvious, but it’s just to get into the habit. By being more grounded in the physical world, I hope to develop more of a “live for the moment” attitude and not think so much about the future.

Today I read two ebooks about SEO, which I’m sure tends to be much more interesting to sensors because of how much it relies on keyword data. One of these ebooks was Fast Track for Blog Success by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd. It was available for free for a short while, and I got it just in time, but unfortunately not in time to tell you about it while it was still free. It’s now $24.95, and it explores the keyword usage of two blogs, showing why one was sold for a much higher price because of its SEO.

The other ebook was the second incarnation of Naomi Dunford’s Ninja SEO School. I had previously read the first version, but not the new one. To be fair, this was no help at all in my sensing trial because Naomi is a super intuitive. However, that’s what makes her ebook so refreshingly entertaining as well as informative.

As before with my extraversion trial, my goal is not to switch completely to sensing, but just to make an honest effort to use far more sensing than usual. Obviously it has its benefits, so I just want to try to experience them. Go sensors!

• MBTI Trial Week 2: Sensing (Recap)
• The Science Of Seduction
• Bomb Threats And You: Temperaments In Action
• My New Year’s Wish For 2009
• Tell Me Your Myers-Briggs Type, Get A Free Link
• Myers-Briggs Trial Recap
• MBTI Trial Week 4: Judging (Recap)
• MBTI Trial Week 4: Judging
• MBTI Trial Week 3: Feeling (Recap)
• MBTI Trial Week 3: Feeling