#infunctionspadvice

I am not too sure what you mean by “alternative” but that doesn’t matter much anyway!

By missed out, do you mean socially or academically? Or perhaps a bit of both?

Routine:

Try and find a way to be passionate about whatever you’re doing. INFP’s hate routine, yes, but things we really care about almost make us forget what we’re doing is repetitive! It’s hard to apply this to school and trust me, I personally have done silly things to break my routine back in high school. 

The only thing that can really help is balancing the routine of school with your other activities. Be extra spontaneous at other points in the day. 

Lastly, over time INFP’s stop hating routine so much:

Introverted Sensing

An INFP develops this third function of Introverted Sensing, or Si, a bit later in life. Introverted Sensing wants the world to have a routine and a predictable set of outcomes. Si is great at remembering facts and details. INFPs that have developed their Si may become very good at routine tasks or identify very strongly with traditions and old friends. [1]

Also, here’s a good story of an older INFP who has found advantages to routine.

Consistency:

First off, my personal perspective: I struggle with this all the time. What I have had to do is fake it. I start each class off doing less than my best and slowly do better so teachers see an improvement over time. Before this, my grades went from A’s to C’s back and forth all the time and teachers just thought I was being lazy or cheating. I just lacked motivation and also hated the routine of it all.

The best information on consistency is to break things down into certain areas you want to be more consistent with. A lot of consistency can feel like routine, try not to think of it that way. Think of how consistency represents reliability, control, determination, etc. 

As INFPs our greatest gift is being able to see things from other’s perspectives. Perhaps there’s someone in your life that is much more consistent. Try and figure out how they are that way and if their motivation can help you.

It’s clear that you want to be more consistent and okay with routine. That’s half the battle! For the most part, all you can do is trial and error. And you must also try to not be hard on yourself or overcritical. These things are a part of your INFP brain and will only discourage you! 

Just aim to do better and try harder each day and you’ll manage. 

What matters is knowing more or being better today than you were yesterday. [2]

Personally my favorite quote about consistency, however opposite it is!:

“Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.” -Aldous Huxley [3]

Sources:

1. INFP Personality Description

2. The Very Simple Secret to Staying Consistent