Left or Right Brain Dominant?
The answer to this question can change your life.
Understanding how your brain works can definitely help you to understand why you tend to act differently than your friends and family in certain situations. Knowing that you are right brain dominant and tend to be more intuitive and less logical than your left brain dominate friends can change the way you view life. If you are a right brainer working in a left brainer dominated workplace, you may feel like an outcast.
However, understanding that your unique view of things can add to rather than detract from a project can motivate you to not only blend in with the left brained majority, but to actually become an integral part of the whole. In essence, knowing whether you operate from a left or right brain domination can give you a brand new perspective.
The human brain is divided into two hemispheres. Even though we continually use both hemispheres on a daily basis, most of us develop a greater dependence on one side. And, it is this dominance on one side of our brain over the other that produces our diverse behavior traits and our work styles.
The right side of our brain generally tends toward artistic endeavors, intuition, playfulness, fantasy, and emotional responses. The left side of our brain is the source of sequential and rational thinking, mathematical and verbal processes and other types of scholarly pursuits.
So, it stands to reason, that left brain dominant people are good at establishing priorities, sticking to a plan and working in a sequential, orderly manner. They love structure and predictable routines, strict deadlines, and working alone. They truly hate interruptions and clutter. Everything has it’s place. They prefer to be in a clean and sparsely decorated space with charts and data sheets hung neatly on the wall. Time management is their forte.
On the other side of the spectrum, right brained dominants usually work more efficiently by breaking the rules. The right brain craves variety, visual stimuli, flexibility, innovation and time for fun and fantasy. Right brainers totally adore clutter, rather than having everything filed out of sight. Multi tasking is not an issue for right brained folks. They tend to enjoy jumping from project to project, diverging from routine, working in shorter spurts of time, and taking on new challenges. They work much better when they are in a space filled with colorful pictures and fun and unique accessories.
Knowing which side of your brain is most dominant may actually help you to create a personalized system of time management and help to improve or enhance your work style. The following quiz will help you to determine whether you are left or right brain dominant. When you are answering the questions, think about answering them based more on your at home behavior. Many right brained dominant people have to readjust their normal behavior based upon company rules and regulations and vise versa with left brained people. So, try to answer the questions based upon a balance between the two.
Determine which number best describes how you operate in a particular situation. An L5 indicates the strongest inclination for the tendency described while an R5 shows a strong opposite tendency. You may also choose a number from both columns. Go with your first impulse. Copy the quiz and circle your answers or write your numbers down on a piece of paper as you will be adding them up later.
1. Do you start each day by making a list, setting priorities and sticking to them?
Or, do you like to jump in and plan as you go?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
2. Do you stick to the same routine every morning?
Or, do you alter your routine based on the way you feel and thus find yourself to be fairly unpredictable?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
3. Do you prefer to finish one thing before starting another?
Or, do you enjoy moving back and forth between projects?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
4. Is it important to maintain routine systems of organization, and does it bother you when others ignore your system of organization?
Or, do you often change your routines because you find it boring to always do things the same way?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
5. Do you get upset by changes in your schedule or when a friend pops over unexpectedly?
Or, do you easily shift gears and enjoy surprises?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
6. Do you prefer several days notice before going our with friends or having guests over for dinner?
Or, are you always ready for spur of the moment opportunities?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
7. If you are asked to help on a project, do you check on previous commitments and decline if you seem to be too busy?
Or, do you agree only to realize later that you are spread way to thin?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
8. Do you enjoy following through on the details of a project?
Or, would you rather come up with a new idea, put it into action, and let someone else handle all the details?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
9. If you are working on a large project, do you shut yourself in a room with no distractions and work on it until it is complete?
Or, do you spread everything out on the kitchen table or the floor, turn on some music, make a snack or two and then work on it at random all evening until it is done?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
10. Do you clean up your work area at the end of the day because you don’t like to come back to clutter?
Or, do you leave unfinished work on your desk so you can pick up where you left off?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
11. If you have a tedious or unpleasant task to complete, do you plod on through it without stopping?
Or, do you procrastinate until the last minute and then race haphazardly through it in order to make your deadline?
L5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1 2 3 4 R5
Now, add up your numbers from each column and compare the results. The left column determines the typical traits of a left brained dominant person, while the right column depicts right brained traits. The column in which you scored higher should indicate the extent of your brain dominance.
A score of 40 or more on either side usually indicates a strong dominance, especially if the total of the other column is less than 20. If both scores fall within 15 points of each other, you have a fairly integrated work style.
The point of this quiz is to help you determine the work style which is more compatible with your brain dominance. If you are right brain dominant and are paired with a left brained co-worker there is bound to be an issue or two. But, neither way of getting a project done is right or wrong as long as it is completed in a timely and accurate manner.
So, if you are right brain dominant person like I am, you can breathe easy that you are not a total mess when it comes to getting things done. In fact, right brained people can work in total harmony with left brained folks as long as both parties are willing to make a few compromises. Each person has a unique point of view that can make any project bloom and grow.
About the Creator
Linda Paul
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a writer. I tend to see life as a series of snapshots and magical moments. My six children are grown now, I am retired, and I would dearly love to pursue my love of the written word.
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