About 1 in 5 people is estimated to have this personality trait. Is it you?

Have you been told you are “too sensitive”? Do interruptions throw off your whole day? Can you instantly read the emotions in a room?

There’s a name for what you might be: a “highly sensitive person,” or an HSP. It’s a personality trait that was first defined by psychologist Elaine Aron and was popularized by her 1996 book, “The Highly Sensitive Person.”

If you’re an HSP, you have what is known as sensory processing sensitivity. Highly sensitive people are easily overstimulated and process information more deeply. Studies have found that it is a trait that evolved in humans and in other animals to notice environmental dangers others may miss. By Aron’s estimate, 15% to 20% of people in the world are highly sensitive.

“Put very simply, it means that you have a more reactive nervous system,” said Melody Wilding, a licensed social worker and executive coach who identifies as an HSP.

“Highly sensitive people will often say, ‘I feel everything more deeply. And I’m so much more aware and vigilant of other people’s behavior and emotions,’” Wilding explained. “Our brains are literally spending more time processing all of that information more deeply, too.”

Being an HSP is going to affect all your relationships, including how you do your job. Here are some common ways it might show up at work:

1. You need to analyze everything before you make a decision.

Alane Freund, a licensed marriage and family therapist and international consultant on HSPs, said highly sensitive people operate under a “do it once and do it right” mindset.

“They’re more reflective and responsive to their environment. They pause before they react, and they process what they see before they act,” she said.

“I won’t just give you my off-the-cuff initial response. When I give you a response or when I do a project, I’m going to do it really thoughtfully,” added Freund, who also identifies as an HSP.

Wilding said that an HSP’s ability to think deeply can be a huge strength, but it can also be a challenge when it turns into “overanalyzing every little interaction or why someone used a period instead of an exclamation point.”

“It can also be really hard for HSPs sometimes to be able to make a decision because they can see all the options and they can see the pluses and minuses of everything,” Wilding noted.

2. You may not be the first to speak up in a meeting.

Wilding said a lot of her HSP clients struggle with speaking up in meetings. Because HSPs have a highly reactive nervous system, they may freeze up in stressful group environments. Or they may doubt their own ideas because they do not hear anyone else noticing the same opportunities or risks that they see.

But this does not need to be a challenge. Wilding said HSPs can lean into their strengths to ask a really thoughtful question or build on somebody else’s point: “Like, ‘Mark, that’s a great idea. I hadn’t considered that before. And I’d also like to add XYZ.’”

3. You find the open-plan office overwhelming.

An open-plan office can be an HSP’s nightmare. The noise, movement and distracting fluorescent lights can be “disturbing enough to make it really hard” for an HSP to concentrate, Freund said.

Freund said she recommends that sensitive people find a way to help supervisors and co-workers understand “what it means to be highly sensitive.” That way you can get more leeway to say “Let me get back to you on that,” or you have the ability to work alone more.

4. You need more downtime throughout the workday.

We all need breaks during hectic workdays. But when you are an HSP, you don’t just prefer downtime, you need it for your brain to function well. One 2021 study found that highly sensitive people’s brains showed enhanced connectivity even during a resting state after they’d completed a task.

“In order for our brains to work their best, we need to do lots of micro-breaks throughout the day,” Freund said. For HSPs, she suggested short HSP naps, when you can elevate your legs and lie down with your eyes closed. That way you can block out some of what can be overstimulating you.

HSPs benefit from work/life boundaries, so try taking a pit stop in nature on the way home if you’re expected to go straight from work to a draining family interaction. Or if you are at your desk, just briefly close your eyes to block out some of the distractions around you.

“Even just 30 seconds of having your eyes closed at your desk helps bring more downtime,” Freund said.

5. You may have trouble saying no to people.

One of the strengths of HSPs is that they are conscientious, committed and “tend to be very loyal,” Wilding said.

But these same strengths can be what holds HSPs back at work. Wilding said her desire to help others became a people-pleasing tendency, and it was her hardest challenge with being an HSP at work. That’s because HSPs have a highly attuned internal threat-detection system.

An HSP may think, “If I say no to this, I’m going to be fired, this person is going to hate me. They’re going to think I’m lazy,” Wilding explained. “And so it can be really painful for HSPs to say no.”

6. You’re known as an empathetic team player.

HSPs notice subtle cues and can show great empathy toward their colleagues, which is a great skill. That’s what makes HSPs good team members.

But if you are taking on everybody else’s stresses and problems, it can also lead HSPs to burn out quickly, Wilding cautioned. “Sometimes we’re more invested. We want something more than other people want it for themselves.”

Wilding said that she has had HSP clients who ran themselves into the ground, “trying to be the hero and the one taking care of everyone else around them.”

What you can do if you are an HSP at work

If these signs are resonating with your experience, Aron has developed a test, which you can take here, to see if you are highly sensitive. There are also a few steps you can take to make your workday a little easier:

Give your unique brain the tools it needs to succeed at work.

When you’re an HSP, it helps if you can design your workday to honor the fact that your brain needs to process information deeply and that it can become easily stimulated.

And if you’re a manager of an HSP, help them out by sending agendas out in advance and giving everyone more time to think before brainstorms or decisions.

The manager of an HSP could signal this by saying, “I would love to hear from you all if you have some initial ideas now, but you’re also welcome to sit with this and follow up with me about whatever comes back to you,” Wilding suggested.

And if you’re an HSP, it helps to plan to be at every scheduled event 30 minutes early. “You have a little extra time to rest, get your bearings, set your workstation up, that kind of thing,” Freund said. “Changed my life when I started doing that.” And if you don’t have that extra time, just mentally start prepping for that next event in your head.

Accept your sensitivity.

Being a HSP can have job challenges, but being highly perceptive can also be a competitive advantage at work. “I would often be able to sense that there was a change coming ... before it was publicly announced,” Wilding said.

Freund said that when you are an HSP, you may be the one who can calm down a upset client or be the person who is really conscientious at making sure that all elements of a strategy are thought through. “Those are huge advantages that you bring to the table that other people may not have.”

The empathy of HSPs, who are often driven by a need for fairness and justice, can also make them highly valued bridge-builders, Wilding said.

“They tend to be good at brokering relationships across an organization,” she said. “Because we’re more attuned to people’s needs, pain points, motivations, that actually makes us really good persuaders and influencers.”

So HSPs should take pride in their innate skills, because it is not a character defect. “There’s a lot of misconceptions around what it means to be sensitive,” Wilding added. “It’s just the way it is. ... It’s a part of your personality.“

Once you accept your HSP trait, you may find that there is a community that is waiting for you.

“The more you talk about your trait, the more you’ll find your people, and the more other people will learn that it is simply a different way that your brain works,” Freund said. “It’s mostly a gift, so I think we need a little HSP pride.”