My husband has two parts of his brain, here. One knows that I’m an introvert and need my time alone. The other knows he’s an extrovert, and wants me there all the time. It’s definitely a conflict. Occasionally he’ll get out of the house for a while, or I will, which gives me alone time. Working in the yard/on the patio, with my plants. Walking the dog. Shopping. Folding laundry in the bedroom. You have to find your time somehow. But if I just go shut myself up in the bedroom for a while, he gets to feeling lonely and rejected. I hate that. Sometimes I just want to be alone, in the house, with no specific task I have to be doing. 
It’s not uncommon for either one of us to ask for solitude for an evening. “I think I need some time to myself this evening, to de-compress” is usually all it takes. No bad feelings at all. Solitude is nice sometimes and we both understand that.
I had an ex who was really high-maintenance and insecure. She couldn’t tell the difference between “I want you to go away” and “I need solitude.” Any request for solitude or privacy was met with histrionics because it was interpreted as rejection. She was exceptionally needy though (and as a result most guys ended up dumping her because she was pretty over-the-top needy).
Fianceephone and I are totally fine with each other’s requests for “me time”.
Mine is the same way. I will get up early, get dressed, be ready to step out and warm the car up and he will wake up, get dressed and ask if I mind company. I don’t know how he can even function since he just woke up.
We both get plently of alone time so I don’t really mind that much.
I work for long spans of time (hours on end) alone–somtimes, 90% of my work day consists of absolutely zero interpersonal contact (including phone calls).
My wife is in meetings all day–usually facilitating them. She is responding to e-mails constantly, and is talking on the phone all the time (though not while driving) during any “down time” she has at work.
So even though I’m thrilled to see her and want to spend time with her at night or on the weekends, if she says she needs some “alone time”, I give it to her without reservation. She works incredibly hard and I fully appreciate how she might just want to simply zone out on her own. I don’t take it personally.
Similarly, if we’re deciding where to go out to eat, or what movie to see, I like it to be a consensus. But sometimes, she just doesn’t want to have to contribute an opinion (“I make hundreds of decisions every day”), so I also defer to her on that and don’t take it as indifference or whatnot.
Neither of us take it personally when the other wants to be alone, but it’s pretty hard to make this work out logistically. When one of us wants to surf the net and the other play video games or read, it’s fine.
But I get in these moods sometimes, where I want to throw out him and the cat and bar the door and have some fortheloveofgod privacy. I’m in just such a mood now and have been for at least a week and a half – but very rarely do we get time away from one another, living in this one-bedroom apartment as we do. It is very frustrating. Sometimes I can work around it by locking myself in the bathroom and taking a looong bath, but it’s really not the same. Neither do I feel right asking him to leave our house for a while, because he never asks that of me.
Someone can let me know if they figure out a solution for this.
I thought long baths were the solution 
. They pretty much are for me. No internet, but you can bring a book.
My parents have survived being married for 35 years because they understand they each need time to themselves, to do their own things or just shut down and decompress from the events of the day. They have their own hobbies and interests, their own friends, their own rooms in the house – and they usually stay in those rooms! But at least they get along when they come out… well, more often than not.
I thought this is why we invented garages? I can go work on the vehicles, or clean, or sit around and putter, whatever. It’s time to do my things and be alone with my thoughts. I don’t have a lot of friends, and I really don’t want a lot of friends. I enjoy time alone with my thoughts, or teaching my son something. I enjoy hanging out with the friends I have, though.
I’ve found running errands by myself on the weekends is nice too. Nothing big, just a run to the bank/grocery store/drycleaners, etc. A solitary lunch with a good book is nice too.
Alone time doesn’t have to be at home.
He goes to bed much earlier than I do and gets up in the morning much earlier than I do - we have plenty of “alone” time.
Although he does the “must come with you when you drive somewhere” thing too - he absolutely MUST go with me when I drive somewhere. I think he worries something might happen to the van or something and he is just protecting me. Or he’s just really annoying. One of the two anyway.
Fortunately for my need for alone time, my husband has a standing card tournament on Friday evenings. I go with him now and again, and I’m certainly always welcome, but I almost always opt to stay home and pretend I’m an anchorite.
However, even though his need for solitude is less than mine, he always understood my need for solitude was nothing to do with him. I’d have a really hard time in a relationship with someone who viewed a need for solitude as a rejection.
aaah blessed solitude. Alone Time is like GOLD to me. I could never have married a person who didn’t respect that right from the get-go. Ever since we first started dating, and up to today, if Hubby wants to go somewhere with is friends, I hand him his hat. Please. Go. Enjoy. And take your time. EVERY time. I never say no. He’s not as much of a loner as me - in fact when he leaves me be, it’s almost always to go hang out with some one else - but he loves and appreciates this freedom to be with his buddies. [I’ve found the more freedom I give him, the more he just wants to stay home with me ]
Most of his other friends aren’t so lucky.
His best friend has a wife who can not be alone. If Hubby wants to take BF out for beers, to the nearest Indian Casino for a Guys Night Out, etc - his wife’s friends or one of her family members have to be available to entertain her. If she can find no other alternative, BF will not be permitted to go. Sick.
Alone time is hugely important to both of us. We established that early in the relationship, so it has never really been a problem. He is a great communicater - better than I am - and likes to talk about his feelings, so felling shut out is more likely for him than me. The hardest thing for him to understand was my wanting to be left alone when I’m sick. He prefers company when he is ill and awake, I turn into an animal who wants to crawl into a dark space and will bite the hand offered in comfort.
We’ve gotten pretty good at being alone together and can sit in the same room doing our own thing while having quality alone time. If he needs more isolation, he now has his studio so he can shut the door. I’ll tend to take long walks to be alone and think.