Setting some priorities or: how to prepare for a conference (sort of)

Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

— Winston Churchill (as so often, Winnie knows best :))

“lol best conference fails”

As some may remember, I’m about to give a talk in London six weeks from now (nevertheless, let’s feel stressed out already). Now, some may wonder how to prepare adequately for an occasion like that — at least I do. Thankfully I am not the only one, as I got an impressive amount of results when googling “how to prepare for a talk,” “how to present at a conference,” and “lol best conference fails ever.”

So, I just finished the first draft of my talk two days ago and already I’m totally overwhelmed just thinking about editing it. Once something is done, my ADHD kicks in and I’m so over it I don’t even want to acknowledge its existence. This is often helpful when it comes to professional (copy)writing — what gets done gets paid and so on. At some point, you have to let go because I will ALWAYS find something to improve. Thankfully, more often than not that’s just me, while colleagues and clients are perfectly satisfied. 

Unpaid, overworked, disoriented, overwhelmed

However, when it comes to my academic projects — unpaid and most often without even the faintest hint of a deadline looming — revising, and ‘letting go’ does not come as easy. Being over it, however, is much easier. Apart from this lovely little conference paper, there are also about 200 pages of case studies waiting to be edited — I will have to revise the whole structure — while I haven’t even started with the theoretical chapters, so I guess this will be fun (and not be finished until some time in the 2020s…).

Because my mind is always on the go, my perception of time is virtually non-existent. Being very much in the now, future goals feel like abstract concepts that are not connected to anything I do. Furthermore, having the attention span of a 3-year-old on coke, I’m obviously made for planning and executing complex long-term projects. Wouldn’t have known had I not started working on a dissertation. *cough*

But let’s get back to the main topic: how to realize that a first draft is just that — a crude outline of what you want to say — and not synonymous with ‘done.’ And how to prepare for a conference.

Just go for it

So now that I accomplished the basic task it’s revision time. The paper is still too long and there are some expressions that are not appropriate, so it definitely needs some more work before handing it to my proofreading-fairy. After that, I can move on to the next big issue regarding my grand appearance at Queen Mary University: what to wear on my big day. Ideally, it should be something comfortable while also looking professional, which will be challenging to find in a closet that screams “boho skate chick” since 2003.

Further key points I’ll have to sort out include where to go after the conference, which markets to go to, which sights to see, how to find the hotel, and how to afford to eat in UK. Fortunately, Wonderguy is on my side supporting my overwhelmed ADHD fuzzybrain with his organizational skills.

In addition to already plowing through my closet looking for acceptable professional attire, I’m also doing repeated test runs on various interpretations of “to travel light.” While I’m used to packing economically and not taking too much, I have never before traveled for a conference. As I’ll have to pack some basic work items, it will be a process to reduce these to the bare minimum for obvious reasons. Guess this will be the first time I will NOT bring all nine books included in my study with me. I may also refrain from packing the most important theoretical works…

And you wondered why exactly I like to be ‘over’ something that easily.

Also, I still don’t have my new passport. 

But did you know that with the last update, there are now some new cats in Neko Atsume?