Becky Antkowiak

Virtual Conference Success: Prepare to Focus (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1–click here if you missed it.

Remember,

♦ The key to FOCUS during your conference is preparation.

• Prepare Your Mind for Focus

• • Plan Ahead. 

• • • You already know your most effective personal  learning strategies. Avoid self-sabotage. Pre-conference, stop to consider what you need. 

• • • Make a commitment to focus and ignore distractions. Brainstorm ways to prevent or minimize them (if you haven’t already, see How to Get the Most Out of Your Virtual Conference).

• • • SLEEEEEEEP. (But not during conference sessions.) Try to keep a steady bedtime schedule for a week prior to the conference; sleep deprivation creates the same issues as excessive-alcohol impairment.

• • • If you’re useless until caffeine kicks in, get up early and start the IV drip. I mean, the coffeepot. 

• • • Special note for those of us who have a legit attention issue:
      • If you have a prescription for ADHD medication, take it.
      • Planning to wean off one day this week because you’ve developed mad coping skillz? Great. Now is not the time.

• • Expect challenges. 

• • • A virtual conference may require our brains to perform unfamiliar tasks.

• • • “I followed the directions. Whyyyyyyy won’t it let me in?” Breathe. 

• • • Kids and pets are prime sources of just-before-the-conference nosebleeds, spontaneous ectoplasmic projectile vomiting, and other emergencies (See: Prepare Your People, below).

• • • If you’re interrupted, remember:
      • Most speakers summarize at the end.
      • If the conference has a chat option, you can ask for the information you missed. In my experience so far, other attendees are always willing to help. You might even meet a new friend this way. 
      • Conference sessions are often recorded.

• • Above all, don’t freak out.

• • • Whatever interruption occurs is not the end of the world.

• • • Unless it is the end of the world; in that case, the conference no longer matters.