Things I Do Before Major Events

This past weekend has been a whirlwind of events to a point where me red-lining seemed normal …which I definitely do not want. I’ve had about 20 hours of sleep in the past 5 days and I really don’t remember much since last week Wednesday. I’ll dive into what else happened on my exciting weekend on another post but I wanted to get this one off my mind so I can write the other.

I recently helped bring together a day-long event with 1,000 people, 20 presentations, 50 exhibition booths, 2 keynote sessions, and 100 volunteers. You can take a look, sharecase.ucsf.edu. Look at all the pretty graphics. I was one of 3 people designated to make this event happen…on top of my regular job. For the past 5 months I’ve had this event on my mind and the many possible outcomes if I didn’t have all my ducks in a row.  There’s only so much planning and preparation one can do before major events like weddings or conferences.  The only hope is that all your planning and preparation was thought completely through so that your event will go as planned. Once it starts, the best thing you can do is hold onto the handlebars and watch things unfold…well, put out small fires that come up but I’m sure you planned for them to already happen.

Before GO happens, about 12 hours before you’ll find me going through some routine. I didn’t really think of it much since I don’t normally plan super large events. This round, I decided to figure out what my game day rituals are. Here’s my list:

1. Eat
2. Read a comic book
3. Eat
4. Rest
5. Drink liquids
6. Listen to calm music
7. Visualize the event
8. Eat – maybe sitting at the counter watching a cook sweat at the cooktop.
9. Read more comic books
10. Listen to techno music
11. Rest
12. Wake up and caffeinate

I’m not sure if there is a specific order to my pregame rituals but it seems pretty standard. I think for smaller events, I only go through 1-7. I say eating is to just build enough carbs to burn it off the next day without having to grab food every other hour. Rest is rest. Reading comics and listening to music just helps facilitate rest.

I’m sure I have other pregame rituals like making sure my shirt is ironed or picking out my outfit the night before.

What about my post game stuff? Right now it seems like my post-event rituals entail planning for future events.