Knowing You Can’t Catch It All

Conferences always offer too many good sessions. You can’t possibly catch everything of interest to you – particularly if you are also using a conference as a chance to catch up, debrief, and share insights with your colleagues from across the state or country.

It’s easy to be frustrated with this truth, though. “If only they hadn’t scheduled these back to back!” “Why didn’t they make it a three-day conference?” “I don’t have time to eat!”

Frustration doesn’t get you anywhere, though. And when you simply acknowledge the truth that you can’t catch it all, you are freed to choose carefully, with attention to your own state and needs.

Once you know you can’t catch it all, you can stop trying to. Then, you get more out of the conference because you’re experiencing the parts you most want to, and you are freeing your headspace of negativity and stress.

There’s a lot of the Michigan Music Conference I will miss this year. That’s OK, though – I trust my choices.