All I could do was laugh at myself. Laugh at the situation.
There were too many ironic things about it: the fuss I had made about everyone figuring out their tech issues beforehand, the fact that my laptop decided to die literally fifteen minutes before the Huddle was to begin, and finally, the fact that this was my first workshop — the beginning of my career as a speaker — and I had planned out a ten minute speech on fear.
One of my points involved addressing your “worst case scenario” and asking yourself what you would do to remedy the situation if this did happen.
Well, what I experienced tonight was pretty much the absolute worst scenario I’d defined in my mind. And you know what? I survived. In fact, now that it’s over and I lived through it, I feel a lot better about hosting these Huddles.
This is why we should all strive to fail from time to time. Once you fail, you see that it’s not so bad, which makes it that much easier to get back up and try again. Screw perfection. It’s too late for that.
I’d like to thank the Huddle participants for being so understanding, and for jumping in the Puttytribe chat room instead. Our rescheduled Huddle will be awesome, I promise!
I’d also like to thank my fantastic new roommate (who doesn’t yet read my blog) for calming me down, lending me her own nearly-dead computer, and rushing me off to my orchestra rehearsal afterward so that I wouldn’t be late.
I think the most ironic thing about all this, is that today’s post was supposed to be about how great last night’s Huddle was. I was then going to invite you to jump in on the next one.
Well you know what? I still am.
That’s right, we’re doubling down. The worst case scenario already happened, and I really needed a new laptop anyway.
And so with that, I invite you to join us for the Productivity Huddle on January 31.
The productivity huddle
When I was trying to figure out what topics to address in these Huddles, I sent out an email asking you about your biggest multipotentialite struggles. Now, I’ve always known that productivity was a big issue for scanners, but I had no idea just how many responses I would get specifically about the F-word: “focus”!
So here it is, us multipods struggle with knowing which projects to choose among all our interests, delegating time between our multiple projects, fighting off resistance, managing distractions and other ADD-esque symptoms, fitting our projects into our busy schedules, and knowing when we’ve finished a project versus when it’s only resistance/fear.
Sound familiar?
Well, in this next Huddle, we’re going to address the issue head on. I enlisted the help of my favourite productivity expert, Michelle Nickolaisen, who will be co-hosting with me. Michelle has a super unconventional (and scanner-friendly) take on productivity, so I’m really excited that she agreed to join us.
This is a brainstorm, not a lecture
This isn’t class or group coaching. It’s a collaborative process where we’re going to smoosh our heads together and our only goal will be to provide support and resources to each person in the group.
While we’ve all got our productivity issues, we also all know more than we think (plus it’s almost always easier to help someone else with their problems, than see the solutions to our own). Lets join forces and see if we can’t battle some of these F-word problems together.
This huddle has long passed but you can join huddles in the Puttytribe anytime!
Sarah says
🙂 Congrats on failing and living through it!
I can’t make the productivity huddle time, so I’m not applying, but I hope it is most excellent! (I’m sure it will be…)
Emilie says
Heh thanks! Hope to see you at another one, Sarah. 🙂
Stephenie Zamora says
Haha, I love the photo for this one. And I love that you laughed! Because that’s really all you can do. 🙂 Fuck ups happen, it’s just part of life and the fact that you were able to just roll with it and figure out a solution (stressed or not) is awesome!
Denise says
Agree! The photo makes it 🙂
& Emilie, You and everyone involved really did make the most out of the situation. Great, positive attitudes on everyone’s part and we still have the rescheduled huddle to look forward to.
Emilie says
Thanks Denise. In a way, it sort of had the effect I wanted to encourage anyway; it brought us together and got everyone collaborating. I loved how you all stepped up. Just proves once more how resourceful and adaptable we are!
Emilie says
Lol yes, that photo was my reenactment of the evening… It was one of those “I’m going to look stupid, but I gotta do this. A Creative Commons photo simply will not do,” situations. Heh.
Rhii says
oh, major sad trombone, I can’t make this one.
Hope it’s excellent (and that you have no tech issues!) & I have my fingers (and toes) crossed that I can make it next time.
Emilie says
Ah bummer. But thank you, and I hope you can make the next one too!
Patty Tanji says
Wow! Bummer about the tech issues but sounds like it was ultimately an awesome experience….well kinda. I’ll just be returning from a productivity retreat on the same day as the next huddle….but so happy you are doing these. Productivity is my downfall — visionaries are not good executors (got to find another word). Have an awesome huddle.
Emilie says
Productivity is a huge challenge for people with one focus, let alone many. Which retreat are you going to?
Thanks Patty!
Patty Tanji says
Thanks for asking Emilie. I’m off to get in touch with my creative self in the boundary waters (of Canada and the U.S.). It will be ice — and yes we’re taking a dip! Then to a writer’s retreat — coordinated by some cool women entrepreneurial types here. Best ofluck!
Cherilyn says
Congrats on finding a way out of no way and deciding to be honest and laugh at the whole deal. Vulnerability is really where it’s at. Good job embracing that.