Presentation anxiety, killing zombies, and doing very little
It was a stressful week again but it was mostly self-induced. I had a new gig for an organisation and had this all-day presentation to do on Friday. I don't usually have problems doing presentations; I have done many of them and given that I lecture every first semester, speaking to a large group of people has not been an issue. However, given that this was a new gig, I just wanted to do well and because I didn't write my own material (I had to use theirs), I was just a bit anxious, in particular having regard to the fact that this was an all-day facilitation role.
I am glad to report that I did very well, I think. I got a lot of good feedback during breaks and afterwards, even though I finished about half an hour earlier. I am yet to hear back from the organisation about the formal feedback result, so at this stage, as far as I am concerned, I could still have sucked and don't know about it. Regardless, I enjoyed the experience and wouldn't doing them regularly if the participants liked me and were kind enough to leave me with good scores.
Believe it or not, I didn't sleep very well all through the week because of the anxiety over this presentation, which was why we took it extra easy this weekend.
Meanwhile, it was also a bit weird to head back to lecturing after two weeks of hiatus because of the Monday public holidays. This year, the attendance is still going strong, which is a bit unusual for this far into the semester.
Friday
When I got back to the office after the presentation on Friday, I was totally exhausted. Being the facilitator and speaking for most of the day really took a lot of energy but the emails were relentless, so as soon as I sat down, I was frantically trying to do as much as I could. I did go downstairs to get a haircut but when I got back, I did some more work until about 6:30 pm when I left the office and met up with the guys.
We had dinner at Grill'd as usual and had a longer chat than usual. Sam wasn't seeing the movie, so we said goodbye to him and we saw Whiskey Foxtrot Tango. Surprisingly, I liked the movie. I didn't think I would. I think what made it interesting was that it was a true story and given the backdrop of the Afghan war, I just found the difference in culture very interesting from a Western civilisation's standpoint. I could totally relate to Tina Fey's character, which was like a fish out of the water really. I am sure if I were doing what she did, I would have felt exactly the same way. I also like the fact that there a 'soulful' aspect of the movie. In the end, the act of living dangerously yet with plenty of excitement was really just an illusion of 'real life'. I could really relate to the character's realisation that reality is what you make of it.
Saturday
Sam was at Kungfu class by the time I got up, so I just had my coffee and went downstairs for lunch by myself. As usual, I was extremely productive and got heaps of work done.
One of my workmates had organised a picnic in the park but I really wasn't in the mood for it, not to mention that Sam wasn't home yet, so I just found an excuse and got ourselves out of it.
I pretty much spent the day watching episodes of Grand Designs Australia, Selling House Australia, and season 6 of The Walking Dead (which I completely missed when it was on air).
Sam was quite tired when he got home (he usually is after Kungfu class), so we took it easy and didn't do anything. We didn't even get together with anyone in the evening for dinner. It was extremely uneventful but also quite therapeutic. After all, I had had a dull headache all day (I am pretty sure it was cause by the prolonged stress about the presentation all week), so it wasn't such a bad idea to be no out and about.
Sunday
I got up this morning relatively early. The headache was mostly gone and we did our usual morning 'thing' and watched an episode of Orange is the New Black together. Then I went downstairs for lunch and did some more work again. I quite like doing that - there is something wonderfully calming about sitting in a cafe among strangers and doing your own thing without anyone annoying you.
When I got back, I started a The Walking Dead marathon while sipping cognac and stuffing around on the internet. I did go back and watch Dami's performance in Eurovision and was so excited by her getting second place in the competition!
By about 5 pm, I did some ironing for next week. Not long after that, I went upstairs to get something to eat before I came back down to my study to watch some more The Walking Dead. I am almost finishing season 6 after this weekend's effort!
I must admit that while the weekend of doing very little was good, I am also feeling a tad bit lacking in excitement. In fact, I actually feel like going out or something but I really don't have anyone to go out with, even if I want to, so I guess I will just have to find some other form of excitement.
I am glad to report that I did very well, I think. I got a lot of good feedback during breaks and afterwards, even though I finished about half an hour earlier. I am yet to hear back from the organisation about the formal feedback result, so at this stage, as far as I am concerned, I could still have sucked and don't know about it. Regardless, I enjoyed the experience and wouldn't doing them regularly if the participants liked me and were kind enough to leave me with good scores.
Believe it or not, I didn't sleep very well all through the week because of the anxiety over this presentation, which was why we took it extra easy this weekend.
Meanwhile, it was also a bit weird to head back to lecturing after two weeks of hiatus because of the Monday public holidays. This year, the attendance is still going strong, which is a bit unusual for this far into the semester.Friday
When I got back to the office after the presentation on Friday, I was totally exhausted. Being the facilitator and speaking for most of the day really took a lot of energy but the emails were relentless, so as soon as I sat down, I was frantically trying to do as much as I could. I did go downstairs to get a haircut but when I got back, I did some more work until about 6:30 pm when I left the office and met up with the guys.
We had dinner at Grill'd as usual and had a longer chat than usual. Sam wasn't seeing the movie, so we said goodbye to him and we saw Whiskey Foxtrot Tango. Surprisingly, I liked the movie. I didn't think I would. I think what made it interesting was that it was a true story and given the backdrop of the Afghan war, I just found the difference in culture very interesting from a Western civilisation's standpoint. I could totally relate to Tina Fey's character, which was like a fish out of the water really. I am sure if I were doing what she did, I would have felt exactly the same way. I also like the fact that there a 'soulful' aspect of the movie. In the end, the act of living dangerously yet with plenty of excitement was really just an illusion of 'real life'. I could really relate to the character's realisation that reality is what you make of it.Saturday
Sam was at Kungfu class by the time I got up, so I just had my coffee and went downstairs for lunch by myself. As usual, I was extremely productive and got heaps of work done.
One of my workmates had organised a picnic in the park but I really wasn't in the mood for it, not to mention that Sam wasn't home yet, so I just found an excuse and got ourselves out of it.
I pretty much spent the day watching episodes of Grand Designs Australia, Selling House Australia, and season 6 of The Walking Dead (which I completely missed when it was on air).
Sam was quite tired when he got home (he usually is after Kungfu class), so we took it easy and didn't do anything. We didn't even get together with anyone in the evening for dinner. It was extremely uneventful but also quite therapeutic. After all, I had had a dull headache all day (I am pretty sure it was cause by the prolonged stress about the presentation all week), so it wasn't such a bad idea to be no out and about.
Sunday
I got up this morning relatively early. The headache was mostly gone and we did our usual morning 'thing' and watched an episode of Orange is the New Black together. Then I went downstairs for lunch and did some more work again. I quite like doing that - there is something wonderfully calming about sitting in a cafe among strangers and doing your own thing without anyone annoying you.
When I got back, I started a The Walking Dead marathon while sipping cognac and stuffing around on the internet. I did go back and watch Dami's performance in Eurovision and was so excited by her getting second place in the competition!
By about 5 pm, I did some ironing for next week. Not long after that, I went upstairs to get something to eat before I came back down to my study to watch some more The Walking Dead. I am almost finishing season 6 after this weekend's effort!
I must admit that while the weekend of doing very little was good, I am also feeling a tad bit lacking in excitement. In fact, I actually feel like going out or something but I really don't have anyone to go out with, even if I want to, so I guess I will just have to find some other form of excitement.
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