Conferences are special. They are cornucopias of knowledge, ideas, and connection, brimming with opportunity… which makes it easy to get carried away. For the very same reasons they are exciting places to be, conferences can be exhausting and anxiety-inducing. In our effort to make the most of every moment, we can run ourselves ragged, leaving us sleep-deprived, scattered, and underperforming.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Intentional self-care at conferences can make a huge difference.
Self-care is one of the core principles of the Sustainable Networking approach for a reason. In the long term, self-care fuels the virtuous cycle of career success by ensuring you have the resources you need to help both yourself and others. At conferences, planning and executing self-care enables you to perform at your peak, be more effective in accomplishing your goals, and have a better experience as both a person and a professional.
You can’t do it all — and that’s good
One way in which conferences can be anxiety-inducing is in our desire to do it all, to cram every minute of our schedule full of activities, and leave nothing on the table.
That’s a fantasy. You can’t do everything, and trying to is counterproductive. Imagine if you went to a large buffet and you tried a) to cram your plate totally full, and b) to put a little bit of every dish on your plate. You probably wouldn’t end up having an enjoyable meal, and the same goes for conference strategy. Trying to wring the most out of every moment at a conference will likely lead to you being stressed, run down, and less effective at accomplishing your goals.
Accepting that you can’t do everything (or pack every single minute of your schedule full with meaningful activities) might be hard, but it’s a kind of freedom. It allows you to downselect, prioritize, and focus on the activities that will be most impactful or meaningful for you. It also gives you the space you need to breathe and practice self-care.
In his book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman calls this exercise “embracing your finitude,” though he does so in the frame of an entire life or 4,000 weeks—how long you have if you live to 80 years old. If you can’t do it all in an entire lifetime, how much more true is it for a conference that lasts only a few days?
So, I recommend following Burkeman’s advice, embracing your finitude, and releasing yourself from the impossible pressure of clearing an infinite conference to-do list. (Also, maybe read his book; it’s pretty good.)
Let’s discuss acts of self-care that you can perform to get the most out of a conference.
Self-care starts before the conference: advance preparation
One of the most important acts of self-care that you can perform is arriving prepared. This means having your presentation finished and practiced, having a schedule built out, and packing the right gear. Taking the time to do this is not easy. In fact, it’s pretty difficult considering all the other tasks you have to keep up with in your regular, daily life. But advance preparation is absolutely worth the extra effort.
The benefits of advance preparation are significant. Your presentation will go smoother and be more successful if you have it done (and practiced) in advance. Moreover, you won’t use up valuable conference time for building slides or practicing. The same applies to building out a schedule. Doing it in advance means you won’t spend conference time familiarizing yourself with the program and trying to figure out where you should be—that just results in scrambling and missing out on events that would have been highly relevant to you. Advance preparation means less stress and better time management.
An important part of advance preparation is building self-care into your schedule. As you populate meetings, presentations, and various events, you can identify things that will be stressful or take a lot of energy. This might include the day you give your presentation, large social events, or days with back-to-back meetings. By identifying these, you can plan appropriate self-care.
And self-care can be both preparatory and recuperative. Giving a presentation? Block some downtime before your session to review. Then, afterwards, you can schedule time to take a walk, go for a run, or catch up with a friend to talk about how it went. Are you an introvert who finds receptions overstimulating? Plan time for a cup of tea or some yoga in your room afterwards to de-stress before bed. Have a totally booked day with back-to-back meetings? Plan an early night the day before so you are well-rested and ready to tackle the day’s agenda.
And I cannot overstate the value of WRITING IT DOWN. There is strong evidence that writing down our plans or goals significantly increases the probability that we will follow through with them.1,2 Make your schedule, plan your self-care, and write it down.
During your calendar building, also block off a day or two after you return to allow yourself time to catch up on tasks and email without having to juggle meetings. This valuable act of self-care will allow you to ease back into your regular work life.
Suggested acts of self-care
Here is my starter list for acts of self-care that you can perform at conferences:
- Adequate sleep: Being well-rested will keep you calmer, performing better, and maintain your immune function; you’ll also better remember what you learn.3
- Eating well: It is harder to control what we eat at conferences, and food can have a serious impact on our mood and overall health.4 Picking out healthy restaurants and buying nutritious snacks to keep on hand can help; the latter can also prevent you from going too long without eating.
- Staying hydrated: This generally allows your body to function better, and it supports immune function,5 something that will surely be challenged in a space with so many people.
- Getting exercise: Moving your body, whether a long walk outside or a quick gym session, can help you manage stress6 and keep you on your usual routine.
- Author’s note: I particularly favor yoga. It requires minimal equipment and can be done almost anywhere. I frequently do standing yoga exercises at the airport before getting on a plane.7 You can do yoga in your hotel room using a towel on the floor or on your bed.
- Breathing exercises and meditation: This really can be done anywhere, and it’s excellent for calming the nervous system and reducing stress.8 Consider an app like Insight Timer that has a large library of guided meditations to help you get started.
- Have a cup of tea: Bringing a favorite tea from home so you can sit in your room and have a comforting cup of something familiar is a great way to soothe nerves.9
- Time with a friend: A lot of my suggestions are for solo resets, but planning time with a friend with whom you can relax and talk things over can make your stresses feel less formidable.10
This is just my starter list to give you inspiration. I’m sure you will come up with more on your own! A workshop participant once shared with me a brilliant act of self-care that she had devised for herself. She is an introvert and knows that spending time with people wears her out quickly, so she decided to take advantage of the hybrid nature of the conference she was attending. Some presentations she chose to attend in person so she could meet people; others, she attended remotely from her room so that she could save up her energy for important events when she really needed to be in person and “on.”
During the conference
If you’ve planned out your schedule and self-care in advance, the conference is mostly about execution. Do your best to stick to your planned self-care, but also don’t let yourself be trapped by your schedule. It is a tool that serves you, not the other way around. Stay self-aware and recognize when you might need a break you hadn’t planned or when you need to adapt your plans.
After the conference
Hopefully, you have a day or two blocked off upon your return, and you can take advantage of that time to send conference follow-ups, catch up on email, and get readjusted.
Self-care is not a luxury; it’s a performance enhancer
What I am describing takes a shift in mindset, but it can positively change both your experience and success at the conference and how you feel afterward. By exercising self-awareness, embracing your finitude, and planning self-care as part of your calendar, you can boost your performance and have a better time. Prioritizing things like rest, exercise, hydration, and recovery from the intense socializing that a conference will enable you to show up as your sharpest, happiest, most effective self.
Wishing you all the best at your next conference!
First published in the Virtuous Cycles Newsletter on 10.17.2025
by Christina C. C. Willis
References
1 Matthews, G. (2007). The impact of commitment, accountability, and written goals on goal achievement.” Dominican University of California, Department of Psychology, Faculty Presentations 3. https://scholar.dominican.edu/psychology-faculty-conference-presentations/3
2 Murphy, M. (2018). Neuroscience explains why you need to write down your goals if you actually want to achieve them. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2018/04/15/neuroscience-explains-why-you-need-to-write-down-your-goals-if-you-actually-want-to-achieve-them/
3 Summer, J. V. (2025). Health benefits of sleep. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/benefits-of-sleep
4 Aetna. What you eat affects your mental health. https://www.aetna.com/health-guide/food-affects-mental-health.html
5 Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. (2017). Five ways water can help you stay healthy. https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/mas/news/five-ways-water-can-help-you-stay-healthy-1758946
6 Mayo Clinic. (2025). Exercise and stress: Get moving to manage stress. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469
7 Pizer, A. 30 standing yoga poses: The foundations of flow. Liforme. https://liforme.com/en-de/blogs/blog/30-standing-yoga-poses
8 National Health Service (NHS). (2022). Breathing exercises for stress. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/breathing-exercises-for-stress/
9 Busch, J. (2025). Samantha brown travels with these unlikely items, essential to her ‘non-negotiable morning ritual.’ Islands. https://www.islands.com/1875992/samantha-brown-travels-with-this-highly-unusual-pair-items-essential-her-non-negotiable-morning-ritual/
10 Abrams, Z. (2023). The science of why friendships keep us healthy. Monitor on Psychology, 54(4). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/06/cover-story-science-friendship
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