Bad Ideas

Tonight I worked late, then came home and poured myself a glass of wine before collapsing on the sofa for 2 hours. This in itself is a totally unremarkable occurrence, but for the fact that I was registered to attend the ProductTank meetup over in EC2 earlier this evening.

I put myself on their 26-person deep waiting list just yesterday. I had no plans tonight, my boyfriend is out of town and I've been wanting to attend ProductTank all year. It seemed like the perfect chance when I got the email this morning that enough people had dropped out overnight to confirm my RSVP.

And yet. Work. Sofa. Wine.

I can count on both hands (and might even need to throw in a few toes) the number of meetups, hackathons and game-jams I've registered for and bailed on. I'm a total RSVP hog. It's inexcusable.

Actually, I'm hard pressed to think of a single meetup I've been to - outside of Full Indie in Vancouver which doesn't really count (because I knew everyone there and it was mostly about drinking which is a thing I am good at).

But I can't stop myself from signing up! The topics are interesting! I don't know that many people in London! I have way too many hobbies!! There are always so many good reasons to go to these things that somehow I neglect to remember that I'M A FUCKING INTROVERT.

When confronted with the choice between going alone to an event full of strangers after a long day of work or going home to wine and not having to talk to anyone, home wins.

Continuing to sign up for meetups is a bad habit of mine, based on a flawed idea (that I will or should enjoy going to meetups). So this morning I was reading James Altucher's blog on counterfeit living and was struck by this quote:

"Today, throw something out. Maybe even throw out a bad idea you once had. Phew! It’s gone."

Okay then. Today I am throwing out the idea that I am a person who goes to meetups. Phew! I have better things to do with my spare time, like recuperate from the strain of being high-functioning and people-oriented at work. Why not give myself a break? I can avoid the stress of thinking about going and the guilt of not going in one fell swoop! They post all the ProductTank videos on Mind the Product after the fact so I'm not even missing anything!

Now that's sorted, I suppose I should mention that Gracie and I first met at a meetup - one of the precious few I actually attended. It was a painful affair in Gastown I was dragged to by my old boss - who I miss profusely now that she's no longer dragging me anywhere. We had fun. I ate too many (delicious) mango brie canapes and utterly failed to network. (I also failed to exchange more than 2 words with my boyf-to-be so it was lucky we met again at a conference a few weeks later.)

Let me clarify that I'm not saying I won't ever go to a meetup or networking event again - that's improbable as hell. I'm just rejecting the notion that I need to sign up for these things because I find the subject interesting. Consider it a scope decision, on my life. The value proposition does not outweigh the cost therefore the idea of "going to meetups" is cut to free up resource.

Good thing I'm in a happy relationship, because my meetup days are through! What are you going to cut today?