One untried technique for interview preparation - visualize waking up too early

When we imagine how something will go, it is often vastly different than the way it turns out. I like being prepared for new situations, and this disparity between the imagined state and the reality cramps my ability to prepare. I discovered that the feeling I get in certain situations is very similar to the one I get when waking up really early in the morning. I've just been ripped from one environment where I was totally comfortable and thrust into the real world, where it's cold, dark, and disorienting. I didn't have time before waking up to prepare myself, so I just have to stick it out until thinks start to feel normal again. Eventually it does, and that's usually one thing I can remember in this state, that it will get better and that I will adjust. That probably keeps me from panicking.

I'm in the process of preparing for some in-depth research interviews, and I'm thinking how I can best prepare myself for the unexpected. The interviews will likely be in differing environments, with people I either don't know or could know much better. I know from experience the the calmer I am the the more I'm enjoying myself, the better the process of human interaction goes. As soon as you panic, people kind of cut you loose. So, in particular I'm trying to figure out what kind of techniques I can use to prepare myself. How can I most accurately anticipate the slew of variables I have no control over?

My working theory is that I can pull l up that feeling I get in the early morning. Totally discombobulated, unprepared, uncomfortable. And then project that feeling on the visualization of how the interview will go. Now, I can set up some emotional structures to prepare for that discomfort, and not let them surprise me into a bad mood.

If I still remember this theory by the time of the interviews, I'll post back in regards to how well it actually works.