Category Archives: Getting Stuff Done

A radical new organizational system based on the power of zen-like paralysis. (A parody, of course, of David Allen’s system, Getting Things Done.)

Jan28

Hey 2009, You’re Looking Mighty Fine…

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Hey 2009, You’re Looking Mighty Fine…

Dear Fellow Humans from the year 2009,

As 2008 passes like a gall stone, I’m laid up for the first day of the new year, high on early episodes of The West Wing and the belief that the inauguration of our new president will rescue this country from free-fall. It’s been an endlessly interesting year for us all. Electing our first black president, losing 40% of the capital in the stock market, seeing Tina Fey look so much like Sarah Palin, I can’t tell who’s who.

Personally, I’ve had an interesting year as well. It began with a ten-day silent meditation course in India. You all followed my travels throughout India, Thailand, and Cambodia for three months starting last February. I gathered parts and memories of myself scattered in many lifetimes during that trip. I returned home with a powerful sense of independence, maturity, and knowing that no matter where I am in the entire world, I can take care of myself and be happy. Then I came home and saw my parents. (And forgot again. Ha!)

I also joined a year-long training course for life coaching and workshop leading in August, and began coaching people in creativity and spontaneity. After doing standup, working and playing with others to break through to what is most true for them is my favorite thing to do. And after almost two months of work on my solo show, “The Punchline,” I played to sold out houses at the Fringe Festival. It was an honor to win Best Female Solo at the Festival and be selected for the Solo Show Festival in Marin in February (the 24th.)

I’m sending out this new year’s wish to you because I want to reach out and connect with you. I’ve been very affected by the intensity and fear of the world’s events–the end of easy oil, the reluctance of auto companies to completely re-invent themselves in order to protect the environment, the blindness and greed of the mortgage industry, and the sense of scarcity the downturn in the economy has had on us. And the message I want to convey is that it’s time to open our eyes to what’s really happening in the world. And to take a stand. To speak what we believe, and to align our actions with our values and our words. But I also want to say that there is so much more to life than the what’s in the news. Our own thoughts and actions are what truly build the fabric of reality, moment by moment. And together, we have the power to focus our thoughts to send an asteroid crashing into Bernard Madoff’s living room. (But read some of my beloved Krishnamurti and you’ll realize we are all Bernard Madoff.)

So stay tuned for info about my gigs, laughter yoga classes, and workshops in the coming year. I’ll be premiering the full version of Eat Pray Laugh! at some point, and I’m also putting together a down and dirty old-school standup set for the clubs.

To 2009, may all beings be happy.

-Alicia

http://www.aliciadattner.com
http://www.creativeheartcoaching.com
http://www.monkpunk.org
http://www.examiner.com/x-453-SF-Comedy-Examiner
http://www.youtube.com/AliciaDattner

Dec25

The Early Bird Gets the Worm.

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The Early Bird Gets the Worm.

Ew, who wants to eat worms? If your goal is to get shit done, staying up late at night is the best way to accomplish things.

The night time is full of mania. The moon is out, the raccoons are battling the trash cans like little lumbering Don Quixotes, and all the suckers are asleep in their soft beds, getting soft. Late at night is when you’ll get your best work done. It’s quiet. There are no new emails to distract you. No business calls you can or should make. It’s a personal time during which you can conceive of and hatch visionary and wild ideas and no one is awake to shoot them down. Icarus flew too close to the sun and the wax on his wings melted, but you can fly as close to the moon as you want. Your ideas can be fantastical and completely implausible with impunity.

Try these fun activities after 1 am. Bonus points for drinking coffee, eating truffles , and watching DVDs of Arrested Development beforehand.

  • Write a press release for your book on salamanders (you haven’t yet written) and then write a book on salamanders.
  • Design an outfit for Project Runway and Youtube yourself modeling it on your roof.
  • Write a business plan for your takeover of the glass swan and dolphin trinket industry.  Learn how to sculpt glass.
  • Record an album using only office supplies for instruments and have your computer sing the vocals. Pretend you made it at work, and call it Down Time.
Aug30

Timesuck Top 10

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Timesuck Top 10

10. Considering writing a blog. Write the dumb blog. It’ll only be sand-blasted into the internet forever. Your words will likely be at once un-losable and lost; probably no one will ever read them, but everyone will be able to forever.

9. Considering “becoming an expert” on something (thanks to the internet, I made my cat an expert on pet products, and she’s threatening to book more speaking engagements than me.) Read the rest of this entry →

Aug5

Save time, talk less.

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Save time, talk less.

Lifehacks are valuable when they not only save you time but improve the quality of your life. This one sure will.

Do this: stop using vocal speech pauses. omit “uh, um, ah, like, so, well, etc.” from your speech.

This is the old argument: people who don’t say “um” all the time sound more professional and more intelligent. Of course quantum physicists say “um”. Of course people on the radio say “um” (but we don’t hear it any more because they’ve got computer programs that automatically edit it out–perhaps the first time in history a computer program is invented to actually make the people seem smarter.) My friend John says we’re always smarter on paper. I sure am. I recently listened to myself on the radio, and I sound like a babbling brook called “Uhhhhhh River.” That’s why I write the jokes before I go on stage.

Read the rest of this entry →

Jul14

What’s your GSD-Q?

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What’s your GSD-Q?

Of course there are a lot of great personality tests out there.. Myers-Briggs, the Enneagram, EQ, etc.

The test I offer here, the GSD-Q is great because you only have to look at three simple diagrams and you can “type” yourself within a few seconds. The other great thing about the test is that whichever type you are, you can make an instant shift in every area just by adding a dose of the other two types.

Take a moment to clear your mind, breathe deeply, and sit comfortably. When you are ready, look at the next three images for about three seconds each.

Read the rest of this entry →