If a novice fiddler must have a role model, I believe it’s gotta be Sharon ‘the Posh’ Corr. Apart from her gorgeous cheek bones and one-of-its-kind nose (can’t help saying that), she plays like a goddess. And as for me, I’d really like to be an accomplished fiddler yet the lack of time to rehearse and very miserable fingering ability. You can’t get the feel, the groove, with a limited amount of practice and talent. I do wish I started earlier, right after got out of the womb.
Month: May 2011
Indonesia Technopreneur Community: Bridging is the Key
Indonesia keeps great deal of potential. Great ideas are scattered just everywhere. Smart brilliant youths are not difficult to find. Not to mention the overly hyped natural resources potential. But one thing holds the nation back. We (excuse my diction, peeps!) do suck when it particularly comes to coordinating.
I thus far have attended several great entrepreneurial events like seminars, pitchings, meetups, and so forth but as far as I’m concerned there’s no apparent, real, mutual interest and vision that unite Indonesian entrepreneurs. In other words, these people are walking towards the same destination but they prefer different paths. It’s quite obvious when I found some people from BPPT (Badan Penerapan dan Pengembangan Teknologi? Gosh, too many acronyms and abbreviations in this country) and #StartupLokal community weren’t aware of each other’s presence and existence. And it made me wonder why. The two groups share the same interest, i.e. entrepreneurship, so why didn’t they walk hand in hand? So I arrive to the conclusion that entrepreneurs in Indonesia badly need bridging, consolidating within themselves. The bureaucrat and the grass-root entrepreneurs should go hand in hand.
But certainly things are getting better now. Indonesia Technopreneur Community (ITC), founded and initiated by Nico Budianto, tries to bridge this. He stated in front of the Startup Weekend that the community aims to collaborate with more and more entrepreneurial groups out there. To show that Mr. Budianto meant his words, ITC is currently being actively engaged in events like Startup Weekend along with numerous parties like Universitas Ciputra Entrepreneurship Center, Kauffman Foundation, British Council, Investidea, etc.
Bloggers, Another People Power?
I once heard a question coming from my friend, “How come bloggers can be influential?” I can’t entirely blame her, as she blogs only for sheer fun, just like diarrhea, oops, diary…But yes, it resembles diarrhea in a verbal sense of course. This type of ‘verbal diarrhea’ blog generally touches on daily activities, mixed feelings, turbulence of emotions, you know that kind of things everyone can write in a pleasant-smelled, decorated dainty notebook. Just a diary a typical teenage girl (or boy) keeps.
And such a blog and blogger can’t be considered influential, AFAIK (as far as I know). I find some celebrity bloggers can be quite exceptional in this case, but if you’re no one, chances are you won’t get known just because you spill your annoyance on a blog after a tragic breakup with your last GF or BF. I mean, who cares?
In the video above, I really love the idea of challenging authority. Being rebellious is to a certain extent very cool. Knowing that you can in some way influence how the public officials make decisions is the best thing a blogger can have.
Jakarta in the Morning
This is just another for the sake of self note, kind of waking me up and sobering me up that I’m now back in the land of chaos for several months ahead. After a 5-day break and leaving for the hometown, it’s time to kick and get alive! Can hardly wait for some too-good-to-be-true stuff in the beginnning of June. Time for the mice to play!
10 Simple Ways to Speedier Writing
ten simple ways you can double the speed of your writing, right now:
1. Outline
The first thing that has proven highly effective for me and my writing is to outline my articles before I start writing.
I know this sounds ridiculously simple. The problem is that most people know about outlining but never use it in their writing properly.
For example, with this article I brainstormed a good headline, and I then wrote down the 10 different ways that you can double the speed of your writing.
It’s nothing fancy, but it works wonders for me and as you implement it into your writing, you may notice the same effects.
2. Single-Task
The next step is to single task, and eliminate any and all distractions while you’re writing.
I know this is hard with Twitter, Facebook and e-mail beeping for our attention, but I’ve found that I can significantly increase the speed of my writing by simply doing nothing other than writing.
Another really simple tip, but the magic lies not in complexity, but in simplicity.
So focus on getting your first draft done and then allow yourself to check e-mail or whatever your addiction is.
Or you may want to wait until the end of the day until you reward yourself.
3. Destroy Your Inner Critic
Our inner critic gets in the way of writing the first draft fast, because it wants to have everything perfect before you’ve even written the article.
You can simply thank your inner critic for caring about the quality of your work and focus on getting the first draft done.
Tell your inner critic that you will edit the article after you’ve written it. The magic in writing well is not in producing a perfect first draft, but editing and rewriting afterward.
4. Voice-to-Text
Another fantastic way to increase the speed of your writing is to use voice to text software such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
In fact, I’m using this very program to write this article. It allows my hands to take a break and it lets the inspiration flow freely.
It is not without mistakes, but it is amazingly accurate, especially when you’ve used it for a while and it has gotten used to your voice and way of speaking.
5. Brain Dump
Whenever I’m stuck, I set a goal to write as fast as I can. If I run out of things to say or write, I will simply repeat the last word to keep the momentum going.
Brain dumping is a great way to get all your ideas out.
Once you’ve got the ideas on there, you can pick and choose the ideas that you think are relevant to whatever message you’re trying to convey.
6. Deadline
If you want to dramatically cut down the time you spend writing articles, I suggest you get an egg timer or a regular clock and set a deadline for each article.
If you’re writing a 500 word article, you may want to set a deadline for 10 minutes.
This will force you to get everything out as fast as possible. It will also help to suspend your inner critic and focus on what’s truly important.
7. Routine
We all have routines and rituals that help us get into the right state for writing.
Mine is often making a cup of green tea and sipping it while I outline whatever I’m going to work on.
Think back to the last time you felt really good about diving into your writing. What did you do? How did you feel? Where were you?
8. Place
There are places where you seem to get into the flow of writing effortlessly. For some people this may mean going to a coffee shop, while others like sitting in nature with no distractions at all.
I personally prefer writing at my desk with total silence. I may listen to music from time to time, but often enjoy the silence.
Find your own sacred writing space and spend your time writing there as much as possible.
9. Replicate the Zone
Think about a time when you’ve been in the zone. How do you know when you’re entering the zone?
What do you feel inside your body? What is it that tells you that you’re now in the zone and your writing is flowing effortlessly onto the page?
You see, when you identify what the zone looks like to you, you can replicate it.
10. Passion
This may seem irrelevant at first, but have you ever noticed how much more you get done when you’re passionate about the topic you’re working on?
Back to the Cradle
Being four months grinding the routine endlessly and getting burned out in and out, I decide to take a leave. Not that long leave but still it’s much better than nothing, really. My well being is a bit shaky lately. Yoga, new circles, Android and blogging can never replace a long break. Break from this tweeting like a robot, break from writing like crazy, break from the Jakartan lunacy.
So I’ll leave for my hometown tomorrow morning. Just thought the scenery along the train trip is too good to get wasted. See ya!
p.s. : a brief post written at a time when I usually hit the office… Well they’ll understand!
Akhlis's Blog 