– Book summary on “Eat that Frog – 21 Great ways to Stop Procrastinating and get more done in less time” by BRIAN TRACY
To do it now or not to do it now. So many things already to be done on our plate, which one is the most important? Do we hence tend to procrastinate the other activities?
Many of us have so many tasks to complete each day – be it e-mails, projects, work responsibilities, daily routine tasks etc. We have endless dreams and hobbies, which have been put on hold, as there is ‘no time’. When we are always in ‘completion’ mode for most of the tasks and responsibilities, this is the time we procrastinate or postpone as not all tasks can be done at once. Learn here in this article that How to manage our time efficiently…
“EAT THAT FROG!” by BRIAN TRACY book rescues us from the tornado of endless tasks and responsibilities. It shares with us techniques and applications to be the master of time.
Below points summarize the key points and techniques mentioned in the book for a successful career and personal life.
WHY EAT THAT FROG?
Identify, Select, Get Started and Complete our most important task at the moment are the key ingredients for personal effectiveness and success with priorities in our life.
This is the ‘frog’ that we might think of postponing as it is the biggest and difficult among others to complete. However it is also the one which will have greatest impact on our results.
“The first rule of frog eating is: If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.”
Once we have selected the important task, acting on it is the key.
“The second rule of frog eating is: If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long.”
HOW DO YOU EAT THAT FROG?
Use ABCDE Method continually:
Make a list of every task we need to do for the next day and divide into the type of tasks as –
A – Must do, B- Should do, C- Nice to do, D- Delegate to, E-eliminate altogether.
This will give us a clear picture of the ‘A’ tasks which are important and will lead to positive consequences if done correctly and on time. Negative consequences when failed to complete it.
Identify Key Result Areas & Key constraints:
Key result areas are those for which only we individually are responsible for and need to complete.
- Get clarity on which are your Key Result Areas
- Understand your strengths and weaknesses in these key areas
- Work to improve those skills.
Key constraints are those limiting factors which are holding us back from achieving our goals. Identify the constraints by making a list of activities as processes or behaviors in ourselves that stop us from achieving our goals.
Apply 80/20 rule:
Only twenty percent of our activities account for 80 percent of our results. Identify the high-value and most important tasks which will directly contribute to our key results.
Take it one oil barrel at a time:
Focus on a single action than the entire task at a time. Steadily move towards the goal by completing only that one task in hand.
Motivate yourself:
Stay motivated and build enthusiasm. Remind yourself why you want to do something. Tell yourself that you can accomplish anything.
Put Pressure on self:
Live as if this is the only day we can work to complete the task in hand.
Motivate yourself into action:
Always keep telling yourself the things you want rather than things you don’t want.
Upgrade your key skills:
Knowledge and skills lead us to complete our key result areas faster, so for us to do more in less time.
Focus attention:
Stop and move away from distractions and interruptions that delay to complete the most important tasks.
Make Technology your help not your master:
Check for apps or software that will help you to become more efficient and focused.
Create Sense of urgency:
Initial start to any task takes a lot of energy and push, once started move towards getting things quickly. ’Do it now!’ This moves us to fast track and leads to higher sense of self-esteem and personal pride to get more tasks done.
STOP PROCRASTINATING & EXECUTE
Slice and Dice the task:
Cut a big task down to small sizes for getting work done. Develop a compulsion to closure technique – the bigger task we start and complete the greater power and energy we will feel. Apply ‘Swiss Cheese’ method of working which is to decide on specific time period to work, it can be as less as 10 minutes to more than an hour to concentrate on a particular task and take a break or do something else. Continue this till the task is complete which may at times be spread out for week or more also.
Create large chunks of time:
Create fixed time period and planned time slots for important tasks as well as trivial tasks as checking e-mail, attending phone calls etc.
Plan select start:
Plan the priorities, select the most important task and start immediately acting on the task without stopping until it is 100% complete. Discipline yourself by saying ‘Back to work!’ again and again to avoid distractions in any form.
CONCLUSION
The core message of this book is that take action immediately for all of our task completions, skills and behaviors we want to learn and succeed in all arenas of our lives. The beauty lies in eating the frogs that we like the least to transform it into a habit that will make us the king of our valuable ‘Time’.
We are leading corporate training solution provider and conducts a range of leadership development training. To know more about us and our training solution, please fill the below form
