Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways To Stop Procrastin...
In this case, a frog is simply a metaphor for a task. But, not just any task. The biggest, most important task. The one you are most likely to procrastinate instead of doing. "Eating" that frog simply means doing the task.
Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastin...
Just as technology can be a terrible master, it can also be a wonderful tool. To wield this tool to your advantage, you need to have discipline. A great way to use technology is to have it remind you of the things that are most important in your life and to use it to protect you from the things that are least important. Some tools really do help with this. For example, using a tool like HourStack, you can block chunks of time to get work done, and then hold yourself accountable by starting the timer. Digital to-do lists also make it easy to delegate faster. At work, you could also give people specific times to contact you or not contact you.
Before you can determine your "frog" and get on with the job of eating it, you have to decide exactly what you want to achieve in each area of your life. Clarity is perhaps the most important concept in personal productivity. The number one reason why some people get more work done faster is because they are absolutely clear about their goals and objectives, and they don't deviate from them. The greater clarity you have regarding what you want and the steps you will have to take to achieve it, the easier it will be for you to overcome procrastination, eat your frog, and complete the task before you.
2. Review your list of ten goals and select the one goal that, if you achieved it, would have the greatest positive impact on your life. Whatever that goal is, write it on a separate sheet of paper, set a deadline, make a plan, take action on your plan, and then do something every single day that moves you toward that goal. This exercise alone could change your life!
Make your list the night before for the workday ahead. Move everything that you have not yet accomplished onto your list for the coming day, and then add everything that you have to do the next day. When you make your list the night before, your subconscious mind will work on your list all night long while you sleep. Often you will wake up with great ideas and insights that you can use to get your job done faster and better than you had initially thought.
You often see people who appear to be busy all day long but seem to accomplish very little. This is almost always because they are busy working on tasks that are of low value while they are procrastinating on the one or two activities that, if they completed them quickly and well, could make a real difference to their companies and to their careers.
Remember, whatever you choose to do over and over eventually becomes a habit that is hard to break. If you choose to start your day working on low-value tasks, you will soon develop the habit of always starting and working on low-value tasks. This is not the kind of habit you want to develop or keep. Low-value tasks are like rabbits; they multiply continually. You never get caught up.
Tracy claims that the key to success is to choose your most important task, concentrate on it, do it well, and finish it completely. In the book, he outlines 21 ways to stop procrastinating and increase your personal productivity.
In Chapter 2 of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy helps you leverage proper prior planning to overcome procrastination, eat that frog, and become more productive. If you plan for 10 minutes the night before, you will save two hours and increase output by 25%.
Tracy builds on this principle by claiming that your frog or a major task can have a much great result compared to nine lesser or other tasks. Thus, you need to focus on your most challenging task to have the most rewarding payoffs.
In Chapter 4 of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy argues that it is essential to consider the potential consequences of any task or activity to determine your priorities in life and work. Your frogs, or key tasks, will have the greatest implications, both positive and negative.
After determining your key result areas, give yourself a grade for how well you execute your key result areas. Remember, it is your weaknesses that hold back all your other skills. Thus, you need to never stop learning and work to improve your weakest key result area.
In Chapter 9 of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy suggests being prepared by having only the few things necessary to eat that frog. So you should clear and set up your work environment and desktop to be comfortable and attractive. You should gather the tools, papers, and information needed to complete the task at hand. Lastly, remove all distractions and turn off digital notifications, as these will distract you.
In Chapter 10 of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy discusses a story, in which travelers used oil barrels to journey through a large desert. Travelers could only see two oil barrels at a time and had to brave the trip one barrel at a time to survive. Thus, you need to focus on eating that frog, one at a time, when trying to accomplish a large, complex project.
You need to identify what you are great at and what you can do better and then focus on improving these special talents. The better you become at specific skills, the more motivated and confident you will be to eat specific frogs faster and excel.
In Chapter 15 of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy states that technology can be our enemy, especially when we want to eat the frog. Thus, for you to perform at your best, you should detach from tech regularly. Turn off your notifications, put your devices away, and unsubscribe from unwanted email newsletters.
During our day, many distractions give us dopamine hits, like responding to emails, texts, and DMs. In Chapter 17 of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy recommends you should focus your personal powers on eating that frog first thing in the morning and minimize distractions by:
In Chapter 19 of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy helps you utilize time management to create large chunks of time when planning your day. You can do so by scheduling deep work blocks in your calendar for the most critical tasks. Within each work block, eliminate all distractions and focus on eating that frog. With proper time management, you will accomplish these high-value, highly productive tasks to significantly contribute to your work and life.
In Chapter 21 of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy shows that successful people will fully accomplish what they need to get done whether they like it or not. So you need to make a habit of altogether eating the frog, meaning:
Most of us tend to spend a lot of time juggling multiple tasks. We used to believe that being productive depends on the number of tasks we can accomplish. However, the opposite is true: to be truly productive, we must only focus on the vital few that greatly contribute to our goals.
Prepare everything you need to complete the task the day before, so that there is no excuse when it comes down to eating the frog. Whatever tools and materials you need or whatever information you need to complete the task, prepare it way in advance. No excuses!
There's an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is eat a live frog, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you're done with the worst thing you'll have to do all day. For Tracy, eating a frog is a metaphor for tackling your most challenging task--but also the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life. Eat That Frog! shows you how to organize each day so you can zero in on these critical tasks and accomplish them efficiently and effectively. The core of what is vital to effective time management is: decision, discipline, and determination. And in this fully revised and updated edition, Tracy adds two new chapters. The first explains how you can use technology to remind yourself of what is most important and protect yourself from what is least important. The second offers advice for maintaining focus in our era of constant distractions, electronic and otherwise. This life-changing book will ensure that you get more of your important tasks done today.
The book is a perfect recommendation to overcome perfectionism, procrastination, the lack of motivation, and feeling boredom while trying to pursue goals and tasks. Although the idea sounds so disgusting, it is a simple cure for most of the problems that we usually have when we are tested to get things done. Always remind yourself to EAT THAT FROG! And when you have got more than one frog, start with the ugliest one. In this context, the frog is the most difficult, the highest value and the one task that really makes a difference in your progress.
So, if you are interested in a quick read book that has a plethora of researched ideas that will support you in your efforts to stop procrastinating, this is the one for you. To learn more about it, watch the video by author Brian Tracy.
Second, you have to overcome distractions and procrastination to get more done. It is easy to stay busy doing good things that steal your time, attention, and energy from eat that frog goal.
Frogs may be hard to eat, but they also have the potential to have the greatest positive impact on your life and work. Fortunately, you can take some practical steps successfully eat that frog on a consistent basis.
When you are looking for ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time, it starts with clear goals. Take an inventory of your current goals. Write them down if you have not already done so. Make a list. Then ask yourself which 3-5 are the most important goals.
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, procrastination is to intentionally put off something that should be done. When faced with eating a frog, procrastination is the voice that tempts you to give your time, attention, and energy to something other than your most important task for the day.
Consider the consequences means think about the results. Based on your decisions for how to spend your time, what will be the positive impact on your life? What are the possible adverse results? If you keep the end in mind, you can make the best use of your time to eat that frog. 041b061a72