Eat That Frog is a masterwork on the mechanism of using time properly and getting more done in less time.
It’s written by one of the top business speakers of the world, the author of 80 books that have been translated into 42 languages, Brian Tracy.
The book contains 21 chapters, each dealing with a different way of stopping procrastination. Before getting into these 21 ways of stopping procrastination, in the introduction of the book, Tracy says be selective in picking and doing the tasks. He suggests doing those tasks first that seems to be huge. Furthermore, he presents a simple rule to decide which tasks are really important and which are not. He urges you, write down the long-run effects of the tasks on your life that are in front of you. Pick those tasks that have a positive impact on your life in the long run, because these are important ones, and do them first. And, delay the task that has temporary positive impacts on your life, because these are not too important. And visualize yourself achieving what you want.
In the very first step to stop procrastinating, Tracy presents seven very simple but effective ways to achieve any goal or task. In it, he suggests readers be clear about what they want and achieve. In the second step, he says, when you are clear about what you want, write it down on the paper, because writing what you want on a paper is the first step to achieve these goals. Furthermore, in the next steps, he emphasizes to set deadlines for the goals written down, then enlist the things that you have to do to achieve these goals, organize that list into a plan, take action immediately on the plan that you have made, and in the last, resolve the things to do on every single day that can move you closer to your goals. This is the first step to end procrastinating.
In the very first step to stop procrastinating, Tracy presents seven very simple but effective ways to achieve any goal or task. In it, he suggests readers be clear about what they want and achieve
In the second step, he suggests living life according to a fixed plan. He says, plan every year, month, week, and day of your life. Decide in advance what you are going to do in that year, month, week, and on the day. Additionally, prioritize your projects, tasks, and goals into a list sequence wise form most important to less important. This is how you get something to do every single day, and your tendency to procrastinate decreases because you get some other things to do for the next day.
In the third and fourth steps, he introduces readers to the 80/20 rule. Analyse, what are the 20 percent of the things that will make 80 percent of the results for the things that you want to achieve. Focus on these 20 percent of the things. Also, see what are the 80 percent of the things that only contribute 20 percent to what you want, and accordingly deal with them. Spend more and more time in those few areas that can make a difference in your life and give less time to the activities that have less value in your life. Furthermore, he says, consider the consequences of the things that you do before they appear. And, focus on the things that have positive consequences on your life. This is the way to minimize the task loads and focus on a few tasks that matter. It would help you to stop procrastinating.
The fifth step that he suggests is very different and astonishing. In it, Tracy suggests his reader practice procrastination, but creative. That means, procrastinate on the tasks that have very little importance to complete the tasks that are very important and can’t be skipped. Moreover, in the next steps, he gives a simple method to categorize the tasks. He says, attributes the tasks with alphabetic letters like A, B, C, D, here task ‘A’ means the task is most important, and task ‘B’ means it’s less important than task ‘A’, and so on. Further, identify the three things that you do daily that account for 90 percent of contributions for what you want to achieve, and focus on getting them done before anything else. And make sure you have everything on hand that you need to complete those three tasks before you start.
Additionally, in the tenth and coming steps to stop procrastination, he guides readers to do big tasks stepwise. Do one step at one time and in this way you can complete very complicated tasks easily. As well as, upgrade the key skills that can help you to do your tasks fast. And also identify the key constraints that are making problems between you and your goals. Determine the factors that set the speed at which you achieve your most important goals, and focus on alleviating them.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth steps, he suggests the readers, put pressure on themselves to complete some particular task and be motivated all the time to do the things that have a big impact. Tracy says, imagine you have to leave a town within a month and you have to do all your important tasks before leaving, this is how you can feel pressure and you push a pace forward to do the things at once. Additionally, focus on the solutions rather than problems. Always be optimistic and constructive.
In further steps, he makes readers realize that technology is a terrible master if not used properly. You may become the slave of technological addictions, so make sure to use technology productively. Additionally, turn off your gadgets while doing your important works. Besides it, you can use technological tools to comfort yourself with what is most important from what is least important. With it, try to discard those factors from your life that interrupt you while doing the things that can lead you to the life you want. By doing so you can achieve a state of healthy urgency to put effort into the things that you want.
While reading the last four steps to stop procrastinating, you will learn from Tracy to slice and dice the large tasks, create large chunks of time, develop a sense of urgency, and single handle every task. In these steps, he suggests to slice down large tasks into small ones, and then do just one small part to get started. Organize the large blocks of time for the big tasks and make a habit of moving and taking action fast on your key tasks. In the last, he proposes to set priorities and don’t stop until a task is completed 100 percent.
So, in this way, Brian Tracy shares his valuable experience and presents these simple and actionable steps to stop procrastination and achieve more in less time. The language of books is very easy; you will hardly need a dictionary. Grab the book if you are confused, procrastinate on things, and can’t use your time productively. I’m sure this book will change your time management skills and will make you a person who can do and achieve things quickly.
The writer is a blogger and student at University of Engineering & Technology. He can be reached at [email protected]