Title Eat That Frog
Author Brian Tracy
Year Published 2017
Kind of Book Productivity
How strongly I recommend it 9/10
My Impressions This is a great bite-sized book for prioritizing your life. It doesn't go into a ton of depth, but each chapter gives you actionable practices to overcoming procrastination. I only put one or two of them to work and noticed drastic results.
Date Read February 2022
What question is the author trying to answer?
How can you beat procrastination, manage your time, and get your priorities in order?
Practical Takeaways
If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first. Ie. if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first.
Tackle your major task first thing each morning. Start on it before you have time to think about it. //sim 3 second rule
Visualize Yourself as You Want to Be
Goal Setting Exercise #1
Step 1: Decide exactly what you want.
Step 2: Write it down.
Step 3: Set a deadline on your goal;
Step 4: Make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal.
Step 5: Organize the list into a plan.
Step 6: Take action on your plan immediately.
Step 7: Resolve to do something every single day that moves you toward your major goal.
Goal Setting Exercise # 2
Step 1) Take a clean sheet of paper right now and make a list of ten goals you want to accomplish in the next year. Write your goals as though a year has already passed and they are now a reality. Use the present tense, positive voice, and first person singular so that they are immediately accepted by your subconscious mind. For example, you could write, “I earn x number of dollars per year by this date” or “I weigh x number of pounds by this date” or “I drive such and such a car by this date.”
Step 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.
Break your large goal into individual actionable tasks that you can do //sim. To next-action steps in GTD
Think about your goals and review them daily.
Always work from a list.
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.
create a master list on which you write down everything you can think of that you want to do sometime in the future.
have a monthly list that you make at the end of the month for the month ahead.
Third, you should have a weekly list where you plan your entire week in advance.
your daily list. These are the specific activities that you are going to accomplish the following day.
When you have a project of any kind, begin by making a list of every step that you will have to complete to finish the project from beginning to end.
Before you begin work, always ask yourself, “Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?”
Resist the temptation to clear up small things first.
Before starting on anything, you should always ask yourself, “What are the potential consequences of doing or not doing this task?”
If a task or activity has large potential positive consequences, make it a top priority and get started on it immediately.
If something can have large potential negative consequences if it is not done quickly make it a top priority.
However much time you think a task will take, add on another 20 percent or more as insurance. //planning fallacy
get the job done well in advance of the deadline.
Ask yourself "What are my highest-value activities?"
Ask your boss "What are my highest-value activities?"
Ask your friends and family "What are my highest-value activities?"
Ask yourself, “What can I and only I do, that if done well, will make a real
difference?”
Do first things first and second things not at all.
Ask yourself throughout your career, “Why am I on the payroll?”
Prioritizing the day Exercise
Write down everything you have to do for the coming day.
Place an A, B, C, D, or E next to each item on your list before you begin the first task.
A= something that is very important, something that you must do. This is a task that will
have serious positive or negative consequences if you do it or fail to do
*If you have more than one A task, you prioritize these tasks by writing “A-1,” “A-2,” “A-3,
B=a task that you should do. But it has only mild consequences for not doing it
C=something that would be nice to do but for which there are no consequences at all
D=something you can delegate to someone else.
E=something that you can eliminate altogether
Ask yourself, “What one skill, if I developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my career?”
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. - Theodore Roosevelt
In thirty seconds, write down your three most important goals in the areas of finance, relationships, and career. (your answer will be just as accurate as if you have 3 hours or 3 days)
have everything you need at hand before you begin. //mise en place
take the time to create a work area where they enjoy spending time.
Get it 80 percent right and then correct it later.
Assume the body language of high performance. Ie. Sit up straight; sit forward and away from the back of the chair. Carry yourself as though you were an efficient, effective, high-performing personality.
Read in your field for at least one hour every day.
Do more than you are paid for.
Create Imaginary Deadlines
Set deadlines and subdeadlines on every task and activity.
Refuse to complain about your problems. Keep them to yourself.
Set up an autoresponder that says, “I check my e-mail only twice per day. I will reply as soon as possible. If this is an emergency, phone this number.”
Resolve to check your e-mail only twice a day, at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., and then turn it off again each time. Provide a telephone number where someone can reach you in an emergency.
Remove all e-mails that don’t relate to important goals and relationships.
Turn off your computer and your smartphone for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon.
Unplug from technology for one full day each week.
Don’t check your e-mail in the morning
Resolve to write one page or even one paragraph per day until the book is complete
Get a planner, broken down by day, hour, and minute
Daily Work Routine
-Work nonstop for ninety minutes with no diversion or distraction, on your most important task in the morning
-take a 15min break (no phone or checking texts/emails)
-Work 90 more minutes flat
-Take a long break (reward yourself with email/texts etc.)
Big Ideas
There is never enough time to do everything on your to-do list
But
There is always enough time to do the most important thing/s on your to-do list
The Key to success is being able to concentrate single-mindedly on your most important task until its done
We feel a boost in self-esteem when we complete a task we know we needed to do
We feel a boost in self-esteem when we do our best at a task
Not having a clear understanding of what you're supposed to be doing causes procrastination
Planning your day takes 10-12minutes, but it will save you 100-120 minutes of wasted time
Thinking long-term will help you make short-term decisions
Everyone procrastinates
The difference between high performers and low performers is what they choose to procrastinate on
For you to take on something new, you must stop doing something you are currently doing
Things are easier to accomplish and less daunting when you break them down into small chucks and then knock them out one at a time
It is not what happens to you but the way that you interpret the things that are happening to you that determines how you feel.
The more you discipline yourself to persist on a task the more self respect you will have
The more self respect you have the easier it will be to discipline yourself to persist on a task
Surprising Facts
Only about 3 percent of adults have clear, written goals
After an Internet interruption, it takes about seventeen minutes for you to shift your total attention back to your task and continue working.
It is estimated that the tendency to start and stop a task—to pick it up, put it down, and come back to it—can increase the time necessary to complete the task by as much as 500 percent.
Unknown Terms
The Law of Forced Efficiency: the universal 'law' that says, There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.
Self-esteem: according to Nathaniel Branden “the reputation you have with yourself.”