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Have you ever heard the phrase “eat that frog?” I never did until I read the book Eat That Frog, 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, by Brian Tracy. According to Brian, eating your frog is about tackling your most important, daunting tasks, and getting them done. The concept is similar to how you eat an elephant…one bite at a time. Brian’s main point is that you eat your most ugliest frog first, the next ugliest, and so on, until all your frogs are done. When you “eat your frog,” you feel empowered, happier, energized, and are more productive, i.e., you get more done. The principles Brian shares in his book are principles he has picked up from 30 years of studying time management and has incorporated into his own life. Brain says that time management is life management, so these principles apply to any aspect of your life, especially your business when you’re just getting started and working on it part time. The idea is to take control over what you do and choose the important tasks over the unimportant. This is a key determinate of success.

Here is a summary of each principle Brian covers in his book.

Principle 1: Set the Table
This principle is about determining what you want to accomplish. It’s about getting clarity about your goals and objectives. One of the biggest reasons people procrastinate is vagueness and confusion about what they want to do. Brian introduces his first Rule of Success: Think on paper. Do you know that people who have clear written goals accomplish 5 to 10 times more than people who don’t? Brian has a seven step formula for setting and achieving goals:

1. Decide exactly what you want to do (one of the worst time wasters is doing something well that doesn’t need to be at all).
2. Write your goal down. Writing your goal down crystallizes and put energy behind it because it becomes real.
3. Set a deadline on your goal. This gives you a sense of urgency with a beginning and end.
4. Make a list of everything you think you need to do to achieve the goal. A visual picture give you a path to follow and increases the likelihood of success.
5. Organize the list into a plan by priority and sequence. You can draw a map of your plan like a flow chart to help you visualize the steps.
6. Take action immediately. “Execution is everything.”
7. Resolve to do something everyday that takes you closer to your goal. Schedule your activities and never miss a day.

Having clear written goals affects your thinking and motivates and drives you into action. Written goals stimulate creativity, release energy, help you overcome procrastination, and give you enthusiasm. Think about your goals and review them everyday and take action.

Principle 2: Plan Each Day in Advance
This is basically making a to-do list. Just like eating an elephant, you eat a frog one bite at a time. Break you task down into steps. “Thinking and planning unlock your mental powers, trigger your creativity, and increase your mental and physical energies.” The better you plan, the easier to overcome procrastination, to get started, and to keep going. Brian claims that every minute you spend planning will save as much as ten minutes in execution. So if you spend 10 to 12 minutes planning, you’ll save at least 2 hours (100-120 minutes) in wasted time and effort – very impressive. Brian’s introduces the Six P Formula for this principle: Proper prior planning prevents poor performance. His tips are:

• All you need is paper and pen.
• Always work from a list – if something new comes up, add it to the list.
• Keep a master list of everything.
• Make a list for different purposes.
• Keep a monthly list, which you make at the end of each month for the following month.
• Keep a weekly list, which you make at the end of the week for the following week.
• Keep a daily list, which you make as the end of the day for the following day.

The lists feed off each other. Check off items as you complete them. Checking the items off gives you a visual record of accomplishment and motivates you to keep going. Follow the 10/90 Rule of personal effectiveness, which says if you spend the first 10% of your time planning and organizing your work before you begin, you’ll save 90% of time getting the work done when you start.

Principle 3: Apply the 80/20 Rule
This principle says that 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results, even when all your activities take the same amount of time to do. The activities that give you the most return on your investment are your frogs. Where you focus your time is the difference between being busy and accomplishing something. You want to eliminate or spend less time on your low-value tasks. Your most valuable tasks are the hardest and most complex, but give you the most bang for your time, so ask yourself if the task is a 20% task. Brian’s rule here is “Resist the temptation to clear up small things first.” Once you begin working on your hardest task, you become motivated to complete it. “A part of your mind loves to be busy working on significant tasks that can really make a difference. Your job is to feed this part of your mind continually.” Thinking of starting and finishing an important task motivates and helps you overcome procrastination. An important fact to remember is that “The amount of time required to complete an important job is the same time it takes to do an unimportant job.”

Principle 4: Consider the Consequences
“The mark of a superior thinker is his or her ability to accurately predict the consequences of doing or not doing anything.” Thinking through the consequences gives you an idea if an activity is important and is a way to determine the significance of a task. Any important task will have long-term potential consequences. Dr Edward Banfield, from Harvard University, concluded that “the long-time perspective is the most accurate single predictor of upward social and economic mobility in America” (a rare trait in our instant gratification world). Your attitude towards time has an impact on your behavior and choices. Thinking about the long-term impact will help you make better decisions, thus, one of Brian’s rules: “Long-term thinking improves short-term decision making.” Having a future orientation (5, 10, 20 years out) will allow you to analyze choices and will make your behaviors consistent with the future you want. Ask yourself, “What are the potential consequences of doing or not doing this task?” Brian’s follow-on rule is “Future intent influences and often determines present actions.” The clearer you are on your future intentions, the better clarity on what to do at the present moment. Having a clear understanding of your future intention helps you evaluate a task, delay gratification, and make the necessary sacrifices in the future. Be willing to do what others aren’t so you can have what others want later…greater rewards are in the long-term. Dennis Waitley, a motivational speaker says, “Failures do what is tension-relieving while winners do what is goal achieving.” Make important tasks a top priority and start them now. Time is passing anyway, so decide how you will spend it and where you want to end up. Thinking about the consequences of your choices, decisions, and behaviors is the best way to determine your priorities.

Principle 5: Practice the ABCDE Method Continually
The ABCDE method is a priority setting technique to help you be more efficient and effective. The premise behind the technique is that the more you invest in planning and setting priorities, the more important things you will do and do faster once you start. You start by listing everything you have to do for the day and categorize everything into A, B, C, D, or E. An “A” is something that is very important that you must do or there will be serious consequences (this is your frog.) A “B” is something you should do that has mild consequences (Brian calls these your tadpoles). A “C” is something that would be nice to do…
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Ihab Salloum