Book Summary (Eat that Frog)

Do you constantly feel overwhelmed because you have too many tasks to complete each day? How do some people finish their to-do lists despite working within the same time frame? Their secret? They have learned to work at the highest level of productivity. Fortunately, you can also learn strategies that will boost your ability to accomplish more. The first principle of planning is called "setting the table." It is about determining what you want to accomplish and clarifying your goals and objectives. This step is vital if you seek productivity in life. You will work faster and achieve more when you know where you're going — your end game. Procrastination sets in when you are unclear about what you want to accomplish. Your thoughts align with your goals when you write them down. You become driven to execute what you've written. You support your fight against procrastination by activating your creativity and releasing energy to accomplish your goals. Plan each day, and never reach a day without knowing what you want to do. No day should be strange to you because you have a clear direction for what you will do. When you know what to expect from yourself, you will be able to meet those expectations. This summary explains how to achieve your goals, get important things done, and do more in less time. It will teach you to beat procrastination and stop wasting time on activities that don't translate into productivity.

According to the infamous 80/20 principle, you need only 20% effort to produce 80% results. For example, 20% of your customers create 80% of your sales. You can apply this rule to everything, including your everyday tasks. If you have a list of ten jobs demanding equal time, pick two that provide the greatest value. Arrange the list based on importance and begin with the first item. Even if you cannot complete the list, what you have accomplished will compensate for the others. By prioritizing tasks, you'll be able to tackle the most important ones from the beginning, and then, if you have enough time, you'll get to those that are not as urgent. This simple idea is the essence of the "Eat The Frog" method. Complex and demanding tasks often bring the most significant rewards. So, seek these out first and get them done. The excitement you get from completing them will provide the fuel you need to do other tasks on the list. So, the simple rule is: "prioritize and execute." It is vital to hold onto this feeling of satisfaction when you complete something. It makes you feel good about yourself, improves motivation, enhances efficiency, and keeps the productive juices flowing. Use this momentum to stay focused on your road to success. Once you get used to this system, you'll develop an incredible universal technique for dealing with any number of tasks. When you have a long-term perspective of your life, you can easily discern between the tasks that fit into the puzzle and those that do not. You will then spend your time doing things that yield results. A jigsaw puzzle is an excellent example: you are more likely to complete it when you see the whole picture than when you have just a few pieces at a time. Think about where you'd like to be in a few years. What are the things that will get you there? Answering this question will help you plan your journey more effectively.

The truth is you are unlikely to be able to complete every single thing on any given day. You'll have to let something go; this is where you can procrastinate on the less essential tasks. If you choose to procrastinate on your small, non-crucial activities, you'll find yourself more successful than if you decide to procrastinate on the essential, value-adding ones. It's natural if you can't do everything you want. There's always a lack of something: time, energy, money, or other resources. It's also in human nature to set unrealistic goals from time to time. Don't worry about achieving everything, everywhere, all at once. Set your priorities straight and strive to complete only the most essential tasks. The term "posteriorities" defines lower-value activities that you do less of or not at all. Understanding which of your tasks are priorities and which ones are posteriorities will help you increase productivity. What's more, completing more important tasks will get your energy going, and you might find doing further tasks easier. The sense of accomplishment will make you feel good about yourself and increase your motivation. Doing essential tasks will also improve your overall discipline because you'll get used to being productive. Once you establish this habit, your efficiency level will rise. Good discipline is an intrinsic part of achieving success. The ABCDE method is helpful in this regard. Here's how to use it: 1. Itemize the jobs you must accomplish. 2. Give them labels A, B, C, D, or E. 3. "A" represents what you must complete today. Sometimes, more than one task falls into this category, so label these activities Al, A2, etc. 4. Move on to the next letter only after completing the A-category jobs. You must stay focused on the most critical tasks until finished. Muster all the willpower you need to get them done. Eat these frogs to be happy with yourself in the long term.

What are the tasks that show your level of productivity? A key result area is a task that is entirely your responsibility. If you don't do it, nobody else will. If you work in an office, clearly define your key result areas with your boss. It is beneficial for everyone in an organization to be clear about chores peculiar to them. These are tasks for which they will be held accountable. The key to a successful project lies in clearly established requirements that state the responsibilities of each party involved and provide detailed information about each task. People can't read minds, so detailed instructions go a long way. When employees have direct instructions, their performance provides prolific results. Evaluate yourself to know where you're strongest and weakest in these roles or duties. Assign a score from one to ten to measure your level of productivity in these areas. From this evaluation, you will be able to identify the skills you need to acquire to improve your weak points. Focus on honing these skills to become outstanding in your field. The Law of Three states that you must select three duties most important to your organization's productivity. These tasks must take up 80% of your time. On an individual level, three key result areas in your life that require your utmost attention are: • Family • Health • Career Evaluate your performance in these three areas. Where are you weakest? What do you need to start doing to fortify the weak points? For each area, write down a goal you seek to achieve. Focus on this goal until it's complete. When you set out to work, ensure you spend the time actually working. Often, we allow distractions from our devices, colleagues, and other sources to interfere with our work routine. Then, we spend much time at work but accomplish less than we expect.

A clear understanding of what is necessary enables you to do an excellent job. Creating a unique productivity checklist for different activities helps. Imagine you're a college student. Your pre-study time checklist could be having your pen, notebooks, mathematical sets, and other tools in place before you begin reading. This way, you can stay focused while studying. Feelings of inadequacy, lack of confidence, and incompetence in a task's key areas are other reasons for procrastination. Developing your professional skills can help you deal with these productivity blocks. Every field requires continuous learning if you strive to stay successful. To attain mastery in any area, follow these three steps: • Devote one hour each day to field-specific learning. • Attend training sessions and workshops. • Spend your commute time sharpening your mind through podcasts and audiobooks. If you're not driving, read a book. Understanding your talents is also a big part of your journey to success. Every individual has unique skills. It is by using yours that you experience career advancement. Identify your abilities as quickly as possible and advertise them so people can associate you with the skill. Just as we all have unique talents, we all have significant constraints. These obstacles prevent us from showcasing our skills and special abilities. A strategy to overcome these blockades would be helpful. Although many perceive pressure negatively, putting it on yourself is often the key to success. Many people require supervision and pressure to achieve results. A situation like this is especially true for people with fewer skills or experience.

You exist in a physical frame — your body. And when we talk about taking care of your body, it's not only about the physical. Your thoughts and emotions are just as important. If you take good care of yourself, you'll be able to work harder and longer, but if you're exhausted or malnourished, you'll find your progress hitting a brick wall. Humans are used to noticing physical tiredness, but we frequently neglect our mental needs. It's important to check in with yourself and make sure you're feeling well. If you feel like you need a break, take one. Working yourself to the bone might provide prolific results, but not for long. At some point, you will get so exhausted that you won't be able to do anything. How you feel depends on your internal rapport. How do you interpret events in your life? These interpretations determine your feelings. Be mindful of your version of the story because that will dictate its effect on you. Events can motivate or demoralize you, depending on how you see them. You must stay positive at all times. Be intentional about seeing the benefits of everything that happens to you, good or bad. Do not allow situations you cannot control to determine your mood or disposition. One way to achieve detachment and gain control over your mood is to become focused. The more focused you are on high-interest activities, the less time you'll give to distractions. Sadly, technology constantly keeps us distracted. While you may find it difficult to imagine your life without technology, you must evaluate its overall effect on you. The Internet has provided us access to information, but we need help paying attention to specific details. Devices can become time wasters when not managed properly. Distraction kills productivity. Just because you can stay in constant contact doesn't mean you should. It's very beneficial to disconnect regularly from all your devices. When you are constantly accessible, distraction occurs more often.

Identify the components of a job and reduce them to manageable pieces. Focusing on a chunk at a time will help you feel a sense of progress, encouraging you to continue until the entire task is complete. Humans feel motivated when they achieve a goal, no matter how small. Motivation is vital to continuous achievement. You can complete any job you have broken down into smaller pieces in record time. A good example is eating; a plate of food is consumed one scoop at a time. Each mouthful of food is ground into a digestible form until the entire plate is empty. Large tasks can be quite complicated and consequently confusing. Breaking them into smaller chunks will not only make them easier, but it'll also have a positive influence on your management skills. You'll be able to plan your responsibilities better, and it'll be easier to determine how much time you need for each task. It'll also be more clear which parts of the project need improvement. When you're doing something step by step and something goes wrong, you'll easily trace back the potentially faulty areas. Create time blocks to complete the chunks and ensure the time allocation allows for continuous execution in order of importance. A calendar can help create the time you need to complete your duties. Allocate large chunks of time to critical portions of tasks. Start with your most important activities for the day or week. That way, you'll get so much done before fatigue sets in. You're accomplishing essential tasks, which gives you the necessary boost to get the rest done.

Attaching a sense of urgency to tasks helps you muster the strength to get them done in record time. There's a concept called the Momentum Principle of Success, which states that consistent movement creates the momentum needed for efficient goal achievement. It's generally challenging to start anything, but the process becomes smoother once you catch the flow. Have you ever procrastinated on a task until the last possible minute? Do you remember the feeling when you understand that if you don't complete the task right now, you won't get any more chances to do it? At this point, the adrenaline kicks in, and your performance skyrockets. The thing is, you don't have to wait until the last possible minute to feel this flow of efficiency. All you've got to do is start doing a task, and you'll catch the wave of productivity. Starting a job is the worst - and most difficult - part of doing something. Forcing yourself to leave a state of leisure and delve into the work phase sometimes feels nearly impossible. You must develop the habit of leaping into a productive mindset as quickly as possible. To achieve remarkable goals, identify essential tasks and concentrate on them thoroughly until you get the results you seek. To succeed with an activity, you must work without distraction from beginning to completion, concentrating on only one thing at a time. This practice helps you to achieve clarity, creativity, and competence. You can power through to the end without giving in to distractions and temptations to abandon the task. Extreme focus on a single job and avoiding all distractions will decrease the time spent on the job by up to 50%. A sense of urgency can push you into a flow state. You become inclined to take action immediately, and this inner drive will force you to think about how you can creatively complete the job. Once creativity is activated, you can enter the zone. Did you know? A Swiss cheese task is an assignment that has strict time limits for you to complete. When you set tight deadlines, you are more motivated to work.

Decide what you want in life. Clarity is essential. When you plan your day, you will save ten times the period invested in planning. Remember that your activities do not have equal value, so identify the most valuable ones and invest most of your time in those practices. Any task that can make or mar your life and career is essential, so give them time and attention. Of course, these include your health, family, and career. Concentrate on these areas above everything else, and you will undoubtedly improve the quality of your life. To beat procrastination, you can create a list of your priorities and label your tasks using the ABCDE method to focus on the most important ones. Professional development helps you save valuable time. When you learn to do things better and smarter, you can create pockets of time to do other essential things. Anticipate the obstacles to achieving your goals and plans. You may not be able to remove them entirely, but you can alleviate them with a prepared strategy for responding to obstacles. Be mindful of how you use technology; like fire, it can serve you only if you learn to control it properly. If left uncontrolled, it can burn a whole house down.