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This fancily named book describes ‘frog’ as the most important task of the day and how we should attempt to ‘eat’ (do) that task. And if there are two such frogs, we must attempt to eat the bigger and uglier frog first.
I loved this book for two reasons:
1. Because each of these productivity techniques are complete just by themselves. Take any one method and put them in practice and we can see its magic work.
2. These methods work for your professional and personal life and aim to improve the overall quality of life.
Below are my top 4 concepts from the book (out of the 21 ways):
Creative Procrastination - According to this concept, the key difference between high performers and low performers is defined by what they choose to procrastinate on. We should try to avoid all the low priority tasks and say no to anything that is not a high-value use of our time. “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.” And when we cannot avoid the tasks, identify which can be delegated to free up time.
Put the Pressure on Yourself - The author argues that to reach our full potential, we must form the habit of putting the pressure on ourself and not wait for someone else to come along and do it for us. He adds, “Work as though you have only one day to get your most important jobs done”.
The 80/20 Rule - Brian Tracy loves the Pareto Principle and suggests that we apply this to everything in life. He feels that the most important question to ask ourselves is if the task we are about to do falls in the top 20% or the bottom 80% of our priorities. He strongly suggests we resist our temptation to clear up small things first as that only leaves us “busy being busy” but not productive. He quotes, “Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work.”
Planning Every-day In Advance - This is a four-step planning process – Master, Monthly, Weekly and Daily lists. Master list comprises of all the things we desire to get done sometime in the future. The second list is derived from the master list and has a list of all the items to be done in the month. Likewise, the third is the weekly list and the fourth is the daily list. Other popular concepts from the book are the ABCDE method, applying the law of three, taking one oil barrel at a time & slice and dice the task.
About the Author: Brian Tracy is one of the top Canadian American motivational public speakers and self-development author and has written over seventy books.