Feature Review by Patty Lou Bryant
 
Eat That Frog
21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
By Brian Tracy
Berrett-Keohler Publishers
San Francisco 2007
2^nd Edition, Revised and Updated with Two New Chapters
 
Are you constantly frustrated with your workload? Feeling like you never get anything done? Having trouble deciding what needs to be done first? Are you shuffling from one activity to the other? Wondering how to solve the busyness of your workday?  Is procrastination a major problem?
Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog offers 21 principles for ending the procrastination cycle. He says, “Your frog is your biggest most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on, if you don’t do something about it.” Tracy adds, “Every idea in this book is focused on increasing your overall levels of productivity, performance, and output and on making you more valuable in whatever you do.”
 
Just 125 pages long, Eat That Frog is full of practical ideas. The entire book can be read in one evening – the principles can be implemented immediately and you will attain success in both your business and personal life.
 
Here are five principles from Tracy’s book that resonated with me. As you read, I hope these ideas will whet your appetite for more.
 
Set the table: Tracy teaches you to be absolutely clear about what you want in life. This principle challenges you to write down your goals, review them daily, compare your daily agenda with your goals and constantly ask yourself, is this task getting me closer to my goal?
 
Consider the consequences: Everything we do has a negative or positive consequence. Stay focused on this premise. Every day, you must tackle and “eat your frog”. Neglect this task and procrastination will set in. Ignoring or neglecting that critical task will have negative consequences.
 
Leverage your special talents: Within your set of skills, one skill you have you are very good at. Whatever this one thing is, do it with your whole heart. No one else can do this one thing as well as you do it. Concentrate on this talent and do it very well.
 
Motivate yourself into action: Be optimistic and constructive. Focus on the good and always look for a solution (or two or three) for every problem. Be your own cheerleader and surround yourself with likeminded people. The opposite is also true – don’t associate with negative thinkers. Only spend time with cheerful people. Refuse to let difficulties affect your mood or emotions.
 
Handle things once – Once you decide on your biggest “frog”, start eating. You should work on that task 100 per cent until it’s complete. Interruptions, stall tactics and coffee breaks stop the flow of momentum. The key to higher performance and maximum personal productivity is to start immediately on your most important task and stay with it until it’s finished.
 
Ready to make some changes in your life? Hoping to achieve more? Pick up a copy of Eat That Frog and begin to implement the ideas in this book. Once you have discovered the key area of your life that requires work, procrastination will no longer be an issue for you. Every day you will eat your “frog” – likely just after breakfast – and this action will have the greatest positive impact on your life. You will begin to work smarter, faster and on the right things. And then as Brian Tracy states, “You will become unstoppable.”