Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time

The title of this book, Eat That Frog, comes from the old adage, reportedly attributed to Mark Twain, that “If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that is probably the worst thing you’ll have to do all day long.” The frog of course, is a metaphor for your most important task, that will produce the most valuable result, often the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do it now. I’m a fitness coach, so I like to review and share personal development and motivation books that are applicable to fitness as well as business and life in general. This book is mostly slanted to work, business, sales and financial success, but there are some general productivity ideas in the book that could apply to every area in life. If your health and fitness is what’s most important for you right now, then certainly a workout first thing in the morning could be your frog. (I recommend it). I’ve followed Brian since 1993 and have had the 2001 hardcover edition since it was first published. I recently picked up the newest edition. The new update includes two extra chapters, the first with tips on how to use technology to remind yourself of what is most important and protect yourself from what is least important. The second offers advice for maintaining focus in the modern era of constant distractions. (Certainly useful since the internet was in its infancy and life was much slower-paced 20 years ago). Even the new expanded edition is still a short book at only 145 pages. Each chapter is the length of an article so it’s easy to read. It’s the type of book you can finish in two or three sittings (one if you’re ambitious), or you can slowly get through it one chapter at a time in spare minutes here and there. As mentioned above, this is a book about being more productive including how to stop procrastinating. But this is not just a book about time management or productivity (how to get more done), it’s a book about how to choose and tackle priorities (how to get the most important thing done first). There are many books about time management but not many about how to prioritize. Eat That Frog is one of the few. I agree with Brian that becoming a master of choosing the most important task and focusing on that before anything else is one of the most valuable skills you can possess. It can exponentially increase your success in any area of life. This is not the most in-depth book on these topics. There are other excellent reads that go deeper. For example, Brian gives one short chapter to the 80-20 rule. Richard Koch wrote an entire book on it. Some of my other favorites on focus and prioritization include The One Thing, Deep Work And Essentialism. Nir Eyal’s Indistractible is also a good read about how to stay focused in today’s world. But if you’re looking for a short, accessible primer on the most important fundamentals of productivity, prioritization, organization and focus, a book with absolutely zero space wasted on fluff, then you won’t be disappointed with Eat That Frog. Based on how often I’ve seen this book recommended and based on rankings, it looks like this is still one of Brian Tracy’s most popular titles.

I bought this book requested by my younger son, who by then was in the university. He looked for some ideas to fight his procrastination habits. I decided to take a look to the book and found one full of ideas to put in practice and also attainable. The practice which gave name to the book is a very simple one. Put the hardest things before to solve, and then the easy thigs will flow. inspired by Mark Twain who once said that if you start the day by eating a frog you will have the satisfaction of knowing that this was probably the worst thing you had to do that day. The frog is a metaphor for your biggest and most important task. It encourages us to develop a habit of starting and completing important tasks. Other great idea is to fight the technological thieves of your time, don’t be a slave of the social networks apps.

I have been reading many books on performance and achievement recently including Napolian Hill, Steven Covey, Dale Carnegie, etc. I am pleasantly surprised at this book and the simple methods that if implemented even at a fraction, could be life changing. Mark Twain Said: "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." and that's how the name of the book is derived: "EAT THAT FROG" The basic message of this book is: 1. before your day begins, have an idea of the tasks you need to complete. Write it down or visualize it 2. Prioritize them with A, B, C labeling. Ask yourself which task I dread the most or has the highest impact ( which task is the ugliest frog, I eat it firs thing in the morning so the rest of day is pleasant). Give A to that task to complete first. 3. start your day with Task A and then move on to B, C. Remember if you finish A, the energy, happniness and satisfaction you get out of it would make your other tasks so simple and easy to complete. Plus your day would be a great day. Plus you become a high achiever. Example: you need to write an essay for school, do shopping and go to the gym. it's 4 pm on a Thursday. Which one would you do first? Well, if you are like me, I dread or dislike writing that essay but that's the most important, high impact task whose completion make everything else so pleasant. Essay is Task A. do that first. see how happy and satisfied you are after. Task B and C would seem like vacation after completing A. Result: most important, high impact task completed. You enjoyed your rest of evening, Also completed B and C after cause they all seem fun now. Now this might seem simple at the beginning but this simple habit requires practice and internalization. Highly recommend to read twice with notes and highlighting.

Book is a great tool, its written for megadisorganized people like me, who do everything exactly opposite from principles explained.. I will try to do everything by the book this time.. i swear.. or at least try.. i guess..

Very happy with my purchase

Este libro me ha ayudado a mejorar mi productividad identificando en donde procrastino, utilizar esa energía y tiempo en cosas de valor que realmente contribuyen en mi vida profesional.

It arrived earlier than I expected. It’s worth the price.

انصح فيه جدا لو عنك مشكله في الشغف وادارة الوقت