EAT THAT FROG

Okay. So, you’ve started your day, and there’s so much to do. Ever ask yourself, “Where do I start?” Many business owners I talk to do. They’ve got so much on their plate: sales, marketing, finances, hiring, cleaning the bathroom (just checking to see if you are still awake), and let’s not forget actually providing your product or service. Many people, faced with so many balls to juggle shut down. Or, how about “let me start with email.”

Have you ever found yourself doing that? And then the phone rings. And then an employee comes in asking for guidance. And then a customer calls. And before you know it, it is 5 p.m. and everyone is leaving the office except you, and you’re thinking “Jeez, I haven’t gotten anything done that I needed to get done today.”

There’s a way to stop the madness, and it’s called “Eat That Frog!” If you haven’t read this book by Brian Tracy, I suggest you get it and give it a good read.

The key to stop procrastinating, (and yes, I realize you thought all of that other stuff you did was important), is to start each day identifying the number one goal you have for the day. And then “Eat That Frog!” It means continually asking yourself “Which one project or activity, if I did it in an excellent and timely fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my life?”

And then, as Nike would tell us, “just do it”. Give yourself time at the beginning of each day to focus (and I mean really focus, not that shit that came across your mind) and get the biggest, ugliest thing on your plate done. You’ll be surprised how the rest of the day turns out.

That's pretty much it...You can completely skip the the rest of the blog. The later part is for the folks who would love to know my takeaways from the book.

Here are my 3 takeaways from the summary on Blinkist:

(i).  Make use of your unproductive time.

(ii). Know yourself.

(iii) Make appointments with yourself.

Are you with me? Let’s go!

Lesson 1: Make use of your unproductive time.

The summary said that the average driver spends 500 to 1,000 hours on the road each year. Holy moly!

Even if you’re not driving, chances are you still spend quite some time commuting. The world average commute is 40 minutes (that’s one-way), which means we spend an entire year of our life going back and forth between work and home.

That’s why Brian suggests making use of this time, for example by listening to audio books, programs or language tapes.

Extend this idea, and you’ll soon find yourself taking notes while waiting in line, reading when you’re waiting for someone you’re meeting and learning Spanish while doing the dishes. (I know you would never do that)

Just like the commute, these little bits of learning add up, and amount to quite a lot.

However, I’d like to take it one step further than Brian and say this: Eliminate recurring unproductive time altogether, wherever possible.(I don't know what that means, just google it.)

A commute has been shown to be one of the biggest destroyers of our happiness, so if you can, move closer to your work, work from home, or try to get at least one home office day per week. (The article will get better, I promise)

Lesson 2: Know yourself.

Know thyself. The ancient Greek phrase has been attributed to many sources, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Nowadays the talk is all about self-awareness, meaning you know what you’re good at, and what you’re not good at.

If you know that you can’t even walk with less than 7 hours of sleep, then make the time to get those 7 hours. You don’t know how much sleep you need? Calculate it. ( or just sleep faster)

Related to this is your time of day where you’re most productive. Maybe you are super focused in the morning (your circadian rhythm says yes), but some are night owls like me .

Extend this idea to all areas of your life, especially the ones that make your body function, like sleep, exercise, and diet, and you’ll soon know all the basics you have to take care of to be productive.

Feeling healthy and fit is one of the biggest determinants of your confidence, which will, in turn, make you more optimistic. The summary says 95% of our emotions result from the way we talk to ourselves, so you better be nice to yourself.

The book even talks about skills and knowing your special talent, which makes you valuable to others, so this idea will help you beyond productivity to lead a successful life.

Lesson 3: Make appointments with yourself.

In the time management section, Brian Tracy recommends blocking your time in chunks and putting it on the calendar.

I can personally vouch for this, as I have talked about scheduling your dream before. For me, I block out time to write and time to coach each day.

Here come’s the important part though: Use this to work on personal goals.

Consider this story from Charlie Munger, long-time business partner and friend of Warren Buffet, one of the richest man on the planet.

Charlie made $20 as a young lawyer back in the day,  and wondered who his most important client was. He decided it was himself, so he decided to “spend” $20 bucks each day and sell himself an hour.

Yes, he missed out on $20, but he now had 60 minutes each day to work on real estate deals, construction projects, i.e. the things that eventually made him a billionaire.

So pick a passion project, mine right now is this very website and a few more entrepreneurial projects, sell yourself an hour, and work on it a little bit every day.

“Step by step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts…slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve.”

Who said that?

Charlie Munger.