So my 9-year-old has also learnt that in order to get her day going smoother, she needs to just Eat That Frog.
Eat That Frog, 21 Days to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time is a short and easy read by Brian Tracy who has written other books on sales and productivity. Some time back, I had borrowed the book as I had heard it referenced by some podcasters I had been listening to. It is apparently one of THE books on productivity.
I had actually forgotten all about the book until I heard 9-year-old mumbling under her breath that she needed to go Eat That Frog one morning after our Bible study. It made me laugh.
Because the book was such an easy read – and it had a huge font size – the children had flipped through it and caught the catchy phrase which has been attributed to Mark Twain.
And so, I decided to go and borrow the book again. After all, if I am to obey the call of God fully to take this blog up to the next level (whatever the next level is!), I need to use my time more efficiently.
If you are looking for a way to improve your productivity level, this book is a simple one to read and implement. He lists seven steps for us to get off our butts and get moving towards our goal. The main point, author Brian Tracey makes, is that we should be doing the BIG things first (aka The Big Rocks of Life by Stephen Covey) so that everything else that follows after that would go easier and smoother. And not to procrastinate and get distracted.
But somehow, we almost always don’t tackle the biggest and most important task first. Either it is the fear of failure or the fear of success or just plain laziness, we choose to do the small things first and get caught in the busyness of life. Tracy says, “resist the temptation to clear up the small things first”, instead “whatever your frog is, resolve to gulp it down first thing.”
These are good skills to teach our children. Procrastination is a terrible trait to pass down to them. What is the frog you need to eat today to make your day go smoother?
And what was the 9-year-old’s frog?… Doing her Chinese homework 🙂