The Frog Prince

Book Review:

Brian Tracy, "Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time", Berrett-Koehler, 2007.

In line with the self-improvement theme, I decided to check out "Eat That Frog!" by Brian Tracy, a popular audience book about productivity. It was a quick read (at 117 pages), and delivers exactly what you'd expect based on the subtitle -- twenty-one "principles" for managing time, each with its own chapter.

But why the title "eat that frog"? Well, as Brian Tracy explains in the introduction:

"Mark Twain once said 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 that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long."

So, a metaphorical "frog" is a big and important task that can have a great impact on your life but is also something that you are likely to procrastinate on (because it is difficult and ugly). And the rest of the book basically builds on that key concept: since you cannot do all the things you need to or want to do, you have to prioritize your tasks and do the most important (not the easiest) one first each morning. If you turn this into a habit, and incorporate it as part of your personality, then according to Brian Tracy, you will develop a "positive addiction" to success and accomplishment.

And that's it. That's the book. Okay, I'm being facetious, but my point is that the techniques in this book are so similar that the book feels very repetitive. I made the same point about Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", when I said that the thesis of being nice permeates throughout in a palpable way. In the case of "Eat That Frog!", the thesis seems to be prioritize your goals and start with the most important one and don't stop until you finish.

Here is a summary of the 21 rules for "frog eating":

1. Set clear goals and objectives. Write them down on paper, set deadlines, and make plans.
2. Plan your day in advance. Make a list on paper of all the things you have to do, and sort them by priority and sequence (i.e. what has to be done first, second, etc.). 
3. Focus on the 20% of activities that will yield 80% of your results (the 80/20 rule). Spend most of your time on the goals, activities, projects and responsibilities that fall into the top 10-20%.
4. Focus on the tasks with the most serious consequences, positive or negative. Make a plan to achieve the most important thing, and start working on the plan immediately.
5. Procrastinate on low value tasks. Select an activity to abandon until more important goals have been achieved.
6. Organize your list of tasks according to value and priority before you begin working. Use the ABCDE method (A = very important, B = moderately important, C = nice but unessential, D = delegate, E = eliminate).
7. Identify and focus on the key result areas you need to do your job well. Get constructive feedback from your boss and determine which skill, if you did it in an excellent manner, would help you most in your work.
8. Identify and focus on the three things you do in your work that amount to 90% of your contribution. Do this for each area in your life -- e.g. career, family, financial, health, personal development, community, and life concerns.
9. Prepare your materials and work space thoroughly before you begin. Tidy and clean up your desk and office.
10. Complete your tasks one step at a time. Make a list of steps that you'd need to take to complete a project, and then take just step one immediately.
11. Upgrade your key skills. Become a lifelong student of your craft, and develop the skills you will need in your field in the future.
12. Leverage your special talents. Focus on the areas that you are really good at and enjoy.
13. Identify and alleviate your key bottlenecks and constraints. Ask yourself why you haven't already achieved your most important goal.
14. Put pressure on yourself. Set your own deadlines and sub-deadlines on every task, and race against the clock to beat them!
15. Work during the times when you have your greatest physical and mental energy. Identify your daily health habits, and take action to improve your overall levels of health and energy.
16. Motivate yourself by being optimistic and being solution-oriented. Think and talk about the things you want, resolve to make progress, and take responsibility for your life.
17. Don't let technology waste your time. Turn off all communication devices for one hour in the morning and the evening, and take one full day off each week to "recharge" your mental batteries.
18. Break complex tasks down into smaller pieces. Use the "salami slice" technique, and take action immediately.
19. Schedule large blocks of time when you can work uninterrupted. Think of ways you can save and consolidate large chunks of time.
20. Develop a sense of urgency. Take fast action on opportunities, problems and tasks.
21. Set clear priorities, start immediately on the most important task, and work until the job is complete. "Single handle" every task.

Notice how a lot of them sound similar to each other. Also, a lot of them seem to be "common sense" advice that you may have heard before numerous times (another similarity this book shares with Dale Carnegie's).

On the plus side, these techniques are very practical and Brian Tracy offers suggestions on how to implement them. Additionally, the book is easy to read and the language is clear. The downside is that "Eat That Frog!" does not include any academic references or resources for further reading (besides the impressively long list of books also written by Brian Tracy and a promotion of his personal coaching program -- apparently his productivity advice works for him). Like Dale Carnegie, we are meant to trust the expertise of Brian Tracy because "I have read hundreds of books" (preface, page x) and "Within one year of starting in sales, I was a top salesman" (pg. xii). According to the "About the Author" section on page 127, he is a self-made millionaire who has been a consultant and trainer for over 1000 corporations. Not that there's anything wrong with that; but these kinds of books seem conspicuously eager to defend the credibility of their authors.

Anyway, I don't think the advice is bad. In fact, it fits nicely into Piers Steel's "procrastination equation":

From Alex Vermeer

Setting deadlines and breaking tasks down into smaller pieces reduces delay. Removing technological distractions, cleaning your desk, and scheduling large chunks of time can help reduce impulsiveness. By leveraging your special talents, you increase your expectancy (i.e. how much you expect to succeed). And prioritizing your life goals and smaller tasks according to the value of their consequences increases, well, the value of action.

So overall, "Eat That Frog!" is a useful book, albeit somewhat cheesy when the author uses hyperbole: 

"I hope that this book changes your life forever" (p. ix). "There will be no limit to what you can accomplish when you learn how to Eat That Frog!" (p. xiv). "Eventually, you will become unstoppable" (p. 18). "This technique [the ABCDE Method] is so simple and effective that it can, all by itself, make you one of the most efficient and effective people in your field" (p. 37). Et cetera ad nauseam.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars -- it's hardly groundbreaking, but nice to have as a checklist of practical tools for when you get stuck on something.