Staff Leadership Book Pick of the Month: Eat That Frog

Each month, the Lead Read Today team offers a review of a leadership book that is helpful, trustworthy and includes concepts proven by leadership research.

Have you ever eaten a frog? No? Me either -- at least not a real one! And I am pretty sure the author of Eat that Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, Brian Tracy, has not either.  But as far as eating frogs, he states, “It has been 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.”

Again, is he referring to eating a real frog? No.

Your “frog” is your biggest, most important task. This is the task that you are most likely to procrastinate on or have already started. It is the one that, if accomplished, it will provide the largest impact on progress. Tracy suggests just eating the biggest, ugliest frog first. If you like this suggestion for avoiding procrastination, you will most likely like the remaining 20 ideas.

The delivery of the 21 ways to avoid procrastination, increase productivity and job satisfaction is a short and quick read. Each concept is a standalone item. They can be read and implemented separately — and still lead you to a more productive, satisfying life.

Even though Tracy does not discuss the theories behind the strategies suggested in his book, these concepts are based on research and testing. For example, one of the first concepts discussed is the power of written goals. He examines writing clear and concise goals along with identifying all the smaller tasks you need to accomplish to achieve your goal. Edward Latham and Gary Locke, authors of several studies about goal setting, have shown that, like Brian has stated, if you write challenging goals you will be more likely to achieve them.

The big takeaway I drew from this book is the idea that Brian Tracy doesn’t care what concept you choose to add to your repertoire. All he cares about is that you choose something, anything, and apply it. His ambition is to help you decrease procrastination and increase productivity.

So, if you are interested in a quick read book that has a plethora of researched ideas that will support you in your efforts to stop procrastinating, this is the one for you. To learn more about it, watch the video by author Brian Tracy.