Take Control of Your To Do List Monster

Eat that Frog!: 21 Great Ways to stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (Updated Third Edition) – Brian Tracy – (Berrett- Koehler Publishers)

Has your “To Do” list grown to become a “To Do” book? Does your “To Do” list include checking out a new app to help you manage your “To Do” list? Are you spending more time trying to tame the beast that is your “To Do” list than you do actually getting things done? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions then it may be time to take a step back and re-think how you tackling things at your job or business.

A good starting place to start that re-evaluation might be to check out the tried and true techniques utilized by bestselling author, entrepreneur and management guru Brian Tracy in the third edition of Eat that Frog!: 21 Great Ways to stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. Tracy updated the book to include a couple additional chapters that offer an overview of how you can utilize technology to help you remain focused not only on task, but the most important tasks. Think of it as a way to tackle the mission critical things without drifting off into mission creep.

In classic Tracy form, he boils down the essence of effective time management to a simple formula as he remains fluff-free in his focus. Effective time management equates to the three Ds; decision, discipline and determination. His solutions help you to come to grips with the reality that leaders can NEVER tackle everything on their list, let alone when you factor in the disruptions, emails, phone calls and other “critical things” that can throw you off task during an average day.

Tracy uses the metaphor, that if you “eat your frog” first thing in the morning you will be safe in the knowledge that you’ve tackled the worst thing you have to do all day. By prioritizing and tackling that thing that keeps you up at night, you will be able to roll through all the stuff you need to be focusing on to move your business forward.

Like so much of the what I call the Brian Tracy Library, this is another book to keep within reach and to turn to when you start to feel like your day/week is slipping away from you, in an effort to refocus on the tasks at hand that matter most.