EAT THAT FROG !
21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
1. Set the table
A. Take a clean sheet of paper right now and make out a list of ten goals you want to accomplish in the next year. Write your goals as though a year has already passed and they are now a reality. Use the present tense, positive and personal case so that they are immediately accepted by your subconscious mind. For example, you would write. “I earn X number of dollars per year.”
Or “I weigh X number of pounds.” Or “I drive such and such a car.”
B. Review your list of ten goals and select the one goal that, if you achieved it, would have the greatest positive impact on your life Whatever that goal is, write it on a separate sheet of paper, set a deadline, make a plan, take action on your plan and then do something every single day that
moves you toward that goal. This exercise alone could change your life.
2. Plan Every Day In Advance
A. Begin today to plan every day, week and month in advance. Take a notepad or sheet of paper, or use your PDA or Blackberry, and make a list of everything you have to do in the next 24 hours. Add to it as new items come up. Make a list of all your projects, the big multi-task jobs that are important to your future.
B. Lay out each of your major goals, projects or tasks by priority, what is most important, and by sequence, what has to be done first what comes second and so forth. Start with the end in mind and work backward. Think on paper! Always work from a list. You’ll be amazed at how much more productive you become, and how much easier it is to eat your frog.
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything
B. Resolve today that you are going to spend more and more of your time working in those few areas that can really make a difference in your life and career and less and less time on lower value activities.
4. Consider the Consequences
A. Review your list of tasks, activities, and projects regularly. Continually ask yourself, “Which one project or activity, if I did it in an excellent and timely fashion would have the greatest positive consequences in my work or personal life?”
B. Determine the most important things you could be doing every hour of every day, and then discipline yourself to work continually on the most valuable use of your time. What is this for you, right now?
5. Practice Creative Procrastination
B. Examine each of your personal and work activities and evaluate it based on your current situation. Select at least one activity to abandon immediately, or at least, deliberately put off until your more important goals have been achieved.
6. Use the ABCDE Method Continually
B. Practice this ABCDE Method every day and on every work or project list, before you begin work, for the next month. By that time, you will have developed the habit of setting and working on your highest priority tasks and your future will be assured!
7. Focus On Key Result Areas
A. Identify the key result areas of your work. What are they? Write down the key results you have to get to do your job in an excellent fashion. Give yourself a grade from 1-10 on each one. And then determine the one key skill that, if you did it in an excellent manner, would help you the most in your work.
B. Take this list to your boss and discuss it with him or her. Invite honest feedback and appraisal. You can only get better when you are open to the constructive inputs of other people. Discuss your results with your staff and coworkers. Talk them over with your spouse.
8. The Law of Three
B. Identify your three most important goals in life, in each area. Organize them by priority. Make plans for their accomplishment, and work on your plans every single day. You will be amazed at what you achieve in the months and years ahead.
9. Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin
B. Resolve today to clean up your desk and office completely so that you feel effective, efficient and ready to get going each time you sit down to work.
10. Take It One Oil Barrel at A Time
B. Then take just one step immediately. Sometimes, all you need to do to get started is to sit down and complete one item on the list. And then do one more, and so on. You will be amazed at what you eventually accomplish.
11. Upgrade Your Key Skills
A. Resolve today to become a “Do-It-To-Yourself” project. Become a lifelong student of your craft. School is never out for the professional.
B. Identify the key skills that can help you the most to achieve better and faster results. Determine the core competencies that you will need to have in the future to lead your field. Whatever they are, set a goal, make a plan and begin developing and increasing your ability in those areas. Decide to be the very best at what you do!
12. Leverage Your Special Talents
A. Continually ask yourself these key questions: “What am I really good at? What do I enjoy the most about my work? What has been most responsible for my success in the past? If I could do any job at all, what job would it be?” If you won the lottery or came into an enormous amount of money, and you could choose any job or any part of a job to do for the indefinite future, what work would you choose?
B. Develop a personal plan to prepare yourself to do your most important tasks in an excellent fashion. Focus on those areas where you have special talents, and which you most enjoy doing. This is the key to unlocking your personal potential.
13. Identify Your Key Constraints
A. Identify your most important goal in life today. What is it? What one goal, if you achieved it, would have the greatest positive effect on your life? What one career accomplishment would have the greatest positive impact on your work life?
B. Determine the one constraint, internal or external that sets the speed at which you accomplish this goal. Ask: “Why don’t I have it already? What is it in me that is holding me back?” Whatever your answers, take action immediately. Do something. Do anything, but get started.
14. Put the Pressure on Yourself
A. Set deadlines and sub-deadlines for every task and activity. Create your own “forcing system.” Raise the bar on yourself and don’t let yourself off the hook. Once you’ve set yourself a deadline, stick to it and even try to beat it.
B. Write out every step of a major job or project before you begin. Determine how many minutes and hours you will require completing each phase. Then race against your own clock. Beat your own deadlines. Make it a game, and resolve to win!
15. Maximize Your Personal Powers
A. Analyze your current energy levels and compare them with your daily health habits. Resolve today to improve your levels of health and energy by asking the following questions:
1) What am I doing physically that I should do more of?
2) What am I doing that I should do less of?
3) What am I not doing that I should start doing if I want to perform at my best?
4) What am I doing today that affects my health that I should stop doing altogether?
B. Select one activity or behavior that you can change immediately to improve your overall levels of health and energy. Practice that one action over and over until it becomes a habit. Then select a second way to improve and begin on that. Whatever your answers are to these questions, take action today.
16. Motivate Yourself to Action
A. Control your thoughts. Remember, you become what you think about most of the time. Be sure that you are thinking and talking about the things you want rather than the things you don’t want.
B. Keep your mind positive by accepting complete responsibility for yourself and for everything that happens to you. Refuse to criticize, complain or blame others for anything. Resolve to make progress rather than excuses. Keep your thoughts and your energy focused forward, on the things you can do right now to improve your life and let the rest go.
17. Get Out Of the Technological Time Sinks
A. Resolve today to create “zones of silence” during your day-to-day activities. Turn off all communications devices and technology for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. You will be amazed at what happens: nothing!
B. Resolve to take one full day off each week during which you do not touch your computer, check your Blackberry or make any attempt to keep in touch with the world of technology. At the end of a day without continuous contact, except by voice, your mind will go calm and clear, like water. By giving your mental batteries time to recharge, free from the incessant interruptions of communication, you will be more relaxed, aware and alert.
18. Slice and Dice the Task
A. Put one of these techniques into action immediately. Take a large, complex, multi-task job that you’ve been putting off and either “salami slice” or “Swiss cheese” it to get started.
B. Become action-oriented. A common quality of high-performance men and women are that, when they hear a good idea, they take action on it immediately. As a result, they learn more, faster, and get much better results. Don’t delay. Try it today!
19. Create Large Chunks of Time
B. Make every minute count. Work steadily and continuously without diversion or distraction by planning and preparing your work in advance. Most of all, keep focused on the most important results for which you are responsible.
20. Develop A Sense of Urgency
B. When you see an opportunity or a problem, take action on it immediately. When you are given a task or responsibility, do it quickly and report back fast. Move rapidly in every important area of your life. You will be amazed at how much better you feel, and how much more you get done.
21. Single Handle Every Task
A. Take action! Resolve today to select the most important task or project that you could complete and then launch into it immediately.
B. Once you start your most important task, discipline yourself to persevere without diversion or distraction until it is 100% complete. See it as a “test” to determine whether you are the kind of person who can make a decision to complete something and then carry it out. Once you begin, refuse to stop until the job is finished.
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