21 great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time
by Brian Tracy
When we are overwhelmed with too many things to do and too little time, we start to procrastinate and this starts the spiral into piling up backlog and feeling even more overwhelmed. How do we break this cycle?
“If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.”
It boils down to discipline – start with the hardest and most important task and discipline yourself to complete it before moving on.
Develop a habit to start with the most important task first thing in the morning.
With these basic principles, the author goes on to provide practical tips on how to identify and prioritize important tasks, plan your day and keep your focus to persist in task completion.
“If you have to eat a frog, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long.”
Thoughts
The book promises “no lengthy departures into theory or research. What you will learn are specific actions you can take immediately to get better, faster results in your work and to increase your happiness.” The author has certainly delivered his promise – the book was easy enough to read and offers actionable advice (I finished reading the book in one afternoon).
Because the tips are all very sensible and practical, it looks easy to just get on with the task rather than procrastinate. While the tips are not groundbreaking and I’m sure we all practise some of these habits already, the book does serve as a good reminder to pick yourself up when you start to slip into procrastination. The tips on planning the day are complementary to my bullet journaling practice, so it’s also good to see that I’m on the right track.
One key takeaway for me – the author pointed out that we tend to procrastinate on tasks which we are not very good at. This is very true on reflection. So the key to removing this bottleneck is to resolve to get better at your weaknesses.
Lastly, I was a little sceptical about not checking emails first thing in the morning and just dive into the most important task. What if there is an urgent task waiting in your inbox that changes the plan for the day? I guess we need to strike a balance – take a peek at the inbox but not get sucked into addressing all the emails which may not be important.
What habits do you have to keep up with productivity?
Rin Ranger 