Eat That Frog

 
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Eat That Frog! Put 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. 
A common quality of successful, happy people is that they are action-
oriented. When they hear a good idea, they take action on it 
immediately to see if it can help them. Don’t delay. Try it today! 
 
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Chapter 19 - Create Large Chunks of Time 
 
“Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all of your 
energies on a limited set of targets.” 
(Nido Qubein) 
This strategy requires a commitment from you to work at scheduled 
times on large tasks. Most of the really important work you do 
requires large chunks of unbroken time to complete. Your ability to 
create and carve out these blocks of high value, highly productive 
time, is central to your ability to make a significant contribution to 
your work and to your life. 
Successful salespeople set aside a specific time period each day to 
phone prospects. Rather than procrastinating or delaying on a task 
that they don’t particularly like, they resolve that they will phone for 
one solid hour between 10 and 11 AM and they then discipline 
themselves to follow through on their resolutions. 
Many business executives set aside a specific time each day to call 
customers directly to get feedback.
Some people allocate specific 30-60 minute time periods each day for 
exercise. Many people read in the great books 15 minutes each night 
 
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before retiring. In this way, over time, they eventually read dozens of 
the best books ever written. 
The key to the success of this method of working in specific time 
segments is for you to plan your day in advance and specifically 
schedule a fixed time period for a particular activity or task. 
You make work appointments with yourself and then discipline 
yourself to keep them. You set aside thirty, sixty and ninety minute 
time segments that you use to work on and complete important tasks. 
Many highly productive people schedule specific activities in 
preplanned time slots all day long. These people build their work 
lives around accomplishing key tasks one at a time. As a result, they 
become more and more productive and eventually produce two 
times, three times and five times as much as the average person. 
A time planner, broken down by day, hour and minute, organized in 
advance, can be one of the most powerful, personal productivity 
tools of all. It enables you to see where you can consolidate and 
create blocks of time for concentrated work. 
During this working time, you turn off the telephone, eliminate all 
distractions and work non-stop. One of the best work habits of all is 
for you to get up early and work at home in the morning for several 
 
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hours. You can get three times as much work done at home without 
interruptions as you ever could in a busy office where you are 
surrounded by people and bombarded by phone calls. 
When you fly on business, you can create your office in the air by 
planning your work thoroughly before you depart. When the plane 
takes off, you can work non-stop for the entire flight. You will be 
amazed at how much work you can go through when you work 
steadily in an airplane, without interruptions. 
One of the keys to high levels of performance and productivity is for 
you to make every minute count. Use travel and transition time, what 
is often called "gifts of time" to complete small chunks of larger tasks.
Remember, the pyramids were built one block at a time. A great life 
and a great career is built one task, and often, one part of a task, at a 
time. Your job in time management is to deliberately and creatively 
organize the concentrated time periods you need to get your key jobs 
done well, and on schedule.