Eat That Frog

Eat That Frog! Set deadlines and sub-deadlines on 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. 
Write out every step of a major job or project before you begin. Then 
determine how many minutes and hours you will require to 
 
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complete each phase. Organize your daily and weekly calendars to 
create time segments when you work exclusively on these tasks.
 
Chapter 14 - Maximize Your Personal Powers 
 
“Gather in your resources, rally all your faculties, marshal all your energies, 
focus all your capacities upon mastery of at least one field of endeavor.” 
(John Haggai) 
The raw material of personal performance and productivity is 
contained in your physical, mental and emotional energies. 
When you are fully rested, you can get two times, three times and 
five times as much done as when you are tired out. 
Your body is like a machine that uses food, water and rest to generate 
energy that you then use to accomplish important tasks in your life 
and work. 
One of the most important requirements for being happy and 
productive is for you to guard and nurture your energy levels at all 
times.
 
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The rule is that your productivity begins to decline after eight or nine 
hours of work. For this reason, working long hours into the night, 
although it is sometimes necessary, means that you are usually 
producing less and less in more and more time. The more tired you 
get, the worse is your work and the more mistakes you make. At a 
certain point, like a battery that is run down, you can reach “the 
wall” and simply be unable to continue. 
The fact is that you have specific times during the day when you are 
at your best. You need to identify these times and discipline yourself 
to use them on your most important and challenging tasks. 
Most people are at their best in the mornings, after a good night's 
sleep. Some people are better in the afternoons. A few people are 
most creative and productive in the evenings or late at night. 
A major reason for procrastination is fatigue, or attempting to start 
on a task when you are tired out. You have no energy or enthusiasm. 
Like a cold engine in the morning, you can't seem to get yourself 
started. 
Whenever you feel overtired and overwhelmed with too much to do 
and too little time, stop yourself and just say, "All I can do is all I can 
do." 
 
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Sometimes the very best use of your time is to go home early and go 
to bed and sleep for ten hours straight. This can completely recharge 
you and enable you to get two or three times as much done the 
following day, and of a far higher quality, than if you had continued 
working long into the night. 
According to many researchers, the average American is not getting 
enough sleep relative to the amount of work he or she is doing. 
Millions of Americans are working in a state of mental fog as the 
result of working too much and sleeping too little. 
One of the smartest things you can do is to turn off the television and 
get to bed by ten o'clock each night during the week. Sometimes, one 
extra hour of sleep per night can change your entire life. 
Here is a rule for you. Take one full day off every week. During this 
day, either Saturday or Sunday, you absolutely refuse to read, clear 
correspondence, catch up on things from the office or do anything 
else that taxes your brain. Instead, you go to a movie, exercise, spend 
time with your family, go for a walk or any activity that allows your 
brain to completely recharge itself. It is true that “a change is as good 
as a rest.” 
 
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Take regular vacations each year, both long weekends and one and 
two-week breaks to rest and rejuvenate. You are always the most 
productive after a weekend or a vacation. 
Going to bed early five nights a week, sleeping in on the weekends 
and taking one full day off each week will assure that you have far 
more energy. This added energy will enable you to overcome 
procrastination and get started on your major tasks faster and with 
greater resolve than you ever could if you were tired out. 
In addition, to keep your energy levels at their highest, be careful 
about what you eat. Start the day with a high protein, low fat and 
low carbohydrate breakfast. Eat salads with fish or chicken at lunch. 
Avoid sugar, salt, white flour products or deserts. Avoid soft drinks 
and candy bars or pastries. Feed yourself as you would feed a world 
class athlete before a competition, because in many respects, that’s 
what you are before starting work each day. 
By eating lean and healthy, exercising regularly and getting lots of 
rest, you'll get more and better work done, easier and with greater 
satisfaction than ever before.
The better you feel when you start work, the less you procrastinate 
and the more eager you are to get the job done and get on with other 
tasks. High energy levels are indispensable to higher levels of 
 
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productivity, more happiness and greater success in everything you 
do.