John Silliman Dodge

John Silliman Dodge

by John Silliman Dodge

I’m a sucker for business best sellers with weird titles like Blink, The Tipping Point and a book by Brian Tracy called Eat That Frog!, subtitled “21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.” Who can resist a title like this? Apparently, my friend Mark can. His wife Kelly loaned me the book because her husband kept putting off reading it. You sense the irony.

The frog angle comes from the saying, “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, chances are that’s as bad as you’ll feel all day.” The author twists this to mean, “Get the biggest, most important job of the day out of the way first, and the rest of your day (and your week, your month, your career) will be more productive as a result.”

Most of us warm up our day with the small stuff. Email, Web, phone messages, mailbox, coffee, hallway chats. Pretty soon 90 minutes have flown by. Tracy suggests something different. At the end of today, determine what the top priority is for tomorrow and then go at it hammer and tong first thing. Work the big problem until it’s done before going on to the next thing.

In other words, forget multitasking. This is the opposite. This is complete and utter focus. This is monotasking.

Tracy observes what we all know to be true: the world now spins so fast that it’s impossible to catch up. We’ll always be behind. That accumulated pile of reading material over in the corner? Forget about it. The best we can do to become more productive is to concentrate and channel all our energies into one priority at a time. And how do we determine what that one thing is? By using his method called ABCDE.

Everyone makes lists. But if there are ten things on your to-do list, only two are mission critical. (The old 80/20 rule, you know.) Sort your action items into the following:

A = Must do, starting first thing today.
B = Should do soon.
C = Nice to do but if it’s not done, there’s no negative effect on work life.
D = Delegate to someone else.
E = Eliminate from your list.

Start every day with an A, follow up with a B and there’s a good day right there.

Brian Tracy poses several high value questions, several of which he borrows from one of the great management gurus of all time, Peter Drucker. See how accurately and honestly you can answer:

  • What one skill, if I developed and performed it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my career?
  • What are my highest value activities?
  • What can I and only I do that, if done well, will make a real difference?
  • What is the most valuable use of my time right now?

You may have been wondering when I was going to get to “21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.” I wasn’t putting it off, honest.

  1. Decide exactly what you want (clearly envision).
  2. Plan every day in advance.
  3. Apply the 80/20 rule to everything.
  4. Consider the consequences of all your actions, up and down.
  5. Practice your ABCDE’s.
  6. Focus on key result areas (what you must do to succeed).
  7. Obey the Law of Forced Efficiency. (You can’t do everything, so what are the most important things?)
  8. Prepare thoroughly before you begin.
  9. Do your homework.
  10. Leverage your special talents (the things you’re best at).
  11. Identify your key constraints (and try to alleviate those choke points).
  12. Take it “one oil barrel at a time” (complete complicated projects in phases).
  13. Put pressure on yourself (set the bar for others’ performance).
  14. Maximize your personal powers. (Identify your peak performance times and structure your day around them.)
  15. Motivate yourself into action.  (Be your own cheerleader.)
  16. Practice creative procrastination. (Put off the lower value tasks.)
  17. Do the most difficult task first.  (The one that makes the greatest contribution.)
  18. Slice and dice the tasks.  (Break large, complex tasks into bite-size pieces.)
  19. Create large chunks of time.  (Organize your day so you can concentrate for extended periods.)
  20. Develop a sense of urgency.  (Move fast on key tasks.)
  21. Single handle every task.  (Work without stopping until the job is complete.)

While I don’t plan on eating any frogs, I do see the value of starting the day with that Priority One project. Since reading this book that’s the way I’ve arranged my mornings and it has already begun to pay off. You can learn more about Brian Tracy and Eat That Frog! online at www.briantracy.com.

Meanwhile, who couldn’t benefit from a systematic approach to getting more meaningful work done in the time allotted? Best of luck, keep in touch.

John Silliman Dodge has a 25-year career that spans and integrates music, media, and management. He has been a Program Director for stations and networks from coast to coast. Today, John is a talent coach, consulting and conducting performance workshops on the art and science of creative radio communications. He is also the Program Director for KBPS-FM in Portland. Contact John at 425-681-9935, by mail at john@sillimandodge.com, or visit www.sillimandodge.com.