Book: "Swallow that toad".
Let's face it: there is not enough time to do everything on your to-do list. Successful people know that it is impossible to do everything, but they also know something very important: they know how to prioritize tasks in order to complete the most important ones every day.
According to an old saying "if the first thing you have to do each morning is swallow a toad, then you are left with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing you will do all day."
In this book Bryan Tracy teaches you how to manage your time by changing the way you think, the way you work, and the way you face the endless stream of responsibilities that overflows you every day.
21 strategies to make quick decisions and improve professional effectiveness
Strategy 1: Set the table
Stop being vague, think on paper. People who have written goals achieve 5 to 10 times more than people who don't. Here are the guidelines:
- Decide exactly what you want to do
- Write it down
- Set a deadline for your goal
- Make a list of everything you think you're going to have to do to achieve that goal
- Organize the list as a plan
- Act on the plan immediately
- Decide to do something each day that will get you closer to your main goal.
Strategy 2: Plan each day in advance
By planning ahead you will get the most out of your investment of energy. Planning the day takes no more than 10 or 12 minutes, but this small investment of time will save you at least 2 hours of wasted time and imprecise effort during the day.
Strategy 3: Apply the 80/20 rule to everything.
This rule says that 20% of your activities are worth 80% of your results, so just one item on your to-do list can be worth more than the other nine items combined. This task is always the "toad" that you must swallow first.
Strategy 4: Study the consequences
The clearer your future intentions are the more influence you will have, the more clarity you will have on what you are currently doing if a task or activity has large, potential positive consequences, make it a priority and get started on it immediately. If something can have large potential negative consequences if you don't do it soon and well it should also become a priority.
Strategy 5: Continually practice the ABCDE method
It is a technique for setting priorities, it works as follows: start with the list of what you have to do the next day, think about the paper and then write an A, B, C, D, E in front of each item on the list before you start with the first task.
1-An A item will be something very important that you must do or else you will face serious consequences.
2-An item B is a task that you should do, but the consequences of not doing it are minor.
3-Affair C is something that would be nice to do, but its consequences are non-existent.
4-An issue D is something you can delegate.
5-An issue E is something you can eliminate without it mattering in the least.
Strategy 6: Focus on key result areas.
This is something you must achieve if you want to be successful in your job. It is a task area for which you are fully responsible, for example, key result areas in management are: planning, organization, team, delegation, supervision, measurement, reporting. You have to identify what the key result areas are, make a list of your responsibilities and make sure that the people who work with you, including bosses and subordinates, agree with it.
Strategy 7: Obey the law of forced efficiency.
"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing." This means that you will never catch up, the only thing you can expect is to keep up with your most important responsibilities, the others simply have to wait. Regularly ask yourself three questions to keep you focused on completing your most important tasks as scheduled: What are my most valuable activities, what can I do that only I can do and that if I do it well will make a real difference? And what is the most valuable use of my time today?
The more accurate the answers to these questions the easier it will be for you to set clear priorities, overcome decision lag and start the activities that involve the most valuable use of your time.
Strategy 8: Prepare thoroughly before you begin
One of the great techniques for avoiding decision delays and getting things done faster is simple: have everything prepared before you start. Start by clearing your desk or workplace to face a single task, leave everything else aside, if necessary leave on the floor or on another desk everything that has nothing to do with the task you are going to face, gather all the information and work materials you will need, have them at hand to use them without having to get up or move a lot. When you have everything ready, get yourself ready, sit up straight and assume the body language of high performance, then tell yourself to get down to work and take care of the first issue and once you have started, continue to finish.
Strategy 9: Do your homework
One of the main reasons why people delay jobs and decisions is the feeling of ineptitude, of feeling that one is not prepared to commit to something or that one lacks confidence in a key area of the task, Pedro was a hard worker and was well regarded, in his company he was considered efficient, responsible and enjoyed the trust of his colleagues in the office. Recently Pedro had been promoted to area manager and that implied having to meet periodically with the company's Board of Directors, this was very advantageous for Pedro since he would have the opportunity to present a project to improve the work system of his area and obtain better results, besides this project would imply a more favorable work schedule for the employees of his area. Pedro saw clearly the opportunity to make the proposal, but there was something that stopped him and prevented him from presenting it, Pedro had little experience making presentations and did not feel confident to speak in public and propose some important changes to his bosses, he also had little computer skills and did not see himself able to make a convincing presentation using computer slides. So Pedro sought the help of his friend Fabio, who after listening to his problem, told him the following: "if you don't see yourself capable, get trained, because you don't learn, if you don't do it, it's because you don't want to". At first Pedro was not very happy with his friend's advice, but soon he understood that he was right and Pedro decided to attend public speaking classes and by practicing he began to gain confidence and improve as a communicator and he also learned to make power point presentations and realized that it was not so difficult, he just had to get on with it. In a very short time Pedro made his proposal to the company's board of directors and achieved improvements that benefited both managers and employees. Pedro had understood what his friend Fabio meant "the only limitation was the one he himself had implanted in his head".
Strategy 10: Strengthen your special talents
Take stock of your unique capabilities - what do you do especially well, what are you good at, what do you do easily and well that other people find difficult, you should direct your best energies and capabilities to those key tasks where you can make a significant contribution.
Strategy 11: Identify your key obstacles
Ask yourself what is holding you back or preventing you from swallowing the toads that can really make a difference, what is slowing down the speed at which you achieve your goals, why haven't you achieved your goals yet, regardless of what you have to do there is always a limiting factor that determines how fast and well you will get it done, your job is to study the task and identify the limiting factor or obstacle in it, when you identify it direct your energies to lighten or eliminate it.
Strategy 12: Put one brick after another.
Take advantage of the moment, select a goal, task or personal project and immediately take a step to achieve it. If you decide that starting tomorrow you are going to go to the gym regularly, write down your goal and then prepare the bag with what you will carry tomorrow, then set the alarm on your watch to alert you to the time when you will have to move to leave the house and go to the gym. Do this and you'll have a much better chance of achieving what you set out to do. If the goal involves a series of tasks, make a list of them and try to do one after the other like bricks.
Strategy 13: Put pressure on yourself
Imagine you just received an urgent message and tomorrow you have to leave town for a month, what would you inevitably have to finish before you do? Whatever it is, inevitably start with it.
Strategy 14: Optimize your personal powers
Productivity usually starts to decline after 8 or 9 hours of work, the more tired you are the worse you work and the more mistakes you make. Take care of your rest time and your diet, because that will affect your productivity.
Strategy 15: Motivate yourself for action
Control your thoughts, remember that you become what you think about most of the time, make sure you think and talk about the things you want and not about the things you don't want, think positively, and take full responsibility for everything that happens to you.
Strategy 16: Practice creative procrastination
Pay attention because this is one of the most effective of all personal performance techniques, the difference between high performance and poor performance is largely determined by what you choose to procrastinate, as you must procrastinate anyway, decide to procrastinate, delegate and eliminate those activities that do not contribute much to your life.
Strategy 17: Do the most difficult task first
Starting with the biggest and most important task first in the morning is the opposite of what most people do. This discipline eliminates the habit of procrastinating on what is valuable, thereby making you master of your future.
Strategy 18: Divide the task
How would you eat an elephant? You may be thinking of the enormous task of hunting it, removing the skin, deboning or gutting it, cooking it, and then digging your teeth into it; but isn't there another way to eat it? If there is, if we change our approach, you might have guessed it: eat it in small pieces. Look at the elephant as a big job to be done, then cut it into small pieces, each of those small pieces is a small task to be done individually, and so by taking on one small task at a time you will complete a job that when viewed globally seems out of reach.
Strategy 19: Create ample time lapses
Set aside time for everything and do everything in its own time. Many highly productive people organize their work around accomplishing key tasks one at a time, and assign specific time slots to those tasks. This makes them two to five times more productive than the average person. A schedule divided into days, hours and minutes, organized in advance, can be one of the most powerful personal productivity tools.
Strategy 20: Develop a Sense of Urgency
There is a surprising state of mind that we enter into when working on high-value tasks and at a high and continuous level of activity, it is called "flow state". When we are in this state we function on a higher plane of clarity, creativity and competence. One of the ways to trigger it is to develop a sense of urgency, an inner drive and desire to get the job done right and get it done soon, when the sense of urgency is ingrained develop an inclination towards action, take action instead of continually talking about what needs to be done, focus on specific steps and be ready to take them immediately, the fast pace seems to go hand in hand with great success, developing this pace requires you to start moving and keep moving without pause.
Strategy 21: Focus single-mindedly on what you are doing.
Once you've decided what your #1 task is, anything else you do is a relative waste of time. The more you discipline yourself to work uninterrupted on a single task, the more you will move up the efficiency curve and complete more quality work in less time.
The principles discussed in this book work to produce predictable improvements in performance and results. The faster you learn and apply them the more powerful and productive you will feel, there will be no limit to what you can accomplish once you've learned to swallow that toad.
I too have been where you are now. When I first started my dream of starting my own Medical Clinic and was the CEO, I didn't know how to fulfill my responsibilities at work and still be present at home with my family. However, after making changes in my productivity, goal setting and leadership, I was able to take my company forward through an economic recession the country was in and achieve positive results; all while being home in time to have dinner with my family every night.
I now teach the same principles that helped my leadership, along with my team, here at CIME Academy.
If you want to know more about our training proposal in aesthetic medicine, we encourage you to contact us. We will solve your doubts and advise you on what you need.
Dr. Manuel Rubio Sanchez
aesthetic doctor
