“EAT THAT FROG!”
Before I started my private practice, I worked at a treatment center where every Counselor was required to provide 1 group a week. I could not stand to do the ho hum typical coping mechanism type group..they bored me to death. So I decided that I would provide a motivational group every week and the topic would change every week. My groups became so popular that I would have to put a sign-up sheet because the groups were too big.
I became really enthusiastic about my group topics. The patients enthusiasm pushed me to try to always top the previous week. One week I ran across a book on procrastination by Brian Tracy. I loved the book so much that I worked really hard and did a fun Power point. I condensed the 150 pages into language my patients would understand and enjoy. I posted fliers in the lobby and the sign up sheet was so full I added 2 more spaces. The morning of the group I had coffee, cookies, and the Power point printed into pretty packets for each patient. And then I waited….not one person showed up to my group on procrastination….I can laugh now but I was pretty disappointed at the time. So I figured I would give it one more shot, maybe my hard work won’t go to waste after all..Here is a 2 min snapshot of my one hour group..Would you like to learn how to stop procrastinating?
This information has been taken from a fantastic book called
“Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy.
Mark Twain once said, “if the first thing you can do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day.”
Your “frog” is your biggest most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it.
It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on your life and results at the moment.
Rule #1: First Rule of Frog Eating is :
If you have to eat frogs, eat the ugliest one first.
This is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest and most important first.
Discipline yourself to begin the task immediately and then to persist until the task is complete before you go on to something else.. MOMS DID YOU HEAR ME??? I know you heard the laundry machine say beep beep, but finish unloading the dishwasher before checking the laundry. Half completed tasks make us feel like we have been busy doing nothing all day.
Rule #2: The Second Rule about Frog Eating is:
“If you have to eat a live frog at all it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it very long.”
The longer you procrastinate a task the uglier it gets and the more likely it won’t get done.
**Here is a Psychology tip: When making your list only write 3 tasks at a time. If you have 10 things on your list pick 3 and write those on a separate list. Once you complete those 3 tasks then carryover 3 more from your master list..and so on..The human mind gets overwhelmed with more than 3 tasks at a time.
We get an endorphin rush from successful completion of our tasks which makes us feel more positive, personable, creative, and confident.
Unfortunately, My “Eat that Frog” Group was way more information for a blog but if your interested in learning more about procrastination and how to become more productive and successful in your life. You can schedule an individual life coaching session on learning the habits of highly successful people. We make counseling fun!
