Benjamin Franklin one said, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.”
That quote really impacted me as a high school student. I diligently tried to use my time effectively. (I still do!)
But when I was in high school back in the Mesozoic Era, my time wasn’t as swamped as it is for high school students of today. They are super busy. Super, SUPER busy.
They have school, homework, part-time jobs, basketball (and football and baseball and soccer) practices and games. They go to piano lessons, dance lessons, voice lessons, and marching band. They belong to school clubs, are cheerleaders, and are on the drill team. They organize and participate in school and community service projects. And then, they have chores at home. Phew!
With everything going on in their lives, they often feel overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed out to the max.
Frogs to the rescue!
Well, not actual frogs that hop around and go ribbit, ribbit.
No. Instead, frogs that Brian Tracy talks about. Frogs that help students to stop procrastinating. Frogs that help them wisely manage their time. Frogs that help them excel in school.
So bring on those frogs!
Brian Tracy and Anna Leinberger have co-authored the book Eat That Frog! For Students: 22 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. It’s a fantastic book that provides ideas that can radically impact a student’s life — not only while in high school or college but even beyond that.
It provides ideas that can help a person gain control of her life by changing the way she thinks, by the way she deals with the relentless demands of responsibilities and daily obligations.
The chapters in the book are short and succinct. Which is good. Since high school and college students’ time is stretched so thin, they don’t need a big tome to read about time management. Brevity here is good.
Even though those chapters are brief, they pack a punch. They fully explain a vital concept without a lot of fuss and bother.
And those explanations are not swaddled in academia terminology. The reader is never confused by big words that she might not know or vague terms that she wouldn’t understand. This book doesn’t read like a college textbook. The words can be easily understood by high school (and college) students.
That is good. Because if a student didn’t understand what was being said, she wouldn’t keep reading the book. If she didn’t read the book, she would miss out on life improving concepts.
At the end of each chapter, there is a short synopsis of the concepts presented in it. This makes it easy for the reader to go back and review the highlights of the chapter.
So what does the author, Brian Tracy, mean when he says to eat a frog? He explains that a ‘frog’ is the biggest, most important task for the day. A task that a person is most likely to procrastinate.
The principle is to ‘eat a live frog’ first thing in the morning — or do that one task you are dreading. By doing it, you will feel successful. That feeling then leads you to complete more of your daily tasks which leads you to feel more successful which leads you to completing more tasks. And on, and on, and on. All because you ate a frog.
The book covers topics such as planning your day in advance, the 80/20 rule (which I wish I knew when I was a student!), slicing tasks like salami, motivation, single handling a task, and learning how to learn.
But my favorite chapter is about technology. It explains how technology is a terrible master — one that demands our time and attention. It can control our lives and cause added stress and anxiety through FOMO — fear of missing out.
But we can choose! We can choose how to use technology — to help us be effective and achieve our goals. Control it or it will control you. By being the master of technology, it can help you be productive and successful.
Do you have a high school student in your family? Give this book to them! Do you have a college student in your family? Give this book to them!
I highly recommend this book. I feel that I can’t say enough good about it. I give it 2 thumbs up. I give it 5 stars. I give it a ringing endorsement of approval.
You can get Eat That Frog! For Students: 22 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time on Amazon for $8.49. It will be the best money you ever spent for those students in your life!
