Is this book for you?
Eat That Frog!
Read it if…
- You keep putting off the one task you know matters most.
- Your to-do list grows faster than you can clear it.
- You want quick, practical tips you can use tomorrow morning.
- You finish busy days feeling you got nothing important done.
- You'd like a short book you can read in an evening or two.
Watch the summary
What the book is about
There’s an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is eat a live frog, the worst job of the day is already behind you. Brian Tracy turns that into a rule for work and life: your frog is your biggest, most important task, the one you’re most likely to put off, and also the one that will make the biggest difference.
The book gives you 21 short, practical ways to find your frog and get it done. Tracy argues there will never be enough time for everything on your list, so the skill that matters is choosing what counts and doing it first. He sums up good time management in three words: decision, discipline and determination.
What’s inside
Eat the frog first Start each day with the hardest, most important task, before email or easy wins. Everything after it feels lighter.
Plan every day in advance Write tomorrow’s list the night before. A few minutes of planning saves far more time once the day begins.
The 80/20 rule A small share of your tasks produces most of your results. Find those few and give them your best hours.
The ABCDE method Label each task by how much it matters, from must-do to can be dropped, and never start a lower letter while a higher one is waiting.
Slice and dice Break a big, daunting job into small pieces so you can start with one slice instead of staring at the whole thing.
Find your key constraint Spot the one thing holding back your progress on a goal, and put your energy into removing it.
Technology as a servant Use your phone and apps to remind you of what matters, and switch them off when they pull you away from it.
Single-handle every task Once you start your frog, stay with it until it’s finished. Stopping and restarting costs far more time than you think.
Who wrote it
Brian Tracy is chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company that trains individuals and organisations in personal and professional development. He has written more than eighty books, consulted for over 1,000 companies and spoken to more than five million people in talks across the US, Canada and 55 other countries. Before starting his company, he was chief operating officer of a development company. He was born in Charlottetown, Canada.
What readers are saying
What they love: Readers say it’s short but packed, with ideas they can use the same day rather than theory. Many like that the tips come at procrastination from several angles, so most people find a few that suit how they work. Some admit the frog idea sounded silly at first, then found the phrase stuck and became a daily nudge to tackle the hard job first.
Quick facts
- Author
- Brian Tracy
- Publisher
- Hodder & Stoughton (UK paperback)
- Length
- 144 pages
- Published
- 31 January 2013 (UK paperback)
- Formats
- Paperback, ebook and audiobook. The 2025 fourth edition audiobook is read by Michael Tracy.
- Recognition
- Multi-million copy international bestseller, translated into over 40 languages
- Reading time
- Around 2 to 3 hours
- Difficulty
- Easy. Short chapters you can dip into.
Our verdict
If you know exactly which task you keep avoiding, this is the book to get. Brian Tracy's big idea is simple: do your hardest, most important job first, and the rest of the day gets easier. It suits busy people who want practical steps rather than theory, and its short chapters work well read one a day. The 2025 fourth edition audiobook runs about two and a half hours, so you could finish it in a single week of commutes.
WillYouRead.com is independent and not affiliated with the author or publisher.
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