How to Eat an Elephant

How to Eat an Elephant

Often we let business and life’s challenges overwhelm us. The number of things that we need to accomplish appears to pile up and grow into a huge, seemingly insurmountable mountain of “things to do”. We don’t know where to start so we don’t start at all!
There are times when you have a specific task to complete that day and you don’t know where to start, so you put it off. You keep finding other things to do – you may even spend the whole day being busy but that one task that seems to loom in front of you is still waiting for you and it has no intention of disappearing!
There’s an old African proverb that asks the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer: one bite at a time. The daunting task of eating an elephant would overwhelm anyone! A seemingly unachievable task leads to procrastination. So step back and gain perspective, find out what you need to do, prioritize, break it down into small actionable steps, and then focus on the first step and nothing else. Just do that one until it’s done, then move on to the next step.
By simply starting the task, no matter how small that first step is, you will soon be motivated and find the energy to keep on going until that task is complete. So by breaking down the many elephant-like tasks you are faced with on a daily basis into smaller, manageable steps, you'll soon see that there's nothing you can't accomplish! Bon Appetit!

How to eat your elephant:
1. Write a list of tasks you want to accomplish.
2. Prioritize these by putting them in order of importance.
3. Identify and start with the one task that is taking up most of your energy and thoughts. Once the largest, seemingly overwhelming task is out of the way, you will find that you have the motivation and energy to tackle the other tasks on your list.
4. Set dates for completion next to the top 3 tasks on your list.
5. Schedule these items into your diary or day planner.
6. Once these three have been completed, do the same with the next three, and so on until your list is completed.
7. Approach each task as you would your elephant – in bite-sized chunks. Split each task into small actionable steps and then just focus on each step and nothing else until it’s done. Then move on to the next step.