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Human development expert Brian Tracy wants to remind you of a painful reality: Time is running out. We never find enough time for all the things we would like to do. Advanced societies have structured schedules for work activities and personal life in such a way that it has left most people drowning in work, responsibilities, projects, and bureaucratic procedures. We are even drowning in books and magazines we hope to read but which ultimately end up on crowded shelves gathering dust.

But the worst part, according to Tracy, is that we will never catch up. We will never accomplish all the tasks that have been assigned to us or the ones we assign to ourselves. And we will never have time to read all those magazines. Despite timesaving techniques developed in the workplace to increase productivity, the author contends, there will always be more to do and the time we have will never suffice.

This problem is particularly common in the United States, where productivity has reached a level higher than any other industrialized country simply because, on average, people work more hours per week. For this reason, the book is especially targeted to U.S. readers. His solutions to the problem, however, are universal.

The secret to solving the time problem is to give priority to the truly important duties and give up on tasks that carry less weight. It is only possible to control time, and thus life, if we change the way we think, work and handle the avalanche of daily activities. The author's logic begins with the old saying that one should eat a frog first thing in the morning every day, because then you will have the satisfaction of knowing that it is probably the worst thing you will have to do all day.

The moral of this amphibian-ingesting tale is that you must tackle the most. important and most difficult tasks first. Before anything else, one must overcome the temptation to start with the easiest task in order to achieve a higher level of output and productivity. On the contrary, you should create an environment where the main goal is dealt with every morning. First, you must eat the frog.

Working as a young sailor on a cargo ship and as a door-to-door salesman, Tracy says he discovered that 95% of the time, success in life and in the workplace is a result of the development of lasting habits. These habits include listing priorities, overcoming uncertainty and tackling the most important and tedious assignments. Habits are based on mental and physical ability, and therefore, can be learned and developed through practice and repetition until they become automatic responses. Accomplishing goals can trigger a rush in energy and enthusiasm, Tracy writes, which make one feel happier, more powerful and more self-confident.

Eventually, this feeling of well-being and victory can lead to a type of addiction wherein one begins to set goals and tasks that are increasingly more important. In other words, it will place the individual on the road to success. And, consequently, turn him into an addict of success.

21 steps. Throughout the book, Tracy offers 21 logical steps to manage time and organize assignments. Each step includes several chapters that are accompanied by practice exercises. The steps focus on three fundamental factors for achieving success in every facet of life: decision, discipline and resolution. In this sense, the book constitutes a guide on how to avoid laziness and procrastination. Tracy helps the reader create goals and provides the necessary tools to dominate the 21 techniques to control time and to be more productive.

At no point, however, does the author question, in these days of advanced technology, why time is not on our side. Wasn't technology supposed to simplify our lives, reduce our work hours and create more leisure time? Twenty years after the development of personal computers and almost half a century of automation, our lives are more complicated and our mundane activities seem to have multiplied. But Tracy doesn't address these uncertainties. He confesses, after all, that he is not an academic researcher, but rather, just a person dedicated to synthesizing information. That's why, when faced with the dilemma of how to make the most of our scarce time, he offers no other advice than to eat a frog.

Excerpt from Eat That Frog!:

"Studies of well-paid and rapidly promoted men and women show their quality of 'orientation to action' stands out as the most coherent and visible behavior in everything they do. Successful and efficient people concentrate directly on their main tasks and discipline themselves to work resolutely and continously until they complete them.

In our world, and especially in the world of business, one is paid and promoted for achieving expected and measurable results, for making a valuable contribution, and for doing what's expected of one."