When hunting elephants, don’t get distracted by chasing rabbits!
Do you recognize that you had the intention to study or complete a task, but you start doing other things? You postpone it and the task feels only heavier and your stress level rises as it feels you don’t complete anything.
A tip for this is one that helped a lot of people so far: When hunting elephants, don’t get distracted by chasing rabbits!
The elephants symbolize your priorities of the day; duties that require full focus.
The rabbits represent issues that distract you from your elephants like emails, your phone or your friends that walk by for a chat.
Start the day with picking maximally 3 to 4 elephants and start with those. What are the things you really want to achieve?
You are too smart to just hunt rabbits. You need those elephants! So check it yourself tomorrow: start your day with an elephant, even if it’s just for a half hour. After that you will feel so much more fulfilled because of the dopamine you get after you complete a task, and chasing the rabbits becomes a piece of cake. While if you start with the rabbits, your brain will tackle them as slowly as possible, as the elephant is waiting and your brain does not want to go there. You’re putting yourself in a vicious cycle. Get out of your comfort zone tomorrow and plan an elephant in your agenda.
