I first came across the phrase “how to eat an elephant” many years ago and its simple message has stuck with me ever since.

I see now that a host of books, and the like, have sprung up around the idea of how to eat an elephant. However, the principle is so simple – read on to find out all you need to know.

When faced with a huge task it’s easy to think that it’s too big to tackle – you don’t have the time – and so you decide to leave it until later. This continues and the task is put off, and put off, and is never done.

Look on this huge task as your elephant and you need to eat it.
You’re never going to be able to eat it at one sitting. However, it is possible if you eat it one spoonful at a time. Simple!

Now back to your task –
Where possible start by breaking it down into smaller more manageable sub-tasks and tackle these as smaller elephants in their own right – one at a time.

Start working on each tasks in turn and commit to spending just a little time on it each day. Your task may require several hours of work and you just don’t have that amount of spare time and so, up until now, you have put it off. But if you think in terms of even 15 minutes blocks then surely you can set aside that amount of time each day. That’s over 1 hour per week – 5 hours per month – and before long your elephant will have gone.

Every now and then review your progress. Seeing the elephant disappearing will help keep you motivated.

So when faced with a large daunting task just picture your elephant and spoon and you need never be beaten again.