How to eat an Elephant

Whether you work in an office 40+ hours a week, do shift work at a factory, work from home on your computer or juggle babies and toddlers all day, we all have stuff that has to be accomplished. There is no easy job. People who work full time outside the home still have to come home after work and do laundry, fix supper and squeeze in family time. Moms like me who stay at home with their babies or children and work from their dining room table still have to find ways to juggle quality time with the family, laundry and the expectations of a boss. It’s not easy to be productive but I’ve got one useful tip that I have heard all my life that just may make it a bit easier to get stuff done.

How to eat an Elephant!

One Step at a Time

I grew up hearing my Granddad ask the question “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer of course is…. “one bite at a time”. This does not mean that we are having elephant steak for dinner. But it does remind us that every big job gets accomplished one small step at a time. Whether we are overwhelmed by mountains of laundry, dirty dishes or boxes to unpack, we can get the job done by starting with one step. When a work assignment comes in that looks too big to handle, we have to break it down in bite size chunks. One small piece at a time, we can get the job done.

This weekend when you look at the tasks ahead of you, just think about elephants and remember that each large task can be accomplished “one bite at a time!”