Eat That Elephant
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- —
Eat That Elephant extends the familiar idea of doing the hardest task first from a single work session to projects that may require days or weeks. Identify the one large task producing the greatest value, suspend lower-value activity, and keep returning to that task until it is finished. The method accepts that inboxes and routine requests may accumulate while a consequential project advances. MacAskill used this type of extreme prioritization for writing and other major initiatives, supported by a team that could prevent essential operations from collapsing. The method works best when the priority is genuinely dominant and the environment protects sustained concentration. It is not a license to neglect every urgent responsibility indiscriminately.
Origin
Extracted from Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal
How to run it
- 1
Identify the elephant
Choose the single large project that currently creates substantially more value than the alternatives.
Pro tip Ask which completed project would make the greatest difference over the next several weeks.
Watch out Do not label every difficult task an elephant.
- 2
Clear competing commitments
Pause, delegate, or postpone lower-value work so the major project receives uninterrupted attention.
Pro tip Arrange operational coverage before disappearing into focused work.
Watch out Unmanaged essential obligations can create avoidable crises.
- 3
Protect extended focus
Reserve substantial blocks or entire days for the project instead of squeezing it between messages and meetings.
Pro tip Remove communication channels that make switching easy.
- 4
Continue until completion
Maintain the priority across days or weeks rather than switching as soon as a new request becomes salient.
Pro tip Define a clear completion condition before starting.
Watch out Reassess if evidence shows the project is no longer the highest-value option.
- 5
Restore and review
After completing the elephant, process accumulated obligations and decide whether another dominant priority exists.
Pro tip Document what enabled or interrupted the focus period.
In the wild
MacAskill largely disappeared from other work to write What We Owe the Future. He treated the book as the dominant project, protected long periods for it, and relied on a surrounding team while routine communication and other demands received less attention.
→ A complex, research-intensive manuscript received sustained attention that fragmented scheduling would not have provided.
Common mistakes
Confusing urgency with importance
The loudest inbox request may not be the large project that creates the most value.
Switching before the project is done
Frequent reprioritization destroys the sustained concentration the method is designed to create.
Dropping operations without coverage
Ignoring all routine work is risky unless essential responsibilities have been delegated or safely postponed.
From the transcript
“eat that elephant is like that but for much larger tasks”
“there's just something that's the most important thing do nothing else until you have finished that most important thing”
From the episode
Moral Philosopher Will MacAskill on What We Owe The Future