The ABCDE Method: The Complete Guide to Brian Tracy’s Priority-Setting Technique

The ABCDE method is a priority-setting technique taught by Brian Tracy: before you start work, you mark every task on your list A (must do), B (should do), C (nice to do), D (delegate) or E (eliminate), then work through the A tasks in order.

Productivity method · Themes: prioritisation, to-do lists, time management, delegation

Last updated: 13 November 2026

Written by Saj Ali

Reading time: about 12 minutes

How we wrote this guide: this guide was written by Saj Ali. It draws on Brian Tracy’s description of the method in _Eat That Frog!_ (third edition, 2017) and on his own website, with published research on how people choose between tasks. Every research claim links to its source.

The ABCDE method in brief

• What it is. A way to rank a to-do list by consequences, using five letters.
• The letters. A = must do; B = should do; C = nice to do; D = delegate; E = eliminate.
• The key rule. Never do a B task while an A task is undone.
• Time needed. Five to ten minutes, once a day, before you start work.
• Pairs well with. Eat That Frog: your A-1 task is your frog.

Contents

1. What Is the ABCDE Method?
2. The Five Letters Explained
3. The Rules That Make It Work
4. How to Use the ABCDE Method: Step by Step
5. A Worked Example
6. ABCDE vs the Eisenhower Matrix
7. What the Research Says
8. Common Mistakes
9. Variations and Tips
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Key Takeaways
12. Explore More on Self Help Supermarket
13. Sources

What Is the ABCDE Method?

The ABCDE method is one of the simplest prioritisation tools there is. You write a list of everything you need to do, then place a letter next to each item before you begin. Brian Tracy described it as “a powerful priority setting technique that you can use every single day”, and argued that its power “lies in its simplicity” (Tracy, 2017).

The method appears as chapter 6 of Eat That Frog!, titled “Use the ABCDE Method Continually”, and Tracy also wrote about it on his website (Tracy, briantracy.com). It is built on a single idea: a task’s importance depends on its consequences. Tasks with serious consequences, whether you do them or not, come first. Tasks with no consequences come last, or disappear altogether.

↑ Back to contents

The Five Letters Explained

Tracy gave each letter a clear definition (Tracy, 2017). The definitions matter, because they stop the method turning into “everything is an A”.

A: Must do

An A task is “something that is very important, something that you must do”. It “will have serious positive or negative consequences if you do it or fail to do it”. Tracy’s examples were visiting a key customer or finishing a report that your boss needs for a board meeting. “These items are the frogs of your life.” If you have several A tasks, number them A-1, A-2, A-3 and so on. Your A-1 task “is your biggest, ugliest frog of all” (Tracy, 2017).

B: Should do

A B task is “a task that you should do. But it has only mild consequences.” Someone may be unhappy or inconvenienced if you don’t do it, but it is nowhere near as important as an A task. Tracy’s examples were returning an unimportant phone message or reviewing your email. He called these the “tadpoles” of your work life (Tracy, 2017).

C: Nice to do

A C task is “something that would be nice to do but for which there are no consequences at all, whether you do it or not”, such as phoning a friend or having coffee with a co-worker during work hours (Tracy, 2017). C tasks aren’t bad. They just don’t belong in the time you have set aside for results.

D: Delegate

A D task is “something you can delegate to someone else”. Tracy’s rule was to “delegate everything that someone else can do so you can free up more time for the A tasks that only you can do” (Tracy, 2017). Outside work, delegating might mean sharing a chore, paying for a service or using an automated tool.

E: Eliminate

An E task is “something that you can eliminate altogether, and it won’t make any real difference”. It may have been important once, or you may do it “out of habit or because you enjoy it”. Tracy’s point was that “every minute that you spend on an E task is time taken away from an A task” (Tracy, 2017). Finding your E tasks is where zero-based thinking helps.

↑ Back to contents

The Rules That Make It Work

The letters are only half the method. Tracy attached a few rules that turn the list into action (Tracy, 2017).

1. Label before you start. Put a letter next to every item “before you begin the first task”. Labelling as you go lets easy tasks sneak in first.
2. Never do a B while an A is undone. “You should never be distracted by a tadpole when a big frog is sitting there waiting to be eaten.”
3. Start with A-1 and stay with it. Select your A-1 task and begin immediately. Tracy’s advice was to “do nothing else until this one job is complete”.
4. Practise daily for a month. Tracy suggested using the method “every day for the next month on every work or project list before you begin work”, so that setting priorities becomes a habit.

The quick test: for each task, ask “What would happen if I didn’t do this at all?” Serious consequences make it an A. Mild ones make it a B. None make it a C or an E. If someone else could do it, it’s a D.

↑ Back to contents

How to Use the ABCDE Method: Step by Step

1. Write everything down. At the end of the day, or first thing in the morning, list every task you need to do. Include small items; they compete for your attention whether they are written down or not.
2. Ask the consequences question for each item. What happens if I do it? What happens if I don’t?
3. Mark each task A, B, C, D or E. Be strict. Most days have only one to three genuine A tasks.
4. Number the A tasks. A-1 is the task with the largest consequences. If two are close, choose the one you are more likely to put off.
5. Delegate the Ds straight away. Send the message, make the request or set up the automation now, before you start work.
6. Cross out the Es. Decide not to do them, and tell anyone who needs to know.
7. Start on A-1. Work on it until it is finished, or until the end of a planned block.
8. Move down the list in order. A-2, A-3, then the Bs. Fit C tasks into breaks or the end of the day.
9. Review at the end of the day. Which letters did you get wrong? Carry unfinished A tasks forward, and see if any B tasks have become A tasks.

↑ Back to contents

A Worked Example

Here is how one person’s Wednesday list might look after the ABCDE pass.

Her day starts with the forecast, not the inbox. The meeting rooms get delegated in two minutes, and the unused report is raised with her manager so that it can be dropped. The list has seven items, but the day is organised around two.

↑ Back to contents

ABCDE vs the Eisenhower Matrix

The other well-known prioritisation tool is the Eisenhower matrix. It comes from a remark attributed to US President Dwight D. Eisenhower that the urgent problems are not important and the important ones are never urgent, and it sorts tasks into four boxes by urgency and importance (blank” rel=”noopener”>Wikipedia). Stephen Covey made a version of it central to _The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (see our Stephen Covey page).

The two work well together. Use the matrix once a week to make sure important but non-urgent work, such as planning, learning and relationships, gets onto your list. Use ABCDE each day to decide what to do first.

↑ Back to contents

What the Research Says

The ABCDE method itself hasn’t been tested in a controlled trial. Its central ideas, though, connect with research on how people choose what to work on.

• Urgency distracts us from importance. In five experiments, people chose tasks that only seemed urgent over tasks with better payoffs, a pattern the researchers called “the mere urgency effect” (Zhu, Yang & Hsee, 2018). Labelling by consequences, as ABCDE does, is a direct counterweight.
• Hard, important tasks get put off. A large review found that people are most likely to procrastinate on tasks they find unpleasant and whose rewards are delayed (Steel, 2007). That describes many A tasks, which is why Tracy insisted on starting with A-1.
• Time management helps. A 2021 meta-analysis found time management to be moderately related to job performance, academic achievement and wellbeing, and negatively related to distress (Aeon, Faber & Panaccio, 2021).
• Writing plans down helps. Plans that specify when and where you will act improve follow-through, with a medium-to-large average effect (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006).

↑ Back to contents

Common Mistakes

• Too many A tasks. If half your list is marked A, the letters aren’t doing their job. Ask the consequences question again, and be honest.
• Treating B as “later today”. B tasks often fill the day if you let them. Do them only after the As are done or blocked.
• Forgetting D and E. Many people use only A, B and C. The last two letters are where you get time back.
• Labelling once and never again. Priorities change during the day. If something new arrives, give it a letter before you do it.
• Confusing “unpleasant” with “important”. A task you dislike is not an A unless its consequences are serious.

↑ Back to contents

Variations and Tips

• ABCDE for the week. Do a weekly pass on Sunday or Monday to pick the A tasks for each day.
• ABCDE with the 80/20 rule. If you have trouble choosing As, ask which 20 percent of your tasks will deliver 80 percent of the value. See our 80/20 rule guide.
• ABCDE with time blocking. Give each A task its own block in your calendar. See our time blocking guide.
• ABCDE at home. The same letters work for household jobs, study, or a big personal project such as moving house.
• Keep the list visible. A paper list on your desk, or a pinned note, keeps your A-1 in front of you.

For the wider system the method belongs to, see our Brian Tracy article.

↑ Back to contents

Frequently Asked Questions

What does ABCDE stand for in time management?

The letters are categories: A = must do (serious consequences), B = should do (mild consequences), C = nice to do (no consequences), D = delegate and E = eliminate.

Who created the ABCDE method?

Brian Tracy taught the ABCDE method in Eat That Frog! (2001) and his seminars. It builds on earlier ABC prioritisation, which Alan Lakein popularised in 1973.

What is the most important rule of the ABCDE method?

Never do a B task while an A task is left undone. Start with your A-1 task and stay with it until it is complete.

How many A tasks should I have?

Most days have only one to three true A tasks. If you have many, number them A-1, A-2, A-3 and work through them in order.

How is the ABCDE method different from the Eisenhower matrix?

ABCDE ranks tasks by consequences and lets you number your top tasks, which makes it well suited to daily lists. The Eisenhower matrix sorts tasks by urgency and importance into four boxes and is useful for weekly planning.

Can I use the ABCDE method for personal tasks?

Yes. The same questions work for household jobs, study and personal projects: what happens if I do this, what happens if I don’t, and could someone else do it?

↑ Back to contents

Key Takeaways

• The ABCDE method ranks every task by its consequences before you start work.
• A = must do, B = should do, C = nice to do, D = delegate, E = eliminate.
• Never do a B task while an A task is undone; your A-1 task is your frog.
• The D and E letters are where you win back time.
• Research on urgency, procrastination and planning supports the method’s main ideas.

↑ Back to contents

Explore More on Self Help Supermarket

Use these pages alongside this one:

• Eat That Frog – do your A-1 task first
• The 80/20 Rule – find the vital few tasks
• Zero-Based Thinking – find your E tasks
• Time Blocking and Single-Tasking – give your A tasks protected time
• Brian Tracy: His Life, Philosophy, Techniques and Legacy – the full system behind ABCDE
• Brian Tracy: expert profile – his books, videos and key ideas
• Productivity – more ways to get the right things done
• Browse all self-help techniques – compare every method on Self Help Supermarket.

↑ Back to contents

Sources

1. Tracy, B. Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, 3rd edition. Berrett-Koehler, 2017. O’Reilly listing. https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/eat-that-frog/9781626569430/
2. Tracy, B. “How to Set Priorities Using the ABCDE Method”, briantracy.com. https://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/the-abcde-list-technique-for-setting-priorities/
3. Wikipedia. “Time management” (sections on ABC prioritisation and the Eisenhower method), accessed 13 November 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_management
4. Self Help Supermarket. “Brian Tracy (1944–2026): His Life, Philosophy, Techniques and Legacy”. https://www.selfhelpsupermarket.com/brian-tracy-tribute/
5. Zhu, M., Yang, Y., & Hsee, C. K. (2018). The mere urgency effect. Journal of Consumer Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucy008
6. Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65
7. Aeon, B., Faber, A., & Panaccio, A. (2021). Does time management work? A meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 16(1), e0245066. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245066
8. Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601%2806%2938002-1