The Salami Slice and Swiss Cheese Methods: The Complete Guide to Breaking Big Tasks Down

The salami slice method means breaking a big task into small steps and doing just one slice at a time. The Swiss cheese method means “punching a hole” in a task by working on it for a short, fixed time, such as 10 minutes. Brian Tracy taught both as ways to get started on tasks that feel overwhelming.

Productivity method · Themes: procrastination, getting started, big projects, momentum

Last updated: 13 November 2026

Written by Saj Ali

Reading time: about 10 minutes

How we wrote this guide: this guide was written by Saj Ali. It draws on Brian Tracy’s _Eat That Frog!_ (third edition, 2017), chapters 10 and 18, and published research on procrastination, small goals and progress. Every research claim links to its source.

Salami slice and Swiss cheese in brief

• Salami slice. Write down every step of a big task, then do just one slice.
• Swiss cheese. Work on the task for a fixed short time, such as 5 or 10 minutes, then stop if you want to.
• Why they work. Small steps are easier to start, and starting creates momentum.
• Best for. Tasks you have been avoiding because they look too big.
• Pairs well with. Eat That Frog: use them when your frog is too big to swallow.

Contents

1. What Are the Salami Slice and Swiss Cheese Methods?
2. Why Tracy Believed They Work
3. One Oil Barrel at a Time
4. How to Use the Salami Slice Method
5. How to Use the Swiss Cheese Method
6. Worked Examples
7. What the Research Says
8. Common Mistakes
9. Frequently Asked Questions
10. Key Takeaways
11. Explore More on Self Help Supermarket
12. Sources

What Are the Salami Slice and Swiss Cheese Methods?

A big task is hard to start for a simple reason: it looks enormous. Brian Tracy wrote that a “major reason for procrastinating on big, important tasks is that they appear so large and formidable when you first approach them” (blank” rel=”noopener”>Tracy, 2017). He offered two ways to cut them down to size, both in the chapter of _Eat That Frog! called “Slice and Dice the Task”.

• The salami slice method. “You lay out the task in detail, writing down every step in order, and then resolve to do just one slice of the job for the time being, like eating a roll of salami one slice at a time, or like eating an elephant one bite at a time” (Tracy, 2017).
• The Swiss cheese method. You “punch a hole in the task, like a hole in a block of Swiss cheese”, by resolving “to work for a specific time period on it. This may be as little as five or ten minutes, after which you will stop and do something else” (Tracy, 2017).

The first breaks the task down by content (one step). The second breaks it down by time (one short session). Both have the same aim: to make starting so easy that you actually start.

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Why Tracy Believed They Work

Tracy’s explanation had two parts (Tracy, 2017).

Small pieces are easier to face

“Psychologically, you will find it easier to do a single, small piece of a large project than to start on the whole job.” And once you have finished one slice, “you will feel like doing just one more slice. Soon, you will find yourself working through the job one part at a time.”

The urge to completion

Tracy wrote that people have “an ‘urge to completion,’ or what is often referred to as a ‘compulsion to closure’”, so that you “feel happier and more powerful when you start and complete a task of any kind”. He claimed that completing tasks triggers a release of endorphins in the brain (Tracy, 2017). That biological claim is his own and isn’t supported by a cited study; the research on progress and motivation below makes a similar point on firmer ground.

He also gave a practical example: “I have several friends who have become bestselling authors by simply resolving to write one page or even one paragraph per day until the book was completed” (Tracy, 2017).

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One Oil Barrel at a Time

Tracy’s favourite story about breaking things down came from his own life. As a young man, driving an old Land Rover, he crossed the Tanezrouft, a 500-mile stretch of the Sahara in what is now Algeria. The French had marked the track with black 55-gallon oil drums every five kilometres. In daylight he could always see two: the one he had just passed and the next one ahead. “All we had to do was to steer for the next oil barrel” (Tracy, 2017).

He made the story chapter 10 of Eat That Frog!, “Take It One Oil Barrel at a Time”, and drew the lesson: “Your job is to go as far as you can see. You will then be able to see far enough to go further” (Tracy, 2017). You don’t need the whole route planned to start. You need the next marker. Read more about this period of his life in our Brian Tracy article.

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How to Use the Salami Slice Method

1. Pick the task you have been avoiding. It is often your frog.
2. Write down every step, in order. Be specific. “Do my tax return” becomes “find last year’s return”, “download bank statements”, “list income”, “list expenses” and so on.
3. Make each slice small enough to finish in one sitting. If a step would take more than an hour or two, split it again. A good test is that each slice starts with a clear verb: find, write, call, draft, send.
4. Do the first slice now. Not the easiest slice; the first one. Order matters, because each step usually makes the next easier.
5. Tick it off. Seeing progress is part of the method.
6. Decide whether to do one more. Often you will want to. If not, schedule the next slice.
7. Repeat daily until the task is done.

Tip: if you can’t even write the list, your first slice is “spend 15 minutes listing the steps”. That counts.

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How to Use the Swiss Cheese Method

1. Choose the task.
2. Choose a short time: 5, 10 or 15 minutes. Tracy suggested “as little as five or ten minutes” (Tracy, 2017).
3. Set a timer and remove distractions: close email and put your phone away.
4. Work on any part of the task until the timer goes off. It doesn’t matter which part; the aim is to make a hole in the cheese.
5. Stop, or keep going. You have kept your promise. If you have momentum, carry on; many people do.
6. Punch another hole later. Several short sessions in a day add up.

The Swiss cheese method overlaps with timed techniques such as working in 25-minute sprints. The difference is the intention: here the time block is a way of starting, not a way of structuring a whole day. For full days, see our time blocking guide.

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Worked Examples

Salami slice: writing a report

Jo has a 20-page project report due in two weeks and hasn’t started. Her slices:

1. Collect the data files (30 minutes)
2. Draft an outline with section headings (30 minutes)
3. Write the methods section (one hour)
4. Write the results section (two sessions)
5. Make the charts (one hour)
6. Write the introduction and summary (one hour)
7. Edit and proofread (one hour)

She does slice 1 on Monday and slice 2 straight afterwards, because once the data was in front of her the outline came easily.

Swiss cheese: clearing a garage

Daniel has been avoiding clearing his garage for a year. He sets a timer for 10 minutes each evening after dinner and fills one box. After a week he has cleared a corner, and on Saturday he keeps going for two hours.

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What the Research Says

The two methods haven’t been tested under their own names, but their logic matches well-established findings.

• Close goals motivate more than distant ones. In a classic experiment, children who had struggled with maths worked through a self-directed programme with either near-term sub-goals, a single distant goal or no goal. Those with near-term sub-goals progressed fastest, gained the most mastery and developed more confidence and interest; the distant goal had no demonstrable effect (Bandura & Schunk, 1981). Slicing a task creates exactly these near-term goals.
• Progress fuels motivation. Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, studying the daily diaries of knowledge workers, found that making progress in meaningful work was the most important factor in a good day at work (Amabile & Kramer, 2011).
• Distant, unpleasant tasks get put off. A large review found that procrastination is most likely when tasks are aversive and their rewards are delayed (Steel, 2007). A small slice is less aversive, and finishing it is an immediate reward.
• Specific plans help. Deciding exactly when and how you will act improves follow-through (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006).

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Common Mistakes

• Slices that are still too big. “Write chapter 1” is not a slice. “Write the first 300 words of chapter 1” is.
• Only doing the easy slices. Work in order where possible, or you will be left with the hardest parts at the end.
• Planning instead of doing. A list of 40 steps is useful; spending a whole day perfecting it is procrastination in disguise.
• Breaking the Swiss cheese promise. If you promise yourself 10 minutes, you are allowed to stop at 10 minutes. Keeping the promise makes it easier to start next time.
• No next step. Always end a session by writing down the next slice, so starting tomorrow takes no thought.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the salami slice method?

It is a technique for big tasks: list every step in order, then do just one small step, or “slice”, at a time. Brian Tracy described it in Eat That Frog!.

What is the Swiss cheese method?

It means working on a big task for a short, fixed time, such as 5 or 10 minutes, to “punch a hole” in it. Once you have started, you often find it easier to keep going.

What is the difference between the salami and Swiss cheese methods?

The salami slice method breaks a task into steps; the Swiss cheese method breaks it into short periods of time. Use the salami slice when you don’t know where to start, and Swiss cheese when you know what to do but can’t make yourself begin.

What does “one oil barrel at a time” mean?

It comes from Brian Tracy’s crossing of the Sahara, where the track was marked with oil drums every five kilometres. He steered for the next barrel instead of the far side of the desert. The lesson is to focus on the next step you can see.

Does breaking tasks into smaller steps really help?

Research supports it. Near-term sub-goals improve progress and confidence compared with distant goals, and making progress is one of the strongest everyday motivators.

How small should each slice be?

Small enough to finish in one sitting, ideally starting with a clear action verb such as find, draft, call or send.

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Key Takeaways

• Big tasks feel overwhelming, which is why we put them off.
• Salami slice: list every step, then do just one.
• Swiss cheese: work on the task for 5 or 10 minutes, then stop if you want to.
• Tracy’s Sahara lesson: steer for the next oil barrel, not the far horizon.
• Research on near-term goals and small wins supports both methods.

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Explore More on Self Help Supermarket

Use these pages alongside this one:

• Eat That Frog – slice your frog when it is too big
• Time Blocking and Single-Tasking – give each slice its own block
• Goal Setting: The Complete Guide – break goals into plans and steps
• Self-Discipline – build the habit of starting
• Brian Tracy: His Life, Philosophy, Techniques and Legacy – the full system
• Procrastination – why we delay and what helps
• Motivation – ways to get and stay motivated
• Browse all self-help techniques – compare every method on Self Help Supermarket.

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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. Self Help Supermarket. “Brian Tracy (1944–2026): His Life, Philosophy, Techniques and Legacy”. https://www.selfhelpsupermarket.com/brian-tracy-tribute/
3. Bandura, A., & Schunk, D. H. (1981). Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(3), 586–598. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.41.3.586
4. Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. “The Power of Small Wins”, Harvard Business Review, May 2011. https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins
5. 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
6. 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