Why You Should ‘Eat the Frog’ First Thing in the Morning
You may or may not have heard of “eating the frog.” It’s one of those things that triggers the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon once you learn about it: suddenly, everyone seems to be saying it, which is shocking, because it’s a bit graphic and evocative. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean you actually have to eat frogs; it’s simply a way of referring to the productivity philosophy that says you should tackle your most important and difficult task first thing in the morning.
What does “eat the frog” mean?
“Eat the frog” means “do the tasks of the day.” worse task as soon as you wake up. This comes from a quote attributed to Mark Twain, although there are a few different versions circulating. (Jordan Calhoun, editor-in-chief of Lifehacker, for example, calls this “swallowing the frog,” which sounds more gruesome for reasons I can’t quite pinpoint.) Basically what Twain would have said (although there isn’t much evidence that he actually did it) is that if you to have To eat a frog, you need to do it immediately in the morning so that the worst part of your day is immediately behind you.
Whatever the dubious origins of this colorful suggestion, it led to the creation of a popular self-help series by Brian Tracy and became a shortcut for getting the hard stuff out of the way so you can focus on your other tasks.
What’s in it for you?
As Tracy explains on her blog, your “frog” is whatever your most important task is at any given time: “It’s the one you’re most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do anything.” »
You don’t even have to eat the frog as soon as you wake up; you can simply make a conscious effort to take on your most difficult responsibilities before moving on to less important ones. But you should to try to eliminate them early in the day. When I have to receive an uncomfortable phone call, I schedule it as early in the day as possible. When I have a project due, I try to get up early to take care of it instead of staying up late. I can attest to the fact that I feel great throughout the day knowing that the worst thing I had to do is already done. It always makes all the other tasks I have to handle seem like a breeze. They pale in comparison to the monster I knocked out in the early morning.
If no particular task scares you, you can replace something unpleasant with something important or resource-intensive. To determine which of your tasks is most urgent (and therefore which frog you should eat) you can use a prioritization system like the Eisenhower Matrix or the 1-3-5 method. In fact, the 1-3-5 technique helps you structure your day around completing one major task, three medium tasks, and five small ones, making it ideal for eating frogs.
What do you think of it so far?
If you struggle with procrastination, whether it’s cleaning your house, doing assignments for school or your job, or if you find that you’re doing all the little things but not making enough progress on the big things, try eating the frog. Schedule the most despised tasks for the morning. Try hitting the gym before work rather than after, blocking out your first half hour of work to respond to neglected emails or cleaning the kitchen before making your morning coffee. Study for the test in your hardest class before studying for the easier classes. Call your parents before calling your friends. You get the idea.
It’s similar to the two-minute rule, which states that you should tackle any task that takes less than two minutes as soon as it comes to mind. Your frogs may take more than two minutes, but the idea that you should just approach them instantly without deliberating or procrastinating is crucial. Get into the habit of simply TO DO things.
Ideally, make your to-do list the night before so that you have nothing to think about when you wake up and can get straight to work. As you develop this habit and mindset, at some point moving on to smaller activities, even if they are important, will feel like a reward.
