Eat the frog!

Mark Twain once wrote, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

The frog, in the productivity world, is your most important, daunting, heavy task that weighs on your shoulders the heaviest.  The one you want to procrastinate more than any others.  What is your frog?  Do you have one?  Maybe you are like me and you have more than one.  I determine my frogs by their looks and feels.  Which is the ugliest?  Which one can I not stand being around the most?  I eat that one first.

In reality, I have a really hard time eating hot dogs, so eating a frog just isn't going to happen, but the concept is powerful.  Attacking the least desirable tasks on my list first thing in the morning frees my brain space and allows me to feel successful early in the day.  When I devour those tasks, I can spend my brain juice on things which are more pleasurable and rewarding than my ugly frog.

Think of it.  Who wants a hideous warty frog sitting on their desk all day?  Disciplining yourself to take immediate action on tasks that qualify as "ugly frogs" increases the probability of success and effectiveness.  Move them out of the way and launch directly into the work that is more enjoyable, knowing the worst items on the list have been conquered.   One of the biggest struggles in organizations is a failure to execute.  Start your day with a giant gulp!  Eat the frog!!