Eat the Frog
“If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first.” - Mark Twain
I was a horrible procrastinator in high school and would often study for NW History tests in the few minutes before class. In college, that had to change as classes got substantially harder. Now I use a variety of systems to keep me on task. But occasionally there is that one task that I just don’t want to do and it gets shuffled to the back burner as a project for later.
That task for me over the last year has been getting my blood drawn. I have a psychosomatic response to needles and have been putting off routine bloodwork for 12 months. I finally decided this week that I just needed to Eat The Frog and do the worst thing first. It still sucked and I nearly passed out, but now it is over and I can move on.
The Eat The Frog method of time and task management is good for anybody but especially those who:
Struggle with procrastination
Get lots done but don’t make progress on the big stuff
Have a hard time sticking with a schedule or plan
Feel overwhelmed by their to-do list
You can read a whole book on the method with 21 ways to stop procrastinating or you can check out this blog for ways to Start Eating Your Frog. A quick summary:
Identify Your Frog - Your hardest, most important task each day.
Eat It - Do it immediately. Don’t let yourself put it off until later.
Repeat Every Day - Build up the habit and you will be amazed by what small steps do in accomplishing large goals.