Eat that frog

Day 222 / 365

We live in a time right now where we are overwhelmed with things to do. When it comes to work, people seem to try and get as much of it as possible from you. When it comes to leisure, we have so many options that we can’t choose what to do. More often then not we end up sitting in one place, doing some low effort activity like watching TV and don’t get anything of value done. How do we fix that?

I am currently reading the book Eat that frog by Brian Tracy, and it talks about how we can tackle procrastination and get more done in less time. The idea behind the name is this. Suppose you had to eat a frog at the start of each day. The rest of your day would go on quite smoothly right? as you are already done with the toughest thing that you would have had to do that day.

Of Course, the frog is just a metaphor. It represents the hardest task that you have for the day, and also the one that will have the most effect on your growth if you get it done.

The first rule about eating the frog is that if you have two frogs to eat then eat the ugly one first.

It’s always tempting to do the easy stuff first. But you have to resist that temptation. The tougher tasks are at the most risks of being procrastinated. You would leave them for the end of the day when you have the least energy available. Also wouldn’t that time be more suitable for the easier tasks?

The second rule about eating the frog is that if you have to eat a frog, it wouldn’t get any easier if you just keep staring at it.

Once you have determined what it is that you have to get done first thing in the morning, the next step is to just take immediate action. No point delaying it, the sooner you get it over with the better it will be.

So that’s a brief summary of the first impressions I have from the book. I am sure I’ll have enough to write another post about it once I finish it.

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — Misery is wasted on the miserable