You have most likely heard of the famous frog analogy?
“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
So, what is the frog and why the heck are we eating it?
The frog is the task on our list that is the most challenging. It’s the task you have the least motivation to do, and you are most likely to procrastinate on. We all have a frog that lingers throughout the week. But, what is stopping you from getting it done?
The successful people in our world never try to do everything at once. Instead, they focus on the important task, “the frog” and they make sure they get it done.
Basically, you need to eat your frog…before your frog eats you.
Your frog needs to be eaten first thing in the morning, or at the beginning of your week. This way, you will be able to have a clear and focused mind for the rest of the day. Plus you’ll be able to breeze through the day doing the tasks that you actually enjoy doing.
For some of us, the frog feels like a bit more than just a meal. (that pasta dish that never seems to get smaller as you swallow down another fork full)
It’s a BIG task, one that can even feel a little overwhelming to start. Perhaps you feel as though you can’t start it or don’t know how. When we feel like this, it’s easy to switch into “I won’t do this today” mode.
We make excuses on why we haven’t started, and we fall into the procrastination cycle. Sometimes, we even believe that if we ignore it, it will go away.
However, rather than avoiding and deferring what needs to be done, decide whether the task be broken down into bite-sized pieces. Break your “frog” down into smaller morsels that you can eat easily. Write down every little step that is involved in the overall challenge. Once we do this, we start to feel like we can get on top of the task.
Suddenly, your frog doesn’t seem too big anymore. You may even see that you can delegate some pieces of your frog. You may not even need to eat it by yourself!
A key point overlooked is you can’t do everything in one day, in fact, to be gone without the frog it may take a little longer and that’s ok…remember bite sizes and this reduces the overwhelm you may find yourself in with this particular task.
When we learn to identify our frogs and break it down into smaller pieces, we can actually complete tasks – not just think about them! Not to mention, when we complete a task that is uncomfortable or uninteresting, we feel a sense of accomplishment, and we are rewarded with a new found energy.
Eating frogs and accomplishing everything on your to-do list is one sure way to move up the ladder of success. Stop procrastinating and start getting your important, often on fire tasks moved to the completed list. And remember, it’s best to get the frog eaten at the beginning of the day so you can have the rest of the day to spend on doing things that light you up and for this reason, I learnt to eat my frog/s first about five years ago.
Are you ready to eat yours?
Maybe that’s a YES but a NO…I get it, it was how I felt about getting started with them too.
I can assist you to get through them sooner than later with a three-step process that I call The Green Bucket List – Curious? You should be and its actually fun!
To talk about this easy to get started process and hop out any procrastination you may be swimming in…
All it takes is a 30-Minute Call than you can decide.
Eat your frog or keep him!
Learn more about what I do click here and free resources available.