Do you ever feel like you have a thousand things on your plate but are struggling to even finish just one? Does your To-Do list keep getting longer and longer? Fear not, this blog introduces a productivity trick that helps overcome procrastination and accelerate your progress on important tasks!
Eating the frog is a productivity technique that entails only 3 simple steps:
Identify your frog (i.e. your hardest, most important task for the day)
Do this task first thing in the morning
Repeat Steps 1-2 everyday
At this point you might be thinking, ‘That’s it???’
But hear us out first, because believe us, this trick works!
The eat the frog technique sets you up to complete the task that requires the most energy first thing in the morning. This ensures that you get it out of the way, because once you’ve finished the hardest task on your list, the rest will seem like pieces of cake! Don’t be tempted to check your emails or chat messages first when you log on for the day, because those things require less mental energy and are easier to do even when you’re not fresh from a good night’s sleep.
Getting in the habit of doing your most important task first also sets a healthy work schedule for yourself. It helps you prioritise and procrastinate less. In this digital era when a million distractions try to lure us away from our work, eating the frog ensures that you work with a singular focus each morning. Before you sleep each night, it helps if you set up your computer so that once you log in the next morning, the first thing you see is the frog for the day, while all other social media tools are pushed to the background until you’re ready to meet them again.
Additionally, we all love a sense of success. Tackling the hardest task first and getting it out of the way before lunch will be a big win for our brains (Tip: make sure that you choose a frog which can be reasonably completed within 1-4 hours. If the task is too long, split it up and focus on the hardest one first). This drives up your motivation and puts you in a good mood, so that you will feel more inclined to continue working and be productive throughout the rest of the day.
Finally, it’s important to note that everyone has different hours of the day during which they feel the most productive. A lot of people feel the most refreshed in the morning, but if your most productive hour is in the afternoon or evening, that’s perfectly fine! Just make sure that you block off those hours to swallow your frog, so that you can really take advantage of your best work times.
Eating the frog is a simple yet effective tool that helps to boost motivation and reduce procrastination. If you’re looking to enhance your productivity, try it out!
