Mark Twain once said: âEat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.â
Now, although the prospects of eating an actual live frog are daunting, we can interpret these âfrogsâ as the tasks we dread.
In that sense, âEating that frogâ means you have to do the task you dread first, before all other tasks. Once you have âeatenâ your âfrogâ, you can rest assured that the worst is behind you, so youâre likely to take on a positive approach about the rest of your day.
Who said âeat the frogâ?
Brian Tracy, author of one of the best books on productivity – Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time – was the one who coined the term, inspired by the previously mentioned Mark Twainâs quote.
In his book, Tracy advocates that focusing on your most important task, i.e. âugliest frogâ, is the best way to gain success, status, respect, and happiness in life – hence the whimsical name of his time management technique, i.e. âEat that frogâ.
What tasks can be âfrogsâ?
In gist, any task can be a âfrogâ – as long as you procrastinate to no end before doing it.
However, the following types of tasks are most likely to be classified as âfrogsâ:
- An extremely difficult task
This is a task you keep putting off because it would take too much of your time, because itâs too difficult, or because itâs simply boring.
For example, this may be an extensive research for a project, or filling out a lot of accounting paperwork.
- An extremely important task
This is a task you keep putting off because itâs too important to be glossed over – but, it also seems to be too demanding for you to fully focus on it for a longer period of time.
For example, it can be a call to a demanding client, or cost and time estimates you have to set for an elusive project.
- An extremely important and difficult task
Sometimes, if youâre really out of luck, a task can be both boring and crucial for your work.
For example, this can be a 50-page project research you have yet to make a concise, efficient, and persuading 200-word abstract for – with the deadline being mere hours away.
How to âeat that frogâ?
The gist to the âeat that frogâ time management technique is simple:
- Label your tasks to identify your âfrogâ
- Work on your âfrogâ first thing in the morning
- Once done, shift your focus to less crucial tasks in your schedule
In order to properly label your tasks and identify frogs, youâll need to prioritize – by using the Eisenhower Matrix time management technique.
By proxy, the Eisenhower Matrix labels tasks according to their level of importance and urgency – but the system works just as well with âfrogsâ.
First, youâll need to create a list of tasks you have to do the following day.
Then, divide your to-do items into 4 quadrants, describing how much you want and need to do a task:
- Quadrant 1 – tasks you donât want to do, but need to do
- Quadrant 2 – tasks you want to do, and also need to do
- Quadrant 3 – tasks you want to do, but donât need to do
- Quadrant 4 – tasks donât want to do, and also donât need to do
Your âfrogsâ are always the tasks you place in Quadrant 1 – i.e. the daily tasks you donât want to do, but still need to do. At the start of each workday, simply work on the task from Quadrant 1 – only once you finish this task, should you move on to the tasks from the other quadrants.
What if you have 2 âfrogsâ?
No two ugly frogs are equally ugly, and no two tasks are equally problematic.
But, when in doubt about several potential âfrogsâ, Tracy advises you use the ABCDE technique to identify the task you should tackle first.
Once again, you should create a list of tasks you have to do the following day.
Then, label them with letters:
- âAâ – your most important task, the one most likely to have serious consequences if you donât finish it.
- âBâ – the next most important task, the one not as serious in terms of consequences, but still important.
- âCâ – the task that you could do, but it wouldnât have any real consequences if you didnât do it.
- âDâ – the task that you can delegate to someone, to free more time for doing the âAâ task.
- âEâ – the task that you donât really have to do, so you can eliminate it.
The important matter is that you donât move on the âBâ task, or any other task, until youâre finished with the âAâ task.
âEating that Frogâ with an app
There are several apps that are designed to help you âeat your frogâ – letâs see how you can apply this time management technique with the free time tracker Clockify:
1. First, create a project where youâll manage your regular tasks and âfrogsâ
2. Add tasks to this project – when naming the tasks, implement the ABCDE technique to mark them in order of importance
3. Once you have a clear list of your tasks for that day, you can select the âTASK Aâ in the time tracker and start working on it, before starting work on âTASK Bâ.
4. You can leave âTASK Câ for later, delegate, or assign the âTASK Dâ to other members of your team in the projectâs Task tab, and simply delete the âEâ task from your schedule.
Theories that support âeating that frogâ
A couple of theories support the premise that you should do the most important task first, as is advised in the âEat that Frogâ technique.
The Serial-position effect claims that people, when they have to remember items on a list, are more likely to remember the first and last items better than the middle ones.
Also, according to the Attention decrement hypothesis, people are more likely to pay attention to the information they hear first, than the information that follows.
This effect and hypothesis support the idea that you should do the most important or most difficult task first, because you are more likely to be able to focus on it at the beginning of the day.
Advantages of âeating that frogâ
Itâs an impact-driven technique
Doing the most difficult or the most important task first thing in the morning will have a great positive impact on the rest of your day.
This little achievement will help energize and motivate you, and you will glide through the rest of the day because youâll know that all the other tasks that await you are easier.
It makes prioritizing easier
When you start thinking about your tasks in order to find âfrogsâ, youâll gain a great perspective about your daily workload.
Youâll be more likely to recognize what tasks arenât important, what tasks you can discard entirely and what tasks you should really focus on.
In contrast, if you donât prioritize your tasks, and do your work in random order, you may spend too much time on trivial tasks, and have no time left for your most important tasks.
It leaves you with more time for enjoyable tasks
Everyone has a certain type of tasks they donât enjoy.
Some donât like creating project estimates, some donât like writing reports, and some donât like making phone calls or answering emails.
In any case, if you do these âdreadfulâ tasks first thing in the morning, youâll actually feel like you have more time for tasks you actually enjoy.
Disadvantages of âeating that frogâ
It makes the start of the day difficult
Focusing on a new âfrogâ each day can be difficult, because we are essentially labeling out the start of our workday as the time for our worst ghouls, which may be demoralizing on its own.
But, discipline and practice can help you finish these worst tasks faster.
In order to finish these âfrogsâ faster, you can practice your âability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding taskâ, or âdeep workâ, as Cal Newport calls it.
When you start this demanding task, donât shift your focus on anything else until youâve finished it; you can take breaks, but when youâre working, avoid distractions.
By practicing your ability to perform âdeep workâ, youâll finish these important tasks faster, move on to âregularâ tasks quicker, and even finish your daily workload earlier in the day.
Youâll have a great sense of progress, which will help you feel more motivated, and your productivity levels will be on the rise.
Too rigid and impractical at times
The rules of the âEat that Frogâ technique state that you must tackle the most important/difficult task first, which can be a strict rule.
What if your most important task changes during the course of the day, and you have to focus on something else?
In such cases, itâs best that you act according to your new priorities: for example, you can add the new task on your ABCDE list and label it as âAâ, marking all the other tasks as less urgent.
In the end, the best you can do to thwart the disadvantages and make the most of the advantages of this technique, use the âEat that Frogâ rules as a starting point – and tweak them to fit your needs.
Tips for âeating that frogâ easier
Practice planning
âEat that Frogâ technique is all about planning: you think about your tasks, write them down and prioritize them, so youâll know what task to do first.
You identify your goals and objectives for that day and act accordingly.
It may sound time-consuming to write down all your tasks each day, but this actually saves you time – According to Tracy, 1 minute of planning may save you as much as 5-10 minutes during execution.
As time goes by, creating these lists and prioritizing tasks on paper will become a habit, and youâll learn to do it faster, which will save you even more time.
Build a sense of momentum
Once you have made your plan, donât hesitate, just dive right into your work. Focus on what you are doing, and focus on your goals and objectives.
Youâll notice that itâs much harder to start working on a task than to continue working on it. This is known as building your momentum – once we start going, weâll keep going until we are finished.
So, if you feel demoralized at the thought of doing your most demanding tasks first thing in the morning, remember that the first step is always the hardest. Itâll be easier once you gain momentum and really focus on a task.
Parse the tasks into smaller chunks
When working, people love the feeling of reaching their goals, because they love the sense of completion.
But, reaching the end goal of a project may seem far from reach, especially when youâre just starting.
In order to get that sense of completion at equal intervals in the project, and not just at its end, you should parse your project into smaller tasks – this will make your goals seem more manageable, because youâll be striving for one part of that goal at a time.
For example, your âfrogâ is a project you have to complete in 2 hours.
So, you put this project on paper, and notice you can parse it into 3 tasks – these tasks are parts of a larger goal (the project), and you can treat them like mini-goals you have to complete.
Once you complete each of the three mini-goals, you should take a short break and reward yourself for your efforts thus far.
Youâll feel a sense of completion, and the end of the project will come quicker than expected, at least from a psychological point of view.
Want to make sure you stick to a routine and take breaks from your âfrogsâ? Combine âEat that Frogâ with the âPomodoroâ time management technique, and work with a Pomodoro Timer that automatically tells you when to take a break from your âfrogsâ or resume work on them.
In the end, why should you âEat that Frogâ first?
Imagine that you have 6 tasks to finish by the end of today.
You work and you work, and you actually manage to finish 5 out of 6 tasks. Yet, despite all that, you feel a dark cloud of failure looming over you.
Why? Well, you forgot to eat your frog.
The phenomena of âeatingâ or ânot eating your live frogâ, in terms of productivity, means the following – although youâve finished 5 out of 6 tasks, you still didnât tackle your most demanding task, so you lack that feeling of achievement over finishing the other 5 tasks.
Whatâs worse, you know this 1 task will be waiting for you the next day, and the next day, and the day after thatâŚ. And, until you finish it, your â5 out of 6â score will always leave you indifferent.
Eating your frog, i.e. dealing with your most demanding task first thing in the morning is like the wind beneath your wings when it comes to your work schedule – because finishing 1 crucial task will always bring your quicker, more efficient results, less fatigue, and a stronger sense of accomplishment than finishing 5 out of 6 mundane tasks.
And thatâs why you should always aim for it.