"If you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing it's probably the worst thing you'll do all day"
Named after this quote, the Eat the Frog strategy is a simple but effective method for increasing productivity by tackling your biggest, most critical task first thing.
The steps
1. Identify the frog
Make a list of all the tasks you need to accomplish the following day. Rank them not by due date, but by size, difficulty and importance. The biggest, ugliest task? That's your frog.
2. Eat it first
When you start your day, resist the urge to dive into easier tasks, check social media, or start scrolling through emails. Instead, eat that frog! Dedicate a chunk of your highest mental energy to making progress on your biggest task before you do anything else.
3. Don't get distracted
Turn off notifications, close unnecessary apps/tabs and find a distraction-free environment. The aim is to focus wholly on eating that entire frog in one go so that the rest of your day is free to work on other, less difficult or daunting activities.
4. Take a break
Once your frog-eating session is complete, give yourself a real break to recharge. Grab a snack, go for a walk or do whatever you need to reset before moving on to smaller tasks.
5. Repeat daily
Tomorrow there will be a new frog on your list. Approach each day by eating the biggest, nastiest task first. Over time, this will become a productivity habit.
–––
The beauty of Eat the Frog is that you really get a double hit of satisfaction. Firstly you eliminate the looming dread that comes with putting off major tasks. Then by conquering that huge obstacle first thing, you’ll then ride a motivational high for the rest of the day!