Written by Sam Richards

Eat that frog!

Imagine a world where all of the worst tasks on your to-do list are complete. What if I told you that world existed?

“If your job is 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

Your to-do list will always be way too long to complete, and that’s okay. Aiming to finish every single task you have is setting yourself up for failure.

Rather than letting the length of your to-do list loom over you, do the most demanding and important task first. Procrastinating to avoid completing an urgent task is never beneficial – if it’s unpleasant and needs doing, tackle it first so that it isn’t commanding valuable headspace and negatively affecting your other work.

The best aspect of this method of working is that, in time, it can become a habit. The brain is a muscle, and it can be trained just like any muscle. If you repeat a pattern it will become second nature – no more painful dwelling on boring tasks, you’ll just do them automatically!

In order to form a habit however, you need the three D’s: decision, discipline and determination.

Decision: Make the decision to form a new habit and commit to it fully.

Discipline: Be disciplined in implementing the habit and consistently repeating it. Although it will eventually become automatic, at first it will take a conscious effort to repeat the exercise over and over until your brain adopts it as a habit. And to do that you need… you guessed it, determination.

Determination: This is the driving force behind all self-improvement. Without the determination to make a positive change, you’ll never successfully implement the steps needed to achieve it.

Once you have developed the habit, you’ll find yourself addicted to this method of working. The satisfaction of ticking an unpleasant job off your list is always worth any reluctance you felt towards getting it done in the first place – and the sooner you do it, the sooner you’ll get the reward of knowing you’ve smashed it.

This blog is based on the book Eat that frog! By Brian Tracy. If books aren’t your thing, check out EQ’s top podcasts.