Let’s be honest. Who doesn’t enjoy the extra five minutes in bed?

All is good and well until what seems like a few seconds turn out to be half an hour. Before you know it, you’re struggling to do your morning routine in a limited amount of time.

The butterfly effect of procrastination has now become a daily plague as it forces you to start your day unprepared, unmotivated, and hungry.

The habit of procrastination is a burden to your personal life, work, and community.

That’s because time equates to money, which is a boon to the ecosystem of companies and institutions trying to make ends meet in a short amount of time.

The Problem That Many Entrepreneurs Face

Frog with Catering Dish

In a world that is now a global village, thanks to the emergence of social networks, many professionals - especially entrepreneurs - deal with a lot of things when it comes to building an empire of their own.

And that includes the following: gathering resources, managing people and an internal system that may need consistent improvement as the business grows.

But personal factors such as procrastination make it hard for entrepreneurs to achieve these things. It’s no wonder why 24 hours a day is inadequate for some entrepreneurs to meet their daily goals.

In October 2015, Philippa Perry from The Guardian said that people wasted at least 3 hours a day at work. And that didn’t make them feel happier at all.

The constant procrastination that we do lengthens the time that we have to do the actual work. Thus, giving us the perception that the task is more difficult than it actually is.

Luckily, a self-help guru, Brian Tracy, wrote a book entitled “Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time” which sought to break down the bigger picture into smaller parts that have to be completed on a daily basis.

The Eat the Frog Methodology

Frog Standing with Strawberry Cream Cup Cake

“Eat the frog for breakfast” is an excellent business metaphor that talks about the frog being the most difficult yet rewarding task that has a positive impact on one’s life.

It encourages you to do the most challenging task first before anything else as its completion sets the tone for how the day should go concerning your ability to maximize your time and efficacy.

Eating the frog soothes your mind as it removes a significant obstacle in your way. Nothing else can ruin an already successful day, and it gives you more room for other things to be accomplished, which gives you a greater sense of achievement.

The original author of the idiom is still up for debate between Mark Twain and Nicolas Chamfort, though sources say that the phrase originally came from Mr. De Lassay, who served as a mouthpiece for the latter in 1795.

Here is an English version of an excerpt from an essay:

“M. de Lassay, a very indulgent man, but with a great knowledge of society, said that we should swallow a toad every morning, in order to fortify ourselves against the disgust of the rest of the day, when we have to spend it in society.” - Monday Chats, 1851

5 Steps to Eat Your Frog

Frog Standing with Gas Stove

According to Tsh Oxenreider from The Art of Simple, there is a five-way process on how to start tackling the frog down. This technique is highly beneficial for entrepreneurs who struggle with a lot in their plates.

1. Outline the Tasks for the Day

It can be as easy as typing your tasks on your phone or writing it on a notebook. Though different things work for different people, it pays to make a detailed description of the task as to not miss a thing or two.

2. Narrow it Down to 10 Items

Realistically, anyone can do more than 10 things in a day, which makes it easier to add more once these are done. But seeing more than twenty items at once can sometimes be confusing and overwhelming.

3. Pick the 3 Most Important Tasks

The next step is to to pick 3 of the most of important tasks. These are the tasks which make the day complete. It is important to put them up on the ladder of lists that you have created for yourself.

4. Out of the 3, Pick the Worst

This is the ugly, slimy and least adorable frog that you have to deal with – immediately. This is the part where one has to consider the possible consequences of the constant procrastination will bring to the table. Hint: It’s not pleasant.

5. Out of the 10, Pick the Easiest

Doing the task that you can do in a snap of a finger now serves as a reward. As a matter of fact, doing it last seals the day as it frees your mind. Everything else is now a piece of cake.

Eating the Frog with Week Plan

Frog Pointing Weekplan Logo

Everything is always easier said than done but awareness is key into producing a thought into action, which may take time before it fully becomes a healthy habit to keep.

The good news is you can use a tool like Week Plan to master the habit of eating your frogs first. Here’s how to use the priority planner to accomplish the things that have the biggest impact in your life.

Using Week Plan to Eat Your Frog:

  1. Write down all your tasks for the day.
  2. Cut your to-do list to just 10 items.
  3. Select the 3 most important tasks and drag them to the top of the list.
  4. Out of the top 3, pick the biggest frog (meaning the most important task) and put it at the top (no.1 task).
  5. Start eating the frog (no. 1 task). Work on it until it’s accomplished.
  6. Next, work on the other 2 important tasks. And finish the rest on your list.

Screenshot of Weekplan

What’s great about the Eat the Frog methodology is that it forces you to do the most difficult and important task first so you can save yourself from procrastination, giving you more time and energy to do other essential things.

More Posts