Another great time management strategy, made popular by Brian Tracy, is Eat the Frog.
The principle here is that we have so much to do on our list, and there is often something on that list that is the ‘nasty’ task – what you’re resisting and putting in a lot of energy to avoid. Tracy suggests that if you get that challenging task out of the way as a priority you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing it’s probably the worst thing you’ll do all day and it’s gone from your plate.
Again, I’ve found this one challenging. Sometimes it comes down to being able to recognise which task is the frog!! Seeing a task as a frog (for me) lowers the seriousness and feeling of being overwhelmed too, identifying it as the slippery little sucker I want gone is incentive enough to get started. I will reward myself once completed too, go and grab a coffee or have a break by doing something fun.
Frogs for me can be a task I have no idea where to start, or a difficult phone call or conversation. Since learning of this principle and using it, I know to trust that moving through the task and getting to that feeling of accomplishment afterwards is better than leaving it lingering unfinished.
Experiment a little…
Try doing the task you’re avoiding the most first up in your day. Trial it for just one week…
Feel the sense of ticking it off outweigh the energy of putting it off. It’s worth it! I’ve had so many clients share how good this works for them.
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