Eat that frog!

When you look at your to-do list, you probably see one item or project that you really don’t want to do.

Maybe you hate making sales calls. Maybe you have a client who drives you crazy. Maybe you have a web page on a topic that you have no interest in. Whatever it is, you just don’t want to do it.

As the day – and sometimes even the week or month – progresses, that item sits on your to-do list and taunts you. The longer it sits there, the less you want to work on it. It builds until you dread the thought of completing it.

This unease distracts you because you know you have to do it, but you don’t even want to start.

You can avoid this building anxiety if you listen to Mark Twain.

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” – Mark Twain

That project or to-do list item is your frog. Tackle it as soon as you start your day and the rest of your day will be easy.

Find your frog and order it for breakfast

I think you know what this week’s challenge will be. Find that project that is hanging over your head – the one that you keep putting off – and make it a point to work on it first thing tomorrow morning.

Don’t check your email. Don’t scroll through your social media streams. Don’t work on another to-do list item because it will “just take a second.” Start that project!

Not only will you find the rest of your projects for the day more enjoyable, but you will also probably realize that the project you were dreading wasn’t really that bad.

Go. Eat your frog.

Photo credit: © Kseniya Abramova | Dreamstime.com