Eat the Frog!

The Productivity Series: Busy Doing Nothing

Welcome to our series of blog posts where we will explore a range of productivity and time management techniques and how to implement them within your journal or planner. Check out our other posts here.

Time to stop procrastinating and get productive!

The phrase ‘Eat the Frog” originates from the following quote:

“If it’s your job 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

In productivity terms, it’s all about identifying the most important task of the day and getting in done first!

This is essentially where the Oops a Daisy “Big 3” method stems from!

Let’s find out more…

Why it works?

We over-estimate what you can achieve – It is human nature to overestimate how much we can achieve in one day, so by focusing on what is important we can make sure this is achieved first!

It uses your power hours! – All hours are not created equal. We are often more productive at the start of the workday than in the after lunch slump. Doing your most challenging and important tasks in this time sets you up for success.

We often have many tasks! – When faced with a never ending to-do list it is easy to feel overwhelmed and get distracted by the smaller/less important tasks.

It builds confidence – completing the most important task puts you on a role for the rest of the day!

How to “Eat the Frog”

1. Write down all your tasks.
2. Select your frog (or BIG 3!)
3. Break this down into smaller tasks if necessary.
4. Minimise distractions (turn off phone/email notificaions).
5. Get the task done!

Using Oops a Daisy stencils to help the process!

We have a bunch of stencils designed to help capture everything you have to do, prioritise and focus. Take a look below!