Eat that Frog? It Tastes Better if it’s Cooked

A twist on popular productivity advice

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.” — Mark Twain

Do you want to become a productivity machine?

Are you addicted to self-improvement?

Just want to make the most of your day?

Eat that f-f-frog.

“…what? Eat a frog? What does that have to do with my side hus — ”

Did I stutter?

“You did just then.”

(Shoutout to those who get the reference)

Eat That Frog

Brian Tracy wrote a book called Eat that Frog and the whole premise is that you should do your hardest task first thing in the morning. Then everything afterwards is gravy. Get the worst over with and the rest of your day will be smooth sailing.

There’s something to this, for sure. There’s a reason Tracy’s book is so popular. But there’s one big problem — you might procrastinate forever because no one wants to eat a frog.

No One Want to Eat a Frog

Right?

You’ll write out your to-do list the night before. You’ll wake up in the morning and you’ll look at said list. And then you’ll see the task you absolutely dread the most. So yeah, I think I’ll check some email. Maybe see what’s going on in the Tik Tok world.

This is why this approach doesn’t work well for a lot of people.

Here’s an alternative:

Cook that Frog

I worked as a barista in a somewhat fancy coffeeshop when I was going to school. Once I got seniority I started working the opening shift, which meant I had to wake up early, but it also meant I got to drink unlimited coffee before 7 AM.

And this is what I learned.

Little tasks, which took very little effort, helped me build momentum. Working at the shop, first unlocking the doors, dialing in the espresso, then starting to brew coffee. Making a few drinks, taking a few orders, taking out the trash.

By the end of my highly caffeinated morning, I was in productivity supermode. I was a freight train going 100 miles per hour. I would come home and clean the whole house and clear my inbox and THEN get my hardest task done.

Maybe it was the caffeine.

But I think it was the momentum.

You don’t have become a barista. But set yourself up to build momentum with doable tasks. Not busy work — real tasks. Don’t create a meaningless morning routine that takes two hours. Get the dopamine hit of Inbox Zero. Go for a hard run. Make a phone call that’s not the hardest task of the day but moves the needle.

This is how you cook the frog.

Momentum heats you up. And when you’re on fire you can — and want to — do what you normally don’t feel like doing. You’ll be able to eat that frog.

And it’ll taste like chicken.

Thanks for Reading!