Glossary
Eat the frog, explained
"Eat the frog" means doing your hardest and most important task first thing, before anything else. The phrase was popularised by Brian Tracy's book Eat That Frog! (2001).
What it means
The idea is that the task you are most likely to avoid is usually the one that matters most, and that doing it first removes the dread from the rest of the day. It works because willpower and attention are usually higher early, and because nothing has interrupted you yet.
How to do it in a calendar
- Each evening, pick tomorrow's frog: one task, specific.
- Put it in the first block of the day, before email.
- Make the block long enough to finish or make real progress.
An example
A sales rep's frog is calling the three leads who went quiet. It sits at 08:30 every day for 30 minutes, before the inbox opens.
Common mistakes
- Picking three frogs. It is one task.
- Starting with email "just quickly". The frog is first or it does not get eaten.
Questions
Did Mark Twain say "eat a live frog"?
The line is often attributed to Twain, but there is no reliable source for it. Brian Tracy's book made the idea popular.
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