Have you ever heard of eating a frog? Sounds gross, right? It’s not literal — usually — but it does offer an excellent way to visualize completing the tasks that you just don’t want to do. The concept came from Mark Twain, who believed if you must eat a frog, you should get it done first thing in the morning. And if your day starts with two frogs, get the biggest one out of the way first.
While no one knows how Twain took his frogs, you can bet he’d agree with these five productivity secrets for getting things done:
1. Make Organized Plans
You have to know the results you want before you can achieve them. If you set your goals before the day starts, you’re much more likely to maintain a laser focus and tackle any responsibilities, big or small.
Start by writing your goals down or typing them into an organizational app that allows you to visualize your essential to-do items and check them off one by one. Pencil-in meetings you know you need to attend, write down your priorities and even plan some time for interruptions and distractions.
Managing your tasks in an organized fashion also means organizing your workspace. While some people function well with a cluttered desk or home, you might end up wasting minutes or hours looking for small items that should have a designated spot.
2. Avoid Procrastination
Everyone gets stuck from time to time with duties that you’d prefer hopping away from — hence Twain’s frog, which represents a task you don’t want to do, but have to do if you’re going to move forward with your day. Eating your frog first thing in the morning means don’t procrastinate.
You might find value in several different methods for avoiding procrastination. Some people believe the most critical part is to get started, so they decide what it is they need to do and count to three. By three, they begin.
Whether you need to get out of bed in the morning without hitting snooze or start writing that 32-page report, beginning right away means finishing off that frog — or frogs — sooner and lifting the stress of a lingering task.
While it may feel good to avoid work for a time, you’ll build the difficulty up in your mind until the task seems unachievable. You don’t want to get to the end of the day and realize you spent the whole time dodging work you still need to do anyway, so just get it done.
3. Stop Multitasking
It turns out that multitasking doesn’t work as well as people think it does. Research indicates that multitasking during cognitive work lowers your IQ. You can’t get everything done in a single day, so stop trying. Focus your energy on whatever task is most important to your progress, and you’ll notice your efficiency improve.
Dropping multitasking goes with the 80/20 rule — 20 percent of the work you do each day, from thoughts and conversations to writing and working, produces 80 percent of your outcomes. You might spend hours cleaning out your email and find that it barely affected your actual output. Remove less critical tasks from your queue so you can jump into the ones that drive your success.
4. Communicate Smart
The fact is, today’s an age of communication. Phones ping, ring and beep non-stop. Social media demands our attention every second. Calendars fill up before you’ve even had a chance to grab your frog for the day.
While it’s helpful and sometimes fun to use communication resources like email, Facebook and Twitter, remember to use them without letting them turn into distractions. Checking your notifications and unnecessarily responding to people right away will drain your time and leave you unaccomplished at the end of the day.
Try using a “do not disturb” sign when you need to maintain a high level of mental focus. Lots of smartphones feature this setting, so when you know people are going to be dropping in for chats and distracting you, just turn it on and get back to it.
5. Take Breaks
After all, you deserve it. Following several hours of work, you’re less likely to put your best foot forward. Go for a walk, grab a snack or take a short nap at times that work best for your lifestyle and work schedule.
Consider using strategies like the Pomodoro technique, which pushes you to work in short, focused bursts with mini-breaks, as well as occasional long breaks. No matter what works best for you, just make sure you’re getting enough time to let your brain relax.
Ready to find your frogs? Start with these five secrets and see how quickly you take out those frogs! And if you make a few small tweaks in your process to further revolutionize your productivity and success, don’t hesitate to share them!
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