Will you eat that frog?

The frog in this Mark Twain quote has been long adopted by the business community and by productivity advocates to represent the one task or activity you are least looking forward to completing over the course of your day.

The idea is that once the unappealing task is done, the rest of the day is a breeze in comparison. I’ve long used that image in my mentoring and consulting and have even brought chocolate frogs to sweeten up a staff meeting to make my point!

And, oh dear, what if dealing with frogs is your job? Mark Twain says something about that too!

But recently I’ve come across a minor alteration that asks “Is there a benefit to eating the frog second or even third?”

An article in the Harvard Business Review describes something called The Progress Principle: that of all the things that can motivate folks during a workday, the most important is making progress in meaningful work. In order to feel good about our day, we most likely need to feel that we made good progress.

So…setting ourselves up for early wins with one or two quick successes in the morning might well create the momentum we need to to tackle the big project of the day: the frog. A couple of little early successes might go a long way!

• Think about yourself,
• about your habits,
• about your successes,
• about your failures,
• about your track record.

What do you think works best for you?

Do you prefer getting the hard stuff done first thing?

Do you prefer clearing a few easy items off first to gain momentum?

We all need to find our own best way, don’t we!

2 sides to every coin…

Since I’ve started back to Tai Chi, this symbol has renewed significance for me. Reminds me that life/ events/ people are NOT just black or white, but an integration of opposites. And I remember the line “can’t have one without the other” from that song about love and marriage! Coins have a front and back…can’t […]

More chocolate?

We’re halfway between two major reasons/excuses for chocolate! Yep…Valentine’s Day and Easter. When my sister and I had our chocolate store in Seattle, Valentine’s Day was our favorite holiday! We are still chocoholics and any excuse for chocolate works for us. And since chocolate doesn’t keep… it’s important to watch for those chocolate sales after […]

2 things to know…

ONE: we are each capable of more than we think. TWO: AND it always will take more work than we think. I know the first one because this has been true of everyone I’ve ever met (and it’s true of me too!) We are poor judges of what we are capable of and each of […]

The power of just one word…

Sometimes it is critical to add words to our communication – specifically to add one word to a statement or question which dramtically changes its impact and import. For example…the word “yet.” Think how often we say things relating to what we have not achieved or where things are not as we want them to […]

An interesting theory!

There’s a concept in law enforcement known as the Broken Windows Theory, which says that we take cues from our environment. In addition, the theory also suggests that if we address these minor infractions, people start to behave better. It’s a controversial theory of policing, but I believe it’s the truth when it comes to […]

Is it really too much?

In our culture, our instinct is to fill it up. We’re used to having a coffee cup that nearly reaches the rim or a level of debt that’s just below our debt limit. If we don’t want to risk spilling the hot coffee or be caught with not enough credit to handle an unexpected crisis, […]

Why today can be awesome!

Thank goodness we can do this ‘awesome thing’ a bit day by day. It seems more possible than trying for a longer stretch of time! Yep, today we can be even more awesome that ever. And that will make our day (and other folks’ day) more awesome too! So why do we know that today […]

Are you sometimes irritated?

Admit it! At times, we all can be a bit like The Princess and the Pea. Life offers much that is good, but sometimes all we do is get irritated by the few small things that don’t go smoothly. We find ourselves bothered…like when we get stuck in traffic or deal with an irritating customer […]

Aargh!

My latest technical problem just seemed to reinforce my self-doubts and negative self-talk about me and technology. Putting my “deep technological know-how” to work, I mumble, stumble and fumble with the various buttons, keys, and cords. Closing all the applications and rebooting still didn’t work. Turning the computer and the printer on and off several […]