Why it’s important for speech therapists to eat a frog every morning.
As speech-language therapists, we are constantly pulled in several directions and tasks waiting for us to complete. And that's why it's of utmost importance to eat a frog every morning.
Wait, what?!...
Well, I know that the thought of eating a real frog might sound daunting, but our "frog" here is just the task that we are not comfortable doing and tend to postpone.
In this sense, eating a frog every morning means starting your day with identifying your frog (i.e., your hardest task) and just eat it (i.e., complete it).
The game-changer to your productivity - doing the hardest task first.
"Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." – Mark Twain.
What Mark Twain means is that you should always do the hardest things first. And the "frog" that he refers to is that disgusting, unpleasant task that you have on your to-do list, but you continue putting it off. Simply put, this is the thing that you need to get done but have no motivation to do.
It's a fact - some things are harder to get done than others. It might be because it's out of your comfort zone, or because it requires making a difficult phone call, or just because the thought of that task makes you feel uncomfortable. We all have been there, and we know the feeling.
If you choose to start your day with the other more pleasant and easy tasks, the one that makes you uncomfortable will still weigh on your mind, will drain your enthusiasm and energy, and will make you miserable.
Contrary, if you do the hardest thing first, then all of the other tasks will just fly by.
How to tackle the hardest thing first?
1. Identify your frog (i.e., the hardest task)
If you have been pulled in so many directions and overwhelmed by the number of tasks you should complete, this technique will be a game-changer. Start by taking a look at your to-do list and identifying the most important task or most difficult task that needs to be done that day or week. Hint: this might be a task that you might find yourself procrastinating on.
2. Do it with the end in mind
Once you identify your hardest task, think about how you will feel when it's done and focus on that while you JUST DO IT! Don't fall into the distraction or procrastination trap while avoiding doing that hard task that needs to get done. Focus on the feeling of getting it done and how the rest of the day will be downhill. Just commit to doing it and if you need to chunk it out with rests to recharge, make sure to schedule that in.
3. Rinse and Repeat
Once your hardest task for the day is finished, keep the momentum going and start your day by doing your hardest thing first, every single day. You will find that the feeling of completing the hardest things first will make the rest of your day feel so much easier...like you are going downhill vs. uphill. Watch how it will become a tiny habit and something that might even be contagious for your co-workers:)
Practice is the key to mastery. And as we know, our mind is like a muscle - the more you train it, the better it becomes. So, if you practice crossing off your hardest task from your to-do list every day, you will build the habit of doing it and enjoying the feeling of enhanced clarity that doing the hardest thing first triggers.
If you have any questions, we are here to support you in any way we can, so please don't hesitate to contact us.
