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“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s finest to do it very first thing within the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s finest to eat the most important one first.” – Mark Twain
You might need heard this quote from Mark Twain earlier than. The “frog” on this quote isn’t an amphibian. It represents a tough activity. So, when you have a tough activity to do, it’s finest to work on it very first thing within the morning. And when you have two onerous duties, do the most important one first.
We’ve been speaking about productiveness these days. To this point, we’ve mentioned the Pomodoro Approach, the 3/3/3 Technique, and the Eisenhower Matrix. Immediately, I wish to discuss ‘consuming the frog” primarily based on the quote from Twain.
Twain apart, lots of people use this technique. They go into the workplace and get the toughest work carried out first. Then, the remainder of the day is simple (not less than by comparability). Additionally, in the event that they misjudge the time it takes to get the toughest work carried out, they’ve all day to complete as a substitute of beginning one thing later within the day after which realizing they’re not going to be carried out earlier than the shut of enterprise. This technique will be useful in managing time.
It may also be useful when we’ve got a activity that we don’t notably like … however we nonetheless should do it. Actually, all of us have components of our job that we simply don’t get enthusiastic about. Occurs to everybody. So, getting these duties out of the best way early within the day could possibly be precisely what we want. Then we are able to end the day doing the stuff we get pleasure from extra.
There are a few downsides to the frog technique. The primary is figuring out what do to first. That means, what’s the onerous activity? It could possibly be useful to ask the identical questions that we mentioned within the Eisenhower Matrix article: 1) Is it pressing? And a couple of) Is it necessary? Which may assist to establish what to do first. Then you might spend the remainder of the day engaged on upkeep duties (like we mentioned through the 3/3/3 article). It all the time feels good to cross a bunch of things off the to-do record.
However for me, the most important problem with the frog technique is how the operation works. True story. Years in the past, I labored at a lodge the place my boss got here in actually early within the morning to stroll round and see what’s happening. If I used to be in my workplace, he would cease by and supply to purchase me a espresso. After all, I might go. It was uninterrupted time with him. We might chat about concepts, and so on. That point with him was very useful in getting buy-in for initiatives. However it additionally meant that it reduce into my “do the most important activity very first thing within the morning” time.
So, as you’re fascinated with utilizing the “eat the frog” strategy to getting work carried out, I feel it’s necessary to maintain it in context. We are able to’t simply ignore the operation. Perhaps this strategy is finest for occasions when we’ve got a urgent deadline and we announce to the group, “Hey, I have to get this carried out very first thing tomorrow so I’m not going to be out there aside from emergencies.” Or one thing like that. You get my level.
As we’re going by way of this productiveness sequence, certainly one of my takeaways is that productiveness will be achieved many alternative methods. It’s doable one productiveness technique can be good for getting routine duties completed (like the three/3/3 Technique) and one other one for these huge initiatives with a deadline (like eat the frog). Meaning being acquainted with a number of methods to get stuff carried out. And once we’re confronted with a activity, ask ourselves, “What’s one of the best ways to get this carried out?”.
Picture captured by Sharlyn Lauby someplace off the coast of Miami, FL
The publish Productiveness Collection [Part 4]: Get Onerous Duties Finished First appeared first on hr bartender.
