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Mark Twain once famously remarked the following:
If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
From this pithy comment was born a productivity mantra — “Eat that frog!” — popularized by Brian Tracy. Tracy penned a short but powerful and widely read book, Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.
The idea is this: A frog is a completely unappealing item on your to-do list — that project you can’t bring yourself to start, that chore you hate, that phone call you don’t want to make, etc. And Tracy’s advise is to grit your teeth and just do that action item as the very first task you handle that day. Then, the rest of your day can only be better.
What if you’ve got two frogs? Tackle the biggest, ugliest one first. Then turn your attention to the second one.
But should you really eat that frog? Is Tracy’s advise honestly the best way to get things done and maximize your productivity? [Read more…]