{"id":1751,"date":"2020-10-06T14:37:44","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T14:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/center-professional-education\/?p=1751"},"modified":"2020-10-06T16:23:50","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T16:23:50","slug":"how-can-the-eat-that-frog-method-help-me-finding-power-through-productivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/center-professional-education\/2020\/10\/06\/how-can-the-eat-that-frog-method-help-me-finding-power-through-productivity\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can the Eat That Frog Method Help Me? Finding Power Through Productivity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"frogIn the third installment of the \u201cFinding Power Through Productivity\u201d blog series, I decided to figure out if the \u201cEat That Frog\u201d productivity method is a good fit for me. Read on to discover the pros and cons of the method and see if you\u2019re interested in trying it (and learn about where in the WORLD the name \u201cEat That Frog\u201d comes from!)<\/p>\n

And, if you find yourself wanting to try out another method, check out more productivity hacks in my Pomodoro Technique<\/a> and Flowtime Technique<\/a> blog posts.<\/p>\n

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What is the Eat That Frog method?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

The technique was created by Brian Tracy, who wrote Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.<\/a> Brian found his inspiration for the method after hearing an old Mark Twain quote, which said, \u201cEat a live frog first in the morning and nothing will worsen your day.\u201d While that quote emphasizes getting the \u201cworst\u201d of your day out of the way first, Brian puts a spin on the quote. He says you should not tackle your worst tasks at the beginning of each day; instead, use that time to work on your most IMPORTANT tasks. (Until I did further research, I definitely thought the method was referencing doing your least-desirable tasks first). The method is all about tackling what\u2019s most important based on deadlines and priorities.<\/p>\n

Productivity writer Marija Kojic breaks down<\/a> Eat That Frog into three steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Label your tasks to identify your \u201cfrog\u201d (your most important task).<\/li>\n
  2. Work on your \u201cfrog\u201d first thing in the morning.<\/u><\/li>\n
  3. Once done, shift your focus to less crucial tasks in your schedule.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you have multiple frogs, that\u2019s perfectly normal! Tracy suggests ranking your frogs using the ABCDE technique<\/a> (labeling A as the most important tasks and E as tasks that can be eliminated) to determine your most important frogs to eat.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Why is this method said to be effective?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

    The method helps you give more attention to your most critical tasks and accomplish them as efficiently as possible. It\u2019s easy to procrastinate certain tasks, particularly ones that are difficult or require large amounts of time. However, the critical tasks are often the ones that have the most positive long-term impact, so the method enables you to take small, consistent steps that will push you closer toward your big-picture goals.<\/p>\n

    Kovic even goes as far as to say<\/a> that there are certain theories that support the method, such as the serial position effect<\/a> and the attention decrement hypothesis (which states that people are more likely to pay attention to information they hear first vs. information that follows). This effect and hypothesis correlate with the idea that focus is heightened at the beginning of the day.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    How did you use the method day-to-day?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

    In the book, Tracy emphasizes that \u201cevery minute you spend in planning can save you five or 10 minutes in execution.\u201d Based on this thought, the process for figuring out my daily frogs actually began days before I started working on the frogs. Every Friday, my supervisor and I meet to discuss tasks and goals for the upcoming week. After our meetings, I would use the ABCDE system to figure out what my most important tasks were for each day in the upcoming week. When Monday began, I already had my frogs ready to go. The pre-planning made life a LOT easier.<\/p>\n

    I also used the project management software Monday<\/a> to keep up with my tasks. Monday allows you to:<\/p>\n