Why You Need To Boost Your Productivity In The Morning
“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.” -Mark Twain
A few years ago, I discovered Brian Tracy, an author, motivational speaker, and personal development teacher. I have adopted many of his lessons over the years, but one, in particular, has helped me tremendously. Tracy tells us this — eat that frog. Thankfully he only uses the saying as a metaphor.
Tracy uses this comparison to tackle the most challenging tasks first, the ones that have the most significant positive impact. Tracy discusses these ideas more in his book, Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time.
One of the most prominent traits of successful people is they know firsthand they can’t do everything. Since they are conscious of this, they don’t even try. Instead, they focus on tasks that are the most important and get those done first. In other words, they eat that frog.
Many of us love to go for the easy wins and tackle the straightforward, simple to-dos or the most comfortable items on our task list. If this is you, you probably already said, “Yup, that’s me.” However, It is important to disrupt this habit for many reasons. For all of us procrastinators, we usually tell ourselves, “I’ll get to it later” or “I’ll do it tomorrow, “ but it’s time to interrupt that mindset. We all know that saying things like that usually means we don’t want to do it and will do anything to put it off as long as we can. We need to remind ourselves this habit isn’t serving us very well.
Tracy isn’t the only one that feels this way either. A study was done that had subjects perform two logical reasoning tests six different times during the day. The results showed that in the morning is when speed and performance are at their most efficient. In terms of speed, performance, and accuracy, the scores improved from 8:00 am to 12:00 p.m. and then declined as the day continued. Accuracy was also found to decrease over the day.
Now that we know this, there are many things we can do about it.
Always start your day with the most urgent, necessary, and important items.
Try to schedule calls, meetings, and tasks that require a lot of brainpower first thing in the morning.
Keep in mind how good it feels to cross important tasks immediately off your checklist. Remind yourself of this feeling the next time you want to put something off.
Use the later afternoon hours for projects that need less attention and speed (hello 3:00 pm slump). This is a good time to take a brisk walk on a break and hit the refresh button.
When big daunting tasks seem overly stressful, break them up into smaller chunks and take frequent breaks. It is also helpful to complete mini, less stressful tasks in between to boost your enthusiasm. These small accomplishments will also help you achieve more.
Now go eat that frog!
