Get Organized Once & For All – Eat Your Frog with Tasha

Mark Twain has been attributed as saying if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you won’t do anything else more unpleasant the whole day. What that means is do the most daunting task first. Sometimes it’s the hardest, sometimes it’s just the most unpleasant.

Almost always these are relatively quick tasks and the anticipation is worse than the reality. But, sometimes it’s not a quick task and it really is as bad as you think it’s going to be. Either way going ahead and getting that thing done first thing in the morning is going to set you up for success for the rest of your day.

LINKS IN EPISODE

• Episode Transcript

NO LONGER HANGING OVER YOUR HEAD

Getting it done first thing in the morning means it’s no longer going to be hanging over your head, creating that sense of dread. Even if you aren’t consciously thinking about it, it can still show up as a gut feeling, putting a knot in your stomach knowing that it’s coming and you’re going to have to deal with it eventually.

When it’s no longer hanging over your head, you get an instant feeling of accomplishment which is magnified by the fact that you did something difficult.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT

The great news is you don’t have to wait until morning to apply this principle. You can apply it right now. Maybe it’s a work task, and you work an afternoon shift. As soon as you get to work, find the thing you are least looking forward to and get it knocked out first.

Even while you’re listening to this podcast, maybe there is something that’s been nagging at you that you need to get done. Go ahead and do that thing.

Challenge yourself to get out your phone and start the timer. See just how long it takes you to complete the task. Often times our brains tell us something is going to take us much longer than it actually will. Seeing how long it actually took can be empowering and helps us prove to ourselves that we are capable.

THE KEY

The key to eating a frog is don’t spend too much time thinking about whether or not you’re going to do it. Don’t give yourself too much time to think about how difficult it will be. Just going ahead and knock it out so that you can experience that relief and enjoy the rest of your day.

HOW IT RELATES TO ORGANIZATION

Sometimes these difficult tasks are things in our home we need to tackle. Sometimes it’s the very thing that is going to help you have a more organized home. The biggest benefit of getting these tasks done is the amount of stress you are being relieved of. It’s freeing up your mental capacity to do other things in your home.