Eat the frog
Do the hardest, most important task first, before anything easier can crowd it out. Everything after that is downhill.
Find today's frog
Where the phrase comes from
Brian Tracy built his 2001 book Eat That Frog! around a line usually credited to Mark Twain: eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. Whether Twain said it is doubtful, but the advice holds up: the task you dread most is usually the one that matters most, and it only gets harder as the day fills with interruptions.
How to eat the frog, day to day
- Choose tonight. Decide tomorrow's frog in your shutdown routine so the morning starts without deciding.
- Make it concrete. "Draft the first two sections", not "work on the report".
- Give it the first block. In the time-blocking planner, put it at the top of the tape, 60–120 minutes.
- No inbox first. Email and messages wait until the frog is done or the block ends.
- If it's huge, slice it. Eat one leg today.
Eat the frog with other methods
The Eisenhower matrix helps you find frog candidates: they usually sit in "Schedule" (important, not urgent). The Ivy Lee method puts it at number one on your list, and the 1-3-5 rule calls it your "1". A timebox makes starting easier: "30 minutes on the frog" is less daunting than "finish the frog".
Questions people ask
What does "eat the frog" mean?
It means doing your biggest, most important and most dreaded task first thing, before anything else. The phrase was popularised by Brian Tracy's 2001 book Eat That Frog! and is usually traced to a saying attributed to Mark Twain: if you have to eat a live frog, do it first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen for the rest of the day.
How do I choose my frog?
Pick the task with the biggest positive consequence if you do it and the biggest cost if you keep putting it off. It is usually the one you feel most resistance to. If you have two frogs, eat the uglier one first.
What if my frog is too big for one morning?
Slice it. Choose the next concrete piece that fits in a 60 to 120 minute block, such as "outline the report" instead of "write the report", and eat that piece first.
Does it have to be in the morning?
The point is "first", not "morning". If your working day starts at 2pm, your frog goes at 2pm. What matters is that it comes before email, messages and easy wins.