Tackle the most stressful, or most important thing at the start of the day.
Make it a daily habit to prioritize working on what’s hardest or most stressing you out, first thing in your day. Don’t let the urgent, but unimportant (The Eisenhower Square) supplant that which should be done. If you knock out these stressors early, you have a less stressed day.
If you want a simple formula for having a good day, then get a workout done and do your most important task before lunch. Knock out those two things by noon and you really feel like you’re ahead of the day - James Clear
Eat the Frog Technique 🐸
Because energy levels are highest in the morning and evening (Midday Slump) block out some time (Time Blocking) each morning to use your best energy and focus levels to work the most important work before anybody or anything else can distract you. For whatever reason, this technique is called “Eating the Frog”.
If the whole frog seems like too much, just Commit for a Bit, have some frog legs.
Synergies
Eating the Frog can syngerize well with a number of other productivity techniques. Frogs are best identified in advance, say as part of a Weekly Review. It is a form of Time Blocking. Frogs identified in advance can be made to align with your OKRs or made to align with a Commitment Inventory.
Source
- Essentialism
- The 4-Hour Work Week
- Todoist Productivity Articles
- James Clear’s newsletters