Time Strategies

Eat the Frog

“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

This line from Mark Twain was included in the first of the two articles I read for this assignment:
Eat The Frogs First Thing In The Morning by Thomas Oppong. The main idea is that, if you have an unpleasant task that you know you need to accomplish, get it over with first, ideally within the first hour of being awake. This way, the rest of your day is more pleasant, and rather than procrastinating on that one Very Unpleasant Thing, you can be productive on all the smaller things you have left to do. For me, when I have the self-discipline to implement this strategy, I find it to be really effective. My day is much more pleasant after having accomplished whatever thing I was looking forward to the least, and I tend to be more productive with everything else afterward. He also talks about not saying yes to everything - another area I should work on.

The second article I read was about the Psychology of Checklists, by Lauren Marchese. It talks about the benefits of using a checklist (i.e. the little dopamine boost you get when you check something off) and of setting "SMART" goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound. Personally, I enjoy making checklists when I'm feeling overwhelmed with things I need to do, or when I'm trying to remember a lot of tasks.