Swallowing the Frog
And how it can be a blessing and a curse
I was taught to “Swallow the Frog” at a very young age. So much so, that I’ve created really really weird habits around it. Just in case you don’t know “Eating/ Swallowing the Frog” is a productivity tip to help you get the biggest stuff done first thing in the day so you don’t have to stress about it anymore. Why stress all day about eating a frog at 6pm when you could do it right when you wake up?
So, I used to be really good at swallowing the frog…until my frogs started getting their own office hours. So, occasionally, I’ll have to go to the doctor, or talk to someone who’s limited in their availability, and due to some mix up in my brain, I think, “Oh, well, since swallowing a frog is the first thing you do for the day, I’ll just wait until it’s time to eat the frog.” And before you know it, my entire day got wasted because the meeting was at 3 pm.
So, I’m slowly reteaching myself the concept. If my frog has a set time, I gotta pick a different frog in the morning so that the boulder taking up my schedule feels more like a stepping stone. This last weekend, for example, was a cleaning weekend. Problem is, once we start cleaning as a couple, we go as hard as we can and end up wiped by 2pm and spend the rest of the day recuperating. Then I feel awful because I feel like I didn’t do anything that day (although I did swallow the frog).
I had an idea Friday night, knowing Saturday was deep clean central. I turned to my wife and asked, “What if we go on a hike in the morning and then come home and clean?” My wife agreed, and after a picturesque hike in the Santa Monica mountains, we came home and cleaned. We were completely, utterly, totally wiped after all the cleaning was done, but now? It was 5 pm on a Saturday and we could now recuperate in the evening and marvel at all we got to do that day!
In summary, if the frog you gotta swallow is gonna render you physically, mentally, or otherwise spent, maybe do something before that? Okay? Okay. You’ll feel a little bit better about your day and won’t curse your self for spending your evening doom scrolling. And we could all use a little bit less of that.