And Nothing Worse Will Happen To You The Rest of the Day
It’s Sunday, 31 August 2024, 11:00 AM here in India when this email arrives in your inbox.
I’m writing this to you in a “cave” on 28 August 2024, 10:14 AM. A “cave” is a virtual co-working session hosted by Caveday, a community of adults focused on deep work and productivity.
“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
Mark Twain
Eating a live frog first thing in the morning is not my cup of tea! But Twain puts forth a compelling argument for tackling your most challenging task first thing in the morning so that the rest of the day seems easier in comparison.
You can take this idea with you and experiment with how you start your work day. In the last edition, I wrote about a strategy that helped me tackle email procrastination head-on.
Block an hour first thing in the day.
Tackle one unpleasant/tedious/challenging task.
Say no without delays.
In today’s newsletter, we will explore step 2 – tackle one unpleasant/tedious task.
My 8-year-old nephew has been learning to fly a kite. He struggled to keep the kite up in the air for the first hour of trying, and it would fall limply back to the ground.
To get a kite into the air, you need to run with the kite to get it into the air. If you don’t run fast enough, the kite will fall limply back into the ground as soon as you stop running. When you run quickly with a strong wind behind you, the kite will soar up in the sky and stay there.
The one challenging task that you want to tackle first thing in the morning is like flying a kite. You need to get it up into the sky with enough power and energy to stay in the sky.
That is easier said than done.
If you are like me, my energy is the lowest in the morning. My brain starts waking up much later in the day, but on days I can complete my challenging task first thing in the morning, I am much more at ease and content with whatever surprises the day brings.
Here are some strategies I use to minimise resistance, get the kite flying into the air, and stay there for at least an hour.
- Do the tiniest bit first.
There is a saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
Chunk down your elephant into tiny bits.
For example, if my task is preparing a presentation, I chunk it down as follows:
Decide the objective of the presentation.
Outline on Paper.
Create slide skeletons on Keynote/PowerPoint
Decide on the format/colours/fonts
Placeholders for information I have to research or find out
Fill in the slide deck with text
Put in relevant pictures
Put the deck away for a day
Review the deck for flow
Edit the deck for clarity and conciseness
Review the deck one last time.
As you can see, preparing a presentation is not something that I can do in a day or even an hour. Trying to attempt this task in three-hour stretches will tax my brain, and I would definitely procrastinate rather than get started on this task.
So, I break this elephant into ten bite-sized pieces, and it would take me at least a week to do them all. So, during my first hour, I might just do step 1.
If I have enough momentum and energy, I might do step 2 and move on to another task.
- Have clear time boundaries for the task.
Parkinson’s law states, “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”
/Having clear boundaries for this challenging task is even more critical if you are short on time during the day.
On days when I am feeling tired or short on time, I might give myself 10 minutes to do my challenging task. I might create the blank slides on my presentation software and make some progress on my challenging task, even if I have only 10 minutes.
It is not one hour or nothing. It can even be 2 minutes first thing during the work day. So, set a timer for your task, and when the timer goes off, you are done.
- Decide the previous day.
Ernest Hemingway, the writer, said, “The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day, you will never be stuck.”
When you want to be productive during the “Eat your elephant” time in the morning, decide the previous day what you will do.
If I finish running through steps 1-4 and have my task broken down, I will easily know what my next step is.
So break the task down, write it down and decide what you will work on during your next “Eat your elephant” time.
In summary, to minimise resistance and to create enough momentum to work on your challenging task first thing during your workday
Do the tiniest bit first
Have clear time boundaries for the task
Decide the previous day
How do you eat your elephants? What is the tiniest next step on the task you have been procrastinating on?
Siri, say 👋via email or LinkedIn
From my reading list
ICYMI: The five types of email procrastination and a 3 step strategy to get started here. (Being Sane)
Books: I have just finished reading “Mindful Eating”: A guide to rediscovering a healthy and joyful relationship with food” by Jan Chozen Bays. This book has been such a transformational read and I am writing a deep dive series here every Friday.
