I can't remember what buzzfeed type website I learned about the phrase "Eat the Frog!" from. It's one of those top tips for productivity and preventing procrastination. Simply put, it advises that when you've a selection of tasks to complete, and you're putting them off, that you should complete the most unpleasant task first. This leaves you with simpler, less arduous tasks to complete, and a great deal of smugness to enjoy on your productive moral high ground.

This strategy rarely works for me. The perceived discomfort of eating the frog is pretty much always considerably worse than the perceived comfort of not eating it. Putting stuff off is great until it's "oh shit" time. I've gotten incredibly skilled at 'cramming' a phrase typically used to describe the intense last minute studying before an exam. Broadly this is useful enough for me for a lot of things. I've gotten better at assessing how much work something is, and when it absolutely needs to be done by, and thus work efficiently (if somewhat stressfully.) But what about tasks that don't have firm deadlines? Or if the consequences of not doing the thing are subtle? Suddenly my well practised habit and skill isn't suitable or effective for getting things done. Also, it's nice not needing things to be a crisis in order for me to do things.

So if we don't eat the frog, what do we eat first? I'm in danger of stretching this metaphor beyond recognisability. Do a task, any task, that is short, manageable, simple, satisfying, maybe even fun?!

Lol i'm avoiding finishing this for now