How to Manage Tasks With the Eat the Frog Technique

Ever encountered a never-ending to-do list so overwhelming that you didn’t know where to begin? You struggle to focus on each task on the list but can’t seem to summon up the energy. At the same time, your deadlines keep getting closer, leaving you feeling stressed and exhausted.

If you’ve ever felt that way, know that help is at hand. We’ve got an effective way to conquer such a daunting situation—the Eat The Frog technique.

The Eat The Frog technique is a quick solution that gets you out of the procrastination rut! Allow us to show you a thing or two about the Eat The Frog technique and how you can use it to transform your day from chaotic to tranquil and productive.

Eat the Frog Technique: Go From Dreading to Doing!

What is the Eat The Frog Technique?

Eat The Frog is a prioritization and productivity method that encourages people to pick the toughest task first.

The goal is to recognize one challenging task for the day (the frog) and complete it (eat it), preferably first thing in the morning; then, you’ll be all set for a productive day. If you have two urgent tasks, identify the more pressing one, i.e., the bigger frog, and conquer it first.

This approach counters the urge to put off the big and important tasks. After all, the longer they sit, the more overwhelming they get—sometimes to the point where you don’t feel like facing them at all!

The Eat The Frog technique helps you overcome mental barriers and puts you in a positive mindset so that you can seize the day.

History of the Eat The Frog Technique

The origin story of the Eat The Frog method is quite murky, but we did some snooping to find out.

It is popularly held that French writer Nicolas Chamfort wrote in the 1790s:

M. de Lassay, a very indulgent man, but with a great knowledge of society, said that we should swallow a toad every morning, in order to fortify ourselves against the disgust of the rest of the day when we have to spend it in society.

Translated from French to English

Some believe that American writer Mark Twain said something similar with an additional footnote:

If you have to eat a frog, don’t look too long. If you have to eat two frogs, don’t eat the smaller one first.

Either way, the essence of these quotes became the inspiration behind the productivity power move.

Fast-forward to 2001, when personal development author Brian Tracy popularized this productivity method in his book Eat That Frog! He fleshed out the concept and shared actionable strategies for living out the ideology. To date, this book has been on the frontline of driving productivity.

Core Principles of the Eat The Frog Technique

The way eating the frog works boils down to the following core principles:

Prioritizing tasks: Eat The Frog is a prioritization technique. So, say goodbye to your haphazard to-do list! Identify the most important task—the one task—your biggest, ugliest frog that sucks up all your focus and attention. Then, take a deep breath and tackle it first. Once you’re past the difficult tasks, the rest of your list will feel easy, breezy, lemon squeezy

ClickUp Gantt Chart view Sorting Priorities — *Use tools like ClickUp to prioritize tasks and then Eat The Frog*

If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first. This is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first.

― Brian Tracy

Overcoming procrastination: You must overcome procrastination to eat the frog. When you fight the urge to put things off, you eliminate the looming dread that may hang about you all day. Think of it as ripping the band-aid off, a quick burst of discomfort followed by a flood of pure relief. You’ll now have the mental resources required to conquer other tasks
Building momentum: Once you eat a frog, you simply cannot stop at one (by frogs, we obviously mean the important tasks). The mental euphoria of completing a difficult task will build momentum like nothing else. It sets a positive tone for the day, sometimes for the entire project, that makes the other tasks seem less daunting. The objective is to feed this momentum as you continue making progress into the smaller tasks
Maintaining focus: Eating the frog is not for the unfocused or easily distracted. You must stay committed to the one important task right until the last morsel. The other frogs will croak from a million directions and demand your attention. Build the mental resistance to fully focus on the one frog on your plate; the rest will have to wait
Managing time: As a time management strategy, you have to be realistic about how long it will take you to eat that frog. Learn how to schedule your day so that you stick to your priorities without underestimating tasks or feeling like you’re racing against time

ClickUp 3.0 Timeline Local Workload view simplified — *Manage your time and workload with the timeline-workload view on ClickUp*

Staying consistent: Nobody becomes a frog-eating connoisseur overnight. It takes people weeks, if not months, of practice to identify the important tasks, ignore the incoming messages, build a practical timeline, keep up the momentum, etc. But the more you do it, the better you become at it. Through consistent progress, it will soon be almost like second nature to you. So, stay at it even if it takes time

Rule: Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.

― Brian Tracy

Who Should Eat the Frog?

We’d prescribe you an early-morning dose of eating the frog if you:

Want to stop procrastinating
Get a lot of work done but without making a dent in the high-impact, high-priority tasks
Find it difficult to stick to a productivity system or routine
Have trouble deciding what to do at any given time
Experience overwhelm, crippling indecision, or workload paralysis on seeing your to-do list

One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very well that need not be done at all.

― Brian Tracy

How to Eat the Frog?

So, now you understand the driving principles behind the Eat The Frog technique and whether eating the frog is right for you. This brings us to the next question—how does one eat that frog anyway?

Here’s a no-fuss, three-step guide to getting started with this prioritization and time management technique:

Step 1: Task identification

First, you need to identify the frog. This is your most challenging and important task on the day’s to-do list. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the most urgent one. An ideal frog is a balance between importance, urgency, and complexity. So look for a difficult task that demands more focus and energy and has a positive domino effect on your day. Also, keep an eye out for the one task that is most likely to get procrastinated.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself while reviewing the day’s task list to identify this difficult task:

Which of these tasks feels most like a struggle?
Which task, if completed first, would have the biggest positive impact on your day or project?
Which task, if left undone, will cause you the most stress or anxiety later in the day?
Which task requires the highest level of mental clarity and focus?
Which task are you most likely to put off throughout the day?
Which task aligns closely with your top goal for the day?

If you’re still stuck with many tasks, then build a prioritized list. The one topping this is your frog. Limit yourself to one frog per day. Remember, focus is the key here, so learn to deprioritize tasks wherever you can.

Everyone procrastinates. The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on.

― Brian Tracy

Here’s a quick example to walk you through the process of identifying the frog.

Imagine you have a presentation due tomorrow. Sure, finalizing the slide might be the most urgent task. However, you feel overwhelmed by the thought of writing an opening line. After all, the opening line woos the audience and sets the tone for the entire presentation. So, that’s the frog you need to start with.

custom statuses in clickup — *Once you’ve identified the difficult task, use Custom Statuses on ClickUp to tag it as a Frog*

Step 2: Task execution

Now that you’ve caught the frog, it’s time to feast on it!

Here’s what you can do to make the frog-eating session more bearable:

Just start: Sometimes, getting started is the toughest part (we’ve all been there). Don’t overthink it, don’t stress over it, and don’t second-guess yourself. Just take a deep breath and dive right in

The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous.

― Brian Tracy

Practice time blocking: Try to block out the first few work hours of your daily schedule to tackle the frog first thing in the morning. This time management strategy delivers maximum energy and uninterrupted focus to devote to the crucial task

ClickUp 3.0 Workload view simplified — *ClickUp’s Workload View allows you to practice time blocking for frog-eating*

Break tasks: Just because it is a frog, it doesn’t mean you have to eat it in one go! Breaking it down into smaller, manageable tasks makes it seem less daunting. Reaching the mini-goals keeps you focused and motivated to keep chomping
Minimize distractions: We cannot emphasize this enough! Silence those notifications, close the unnecessary tabs on your computer, and quit multitasking. You want to give your full focus to devouring the frog
Be prepared: You wouldn’t enter a battle without a weapon. So, why should things be any different here? Make sure that you have the necessary resources required to eat the frog. Effective resource utilization will make it easier for you to eat that frog

When everything is laid out neatly and in sequence, you will feel much more like getting on with the job.

― Brian Tracy

Remember, starting with the big tasks would be uncomfortable. But once you conquer them, you’ll have the mental energy and the motivation to coast through the other tasks!

Let’s circle back to that example where you were supposed to work on your presentation. You’ve discovered that writing the opening line would be the frog you want to eat first. Here’s how you can go about it.

Don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Sit in front of the blank page and give yourself a solid 30 minutes—no emails, no social media, nothing. Just keep a few articles or quotes on the presentation topic handy to spark ideas and creativity.

Once you’ve warmed up, force yourself to brainstorm some opening lines—Tracy calls it forced efficiency. Jot down your options and let your creativity flow. You’re bound to hit the jackpot soon.

Step 3: Rinse and repeat

You have to develop a taste for eating the frog. After all, who likes to get tangled in the big tasks first?

The more you practice identifying and tackling frogs, the better you’ll get at task prioritization, time management, and powering through procrastination. Here’s what you can do to stay consistent:

Keep a log of your ‘frogs’ and how you conquered them. This record helps track progress, sustains motivation, and helps conquer other frogs
Treat yourself after a frog-eating session. Celebrating your wins reinforces positive behavior and is a motivation to keep going

Project Milestones in ClickUp Gantt View — *Define milestones on ClickUp and celebrate every win after you’ve eaten that frog!*

Practice compassion. There are days when you might fail to eat that frog—tell yourself that that’s okay. Staying kind and patient is a key motivator

Anytime you stop striving to get better, you’re bound to get worse.

― Brian Tracy

These are just a few things you can do to cultivate the habit of eating frogs. We’ll share more tips later on how you can get better at demolishing those big tasks.

Benefits of the Eat The Frog Technique

The Eat The Frog method offers several potential benefits. Here are some of the key ones:

Strategic working

To address the most difficult tasks first, you’re forced to prioritize your work and focus purely on the task at hand. Such an approach helps cultivate a deep work habit where you concentrate on just one task and work on delivering high-quality results for it. This deep work sets the tone for the day and keeps distractions at bay.

Enhanced productivity

Conquering the frog during early work hours makes you feel more accomplished. At the same time, it frees up mental bandwidth and grants impetus to tackle the remaining daily tasks. All you have to do is keep up the momentum, and you’ll have an effortlessly productive day. Even if you don’t achieve anything else, you still would have done the toughest task—eating the frog!

Reduced procrastination

Combating procrastination is the whole point of the Eat The Frog technique. When you face the most dreadful or overwhelming task head-on, you’re less likely to put off other items on your to-do list. It helps overcome procrastination and neutralizes its effect on your entire schedule!

Effective time management

If time management isn’t your strongest suit, the Eat The Frog method helps fine-tune this skill. It all starts by estimating how long it’ll take to eat the frog, which is the biggest time drain of the day. Working this out, along with proactive prioritization, makes you better at managing your schedule.

Sense of control

Everyone likes to stay in control of things at work. This goes for your schedule and task list as well. Eating the frog puts you in the driver’s seat. After all, you’re done with the important stuff first that requires your undivided attention. It helps structure your daily planning process. Staying in control allows for delegating smaller tasks or reallocating resources depending on workload and availability.

General well-being

Eating the frog is a great mood enhancer. For one, completing the most important task will leave you feeling accomplished. Next, it allows you to plan ahead and stay in control. Most importantly, overcoming the worst eliminates any anxiety or other mental blocks that you may develop about the task or the project. Once you swallow the frog, you’ll notice how the ideas keep flowing out of you and how it’s so much easier to get work done!

Sharper decision-making

A lack of focus and clarity are productivity killers. They can impede the decision-making process. However, when you decide to eat the frog, you’ve already reserved your mental energy, focus, and clarity for the big task and gotten to delegating tasks that are not as important. Once that’s out of the way, it’ll be easier to approach everything else with a sharper mind. Plus, the more you practice it, the better you get at identifying your frogs and making smarter decisions day after day.

Better work-life balance

Eating the frog is a great habit that helps strike the perfect work-life balance. By completing all your daily tasks on time and within schedule, you’re less likely to take them home with you. Plus, we’ve already mentioned how it’s a mood elevator. So you’ll be less stressed or anxious and more motivated.

Tips for Implementing the Eat The Frog Method

Experimenting with the Eat The Frog technique can be rewarding. Here are some valuable tips and tricks that go beyond the basics to truly make this method sing:

Stay wary of the frogs in disguise. Sometimes, even the simplest of tasks can be a hidden frog as they unlock a series of more complex tasks. For instance, writing an email seeking crucial information could be an unforeseen frog, rather than working on a report that depends on said information
Batch process frogs. This makes it easier to tackle multiple projects or challenges that require similar skills or mindsets. Clubbing them together develops a workflow where you tap into the focused deep work state to tackle them one after another and maximize efficiency
Use the ‘5-minute trick’ when you’re feeling overwhelmed by a frog. This technique forces you to commit to working on it for just five minutes. Often, that’s the push you need to overcome procrastination and build momentum

the 5-minute rule — *The 5-minute trick will bring you back on track via Hagengrowth*

We’ve talked about eating a live frog first thing in the morning—that might work if you’re a morning person, but it isn’t universally true. We all have times of the day when our focus and energy are at their peak. Identify this frog-eating zone and capitalize on your natural energy patterns to drive productivity
Don’t just fret over the results. Sometimes, an undesired outcome may cause you to lose focus on a positive behavior or habit. Celebrate these as well to reinforce positive behaviors regardless of the outcome

Could ClickUp Help You Eat The Frog?

Conquering those dreaded frogs can be exhausting, but ClickUp can help you power through! Here’s how:

Task management

ClickUp 3.0 Setting Task Priority — *View tasks and assign priorities on ClickUp*

ClickUp is a powerful task management software.

Remember what we said about learning to prioritize and deprioritize tasks while embracing this technique? It’s all a piece of cake with ClickUp Tasks. You can assign task priorities on ClickUp in just a few clicks to quickly identify the frog. These priority flags put the task at the top of your task list, staring you down and reminding you to gobble it down first thing in the morning.

Work breakdown structure

ClickUp Subtasks — *Create subtasks to make it easier to eat the frog*

ClickUp makes it easier to prep the frog before eating it. Rather than choking on one big bite, you can divide it into smaller, more manageable bites—subtasks. Create checklists for each subtask and pair them with smart resource allocation. This way, you’ll have everything available when it’s time to conquer the task.

Time blocking

Easily view and track time estimates to ClickUp tasks for better resource management — *Add time estimates to tasks with ClickUp*

Let’s face it: we all love doom-scrolling on social media! But ClickUp is the goalkeeper that prevents distractions from entering your focus zone. Use ClickUp to draw up a realistic estimate of how long it will take you to eat that frog. Once you have that clarity, carve out a dedicated time block in your schedule and get down to frog-eating without any interruptions.

Collaborative working

ClickUp 3.0 Whiteboards Collaboration — *Use collaborative features on ClickUp to eat the frog as a team*

ClickUp allows users to assign tasks, share projects, and exchange ideas with teammates. This helps tackle frogs that may require a collaborative effort. Whether it is brainstorming sessions over chat in ClickUp or illustrating concepts on interactive ClickUp whiteboards, the platform brings everyone on the same page. Such intentional communication ensures a smooth and successful frog-eating experience for you and your team.

Customizable templates

ClickUp hosts a rich library of customizable templates that are an absolute game changer. The time-blocking templates are an absolute lifesaver for busy professionals.

Plan your schedule and practice time blocking with ClickUp's Schedule Blocking Template — Plan your schedule and practice time blocking with ClickUp’s Schedule Blocking Template

There’s the ClickUp Schedule Blocking Template that you can use to plan your schedule—daily, weekly, or monthly. It allows you to get maximum work done in the minimum amount of time. You have four kinds of Custom Statuses to keep track of individual tasks and add details like location, type, etc., using Custom Fields. You can also use the Scheduling Form View to create a realistic schedule for yourself.

Download This Template

Stay on top of your tasks with the Task Management Template on Clickup

There’s also the ClickUp Task Management Template that you and your team can use to visualize your workload, prioritize tasks, and collaborate across teams. You can also switch between six dynamic views to visualize your tasks as a list, board, timeline, and more. It divides your to-dos into three lists of Action Items, Ideas, and a Backlog so you can focus on one area at a time.

Download This Template

Convert plans into reality with the Getting Things Done Framework Template on ClickUp

Apart from these, there’s also the ClickUp Getting Things Done Framework. It offers clarity for planning out your day as you jot down your ideas, thoughts, and tasks and sort through them to get work done! Plus, you can choose to use either a doc or a whiteboard to put your ideas down!

Download This Template

ClickUp Brain

Using ClickUp AI to convert ideas into tasks using the Eat The Frog technique — *ClickUp Brain converts ideas into tasks and identifies the frog*

It’s no exaggeration—you will love having ClickUp Brain as your personal assistant. It is an asset for implementing the Eat The Frog technique. From scheduling tasks based on priority to blocking my schedule to eat that frog—ClickUp Brain can do it all. It can even translate discussions, meetings, and Docs into tasks, making them more actionable. Call it a mini-project manager because it’s about to make your job so much easier!

Turn Procrastination to Productivity With the Eat The Frog Technique

While the frog metaphor may not sound appetizing, for all that’s worth, the Eat The Frog technique lays the solid foundation of productivity. Some might even say that frogs are the breakfast of champions.

Eat The Frog is simple yet impactful, and anyone can use it—from flustered students to busy professionals. All you need is the willingness to tackle the most difficult task first and the drive to see this through. Of course, a little assistance from tools like ClickUp to take you further on this journey.

Did we mention that you can get started with ClickUp for free? Sign up for a free account and see for yourself!

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Eat the Frog Technique: Go From Dreading to Doing!

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What is the Eat The Frog Technique?

History of the Eat The Frog Technique

Suggested Reading: Eat That Frog! By Brian Tracy

Core Principles of the Eat The Frog Technique

Who Should Eat the Frog?