Eat the frog

When things become challenging we are tempted to avoid them and procrastinate. Whether you clean the whole apartment instead of working on your thesis, or scroll through Instagram instead of doing your taxes - it’s a very common thing. We all do it.

But there is a better way. Procrastinating feels fun at the time and we are still doing things. A clean apartment is great isn’t it? And watching cat videos surely is a valid use of your time. The other thing though, the stuff you really have to do, that doesn’t go away.

Instead, projects become bigger and they become scarier. Scarier, because they occupy more space in our head and the internal ‘movie’ turns them into more difficult tasks to accomplish.

Eating the frog is an expression used for dealing with something unpleasant. Ideally first thing in the morning when your ability to focus is high.

I’ve experimented with a few approaches and here is what works for me:

• Take one small step: e.g. draft the title, abstract and outline of a presentation during a 30min timeslot

• Do the whole thing if I know it won’t take much time: e.g. a 5min phone call - just start dialing, it’ll be over before you know it

• Learn from the past: e.g. running injuries that keep coming back are probably caused by something you’re doing or not doing. Get help and be consistent in doing those fixes (strength & conditioning training, stretching, etc)

I encourage you to deal with things when they come up, even if you can’t complete them at that time. Don’t let things fester. I’ve experienced anxiety myself and I’ve seen it happen to others: avoidance makes things big and scary until the point when you feel paralysed with fear and doing something seems impossible.

The time is now and I promise: it always seems bigger than it actually is.