THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FIRST SWALLOW

I can count on getting only one thing done each day, the first thing that I do. After that, I’m tired. Anything that comes up, I can say, “I’ll do that tomorrow.”

So the first frog I swallow each day had better be the biggest one.

That’s what we used to say in working days, about having many tasks to do. If you have three frogs to swallow, swallow the biggest frog first. Then all the others will go down more easily.

Now I say it not to make the following jobs easier, but just to be sure I get the most important job done before I run out of energy.

Being without energy has its problems, but there is an upside. I used to do all the unimportant stuff first—clearing the deck so I could really concentrate on the important stuff when I got to it. Answer the email before really writing. That sort of thing. Rearranging the deck chairs.

The problem there, of course, was I often didn’t get past the deck clearing. Now I know I can’t even try to clear the decks. I have to go right after the big kahuna. [I have no idea what a kahuna is, but that sounds good.]

John Robert McFarland

 “Documenting evil is not the same as doing good.” Craig Greenfield