The key to successfully accomplishing the most important task of the day: Think of it as an “adventure”!
The principle
The principle “Eat the Frog” by Brian Stacy, “the Golden Nut” by Cordula Nussbaum and other names stand for a principle that is based on the combination of “first things first” and “do one important task a day”.
The problem
I have been following this principle for a long time and have found that focusing on one important task every day makes all the difference between completing it or not. That said, I have also found that this habit is difficult to maintain; it always slips out of my life unnoticed and I often have to consciously restart it.
So I set out on a search: when and, above all, why does this good habit keep breaking? Whenever the most important task of the day that I have set myself is of the “particularly unpleasant” or “I just don’t feel like it” type. When this happens, I move them from the morning to midday, then to the afternoon, then to the evening and then even to the next day. The next day it’s often the same, and the day after that the postponement leads to me moving further and further away from the principle, which in itself is a good one.
The solution
So what is my solution and my advice for anyone who feels the same way?
I started to take charge of my own motivation. I don’t just accept that I don’t feel like doing a certain task today or that I don’t really want to do it. Instead, I ask myself why I actually want to do the task. It’s not always easy, but with a little thought I can manage it.
- I either think about my big goal that I want to achieve and that needs this unpleasant task to be accomplished.
- Or I make myself think about the skills I am building up by completing this task.
- Or I imagine how great I will feel when the task is done and use this feeling to complete the task.
Regardless of which of the above strategies I choose, I now see the whole thing as more of an adventure. An adventure sometimes goes through difficult periods, but it remains exciting. You experience something new, discover treasures and ultimately reach your destination, even by taking detours. Since I’ve started thinking of my most important task of the day as an adventure (whether it’s bookkeeping, travel expense accounting or some other unpleasant task) and realizing that I’m doing everything voluntarily, learning and getting closer to my big goals, the nut, the frog, the A-task, or whatever you want to call it, it’s been working out.