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Have you ever had one task on your list, just one,
that you move to tomorrow every single day for twoweeks?
Oh, I know that task.
And every day you do not do it, it gets a littlebigger in your mind.
Heavier.
More uncomfortable.
Until one morning, that one task is the only thingyou can think about.
Welcome to Your English Toolbox,
the podcast that trains your English while youlive your real life.
I am Martin.
And I am Julia.
Friends, today we are going to talk about thattask.
The one you are avoiding right now.
Because Martin has a confession for you.
Two months ago, I had a phone call I needed tomake.
It was a difficult conversation about money
with a client who was not going to be happy.
And every morning I woke up, made coffee, openedmy laptop,
and did everything except make that call.
I answered small emails.
I organized my desk.
He reorganized his desk three times, friends.
Three times.
And how long did this continue?
For 12 days.
So today, we are going to explore a productivityidea with a very strange name.
Eat the frog.
Productivity writer Brian Tracy popularized thismethod.
Identify your most important difficult task and doit first.
And by the end of this episode,
you will have a simple method for starting thetask you keep avoiding.
You will also learn natural English for talkingabout procrastination,
priorities, and getting things done.
Let us start with the frog.
Julia, imagine someone told you that every morningbefore breakfast,
you had to eat a frog.
That sounds horrible, Martin.
It does.
But the metaphor is simple.
Your frog is not a real animal.
Your frog is your biggest, hardest, or mostimportant task.
The one sitting at the top of your list, staringat you.
So the rule is simple.
Eat your frog first.
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Do the important difficult thing before you checkyour messages,
before you answer easy emails,
and before small tasks take over your morning.
And if you have two frogs,
choose the more important one first.
Because here is what many of us do.
We clear away the small things first.
We answer the easy emails.
We tell ourselves we are getting ready to do thebig task.
But sometimes we are not getting ready.
We are hiding.
That is exactly what I was doing with my phonecall.
I was busy, but I was not moving forward.
There is a big difference between being busy andgetting something done.
Being busy can feel good in this moment.
But at the end of the day, the frog is stillsitting there.
Still waiting for you tomorrow.
So why do we do this to ourselves?
Because starting a difficult task can feeluncomfortable.
Small tasks feel safe.
Ticking off five small things gives you a quicksense of progress.
Even if none of those five things really matters.
And planning can create another illusion.
You think about the task.
You organize the task.
You find the perfect time for the task.
But you still do not begin.
Thinking about progress is not the same as makingprogress.
Not even close.
There is another useful principle here.
Not every task has the same value.
A small number of tasks usually produce most ofyour meaningful results.
They are often the tasks that requireconcentration, courage, or an uncomfortable
conversation.
In other words, you're frogs.
So when you avoid the frog and clean your inboxinstead,
you may be avoiding the very thing that would moveyour work or your life forward.
That is exactly what happened with my phone call.
Tell them what happened.
On day 13, I finally sat down, closed everythingelse, and made the call.
And?
It took 11 minutes.
11 minutes?
After 12 days of avoiding it?
And it was not as bad as I had imagined.
Some providers promise no fees on overseastransfers, but extra costs often hide in bloated
exchange rates.
Choose WISE.
You can send money overseas for education or spendin over 40 currencies while traveling.
Get the exchange rate that you'd usually see onGoogle.
Plus, count on 24-7 customer support.
Be smart. Get WISE.
Visit WISE.com. T's and C's apply.
06:01
The client understood the situation.
We found a solution together.
And when the call ended, I felt lighter.
Like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders.
Exactly.
Finishing an important task can feel rewarding.
That relief makes it easier to begin the nextdifficult thing.
I definitely felt that after the phone call.
You wanted another frog to eat.
Which is a strange sentence if you think about it.
It really is.
But completing one meaningful task can createmomentum.
The second task feels a little easier.
And repeated action can become a self-reinforcingloop.
Progress makes the next action easier.
And the next action creates more progress.
Now, Julia, you do something differently from me.
Yes.
And it may be why I have avoided a few 12-daydisasters of my own.
What do you do?
Every night, before I close my laptop,
I spend about 10 minutes writing the next day'slist.
Just 10 minutes?
Just 10 minutes.
I do not plan every minute of the week.
And I do not build a complicated system.
I simply ask,
What do I need to do tomorrow?
And which task is my frog?
And you write it by hand?
Yes, in a real notebook.
Why does that matter to you?
Because when the plan is only in my head, it canremain vague.
More like a worry than a plan.
Exactly.
When I put it down on paper, it becomes specific.
Instead of vaguely thinking,
I need to speak to the accountant,
I write,
Call the accountant at 9.30.
Now it is an action you can see and complete.
And those 10 minutes at night save me a surprisingamount of time the next day.
How much time?
On a busy day, I feel that they can save me closeto two hours.
That is your personal estimate, of course.
Of course.
It is not a guarantee.
But it removes a great deal of hesitation from mymorning.
Without a plan, you begin the day by deciding whatto do.
And you keep making small decisions all day.
That can become exhausting.
It is called decision fatigue.
By writing your list the night before, you reducethose decisions.
I wake up, I already know my frog, and I start.
Less deliberation, less delay.
10 minutes at night in exchange for a calmermorning.
That is a good trade for me.
So let us turn this into a small experiment foryou.
Tonight, take 5 or 10 minutes.
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Write down what you need to do tomorrow.
Look at the list and ask yourself,
Which task is my frog?
Which task would make a meaningful difference ifyou completed it?
Then make the first action very clear.
Not just work on the report.
Open the report and write the first paragraph at 9o'clock.
Not just deal with the problem.
Call the person and ask for a 10-minuteconversation.
And tomorrow morning, before small tasks fill theday, begin.
Do not stare at the frog for too long.
Once you have chosen, move quickly into the firstsmall action.
Even if the beginning is imperfect.
Starting imperfectly beats waiting perfectly.
Every time.
Now, let us collect the useful English fromtoday's conversation.
First, to put something off.
This means to delay doing something, often becauseit feels difficult or unpleasant.
I keep putting that report off until tomorrow.
Next, to get something done.
This means to complete a task successfully.
I was busy all morning, but I did not get theimportant thing done.
Next, to tick something off.
This means to mark a task as complete on a list.
I ticked off three small tasks before breakfast.
Next, a weight off your shoulders.
We use this when a worry or responsibilitydisappears, and we feel great relief.
Finishing that difficult call was a weight off myshoulders.
Next, decision fatigue.
This is the mental tiredness that can come frommaking too many decisions.
By late afternoon, decision fatigue makes everysmall choice feel difficult.
Next, to put something down on paper.
This means to write an idea or plan so that itbecomes clear and concrete.
Stop carrying the slant in your head. Put it downon paper.
And finally, a self-reinforcing loop.
This is a process in which one result makes thesame process stronger.
Small progress can create a self-reinforcing loop.
Action builds confidence, and confidence supportsmore action.
Seven useful expressions from one realconversation.
Now, here is your sentence of the day.
Listen carefully. We will say it twice.
Eat the most important frog first, and the rest ofyour day becomes easier.
Eat the most important frog first, and the rest ofyour day becomes easier.
Now say the first part with us.
Eat the most important frog first.
One more time.
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Eat the most important frog first.
Good.
So, friends, let us bring it all together.
You have a frog. We all do.
Tonight, write your list and name your frog fortomorrow.
Tomorrow morning, before the small tasks takeover, begin.
Do not reorganize your desk first.
Do not disappear into your messages first.
Sit down and take the first clear action.
Because somewhere, there is a version of you whofinally made that call.
Who finally sent that email.
Who finally started that project.
And that version of you may be only eleven focusedminutes away.
You can continue learning with this episode atyourenglishtoolbox.com.
The page lets you read the transcript while youlisten.
Compare translations and adjust the audio speed tothe rhythm
that helps you understand without pressure.
The direct link is in the episode description.
Thank you for spending this time with us today.
Until next time, friends.
Take care of yourselves.
And go eat your frog.
Goodbye.
