I bring you an excerpt from an article written by Dustin Wax called ‘Back to Basics: Setting Priorities.’ In this article he explains why setting priorities is key in becoming more productive and overcoming daunting tasks. My favorite part of this article, and the biggest lesson I took away from it, is the “Eat a Frog” approach. It basically explains how getting the hard part out of the way is much more easier on you and will make you much more productive. Here is what Mr. Wax has to say:

There’s an old saying to the effect that if you wake up in the
morning and eat a live frog, you can go through the day knowing that
the worst thing that can possibly happen to you that day has already
passed. In other words, the day can only get better!

Popularized in Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog!, the idea here is that you tackle the biggest, hardest, and least appealing task first thing every day, so you can move through the rest of the day knowing that the worst has already passed.

When you’ve got a fat old frog on your plate, you’ve really got to
knuckle down. Another old saying says that when you’ve got to eat a
frog, don’t spend too much time looking at it! It pays to keep this in
mind if you’re the kind of person that procrastinates by “planning your
attack” and “psyching yourself up” for half the day. Just open wide and
chomp that frog, buddy! Otherwise, you’ll almost surely talk yourself
out of doing anything at all.

[via Stepcase Lifehack]