🐸 Eat That Frog: One Tiny Habit to Maximize Your Day — From Homework to High-Performance Tech
We all have frogs in our life — tasks that are hard, boring, scary, or important.
The “Eat That Frog” principle is simple:
Do the hardest, most important thing first thing in your day.
But what if you have two frogs?
“If your job is to eat two frogs, eat the biggest, ugliest one first.”
– (Inspired by Mark Twain)
Let’s break this down for everyone — from kids to principal engineers — and see how one small habit can change your day.
🧠 What’s a Frog?
A "frog" is:
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✅ Important
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❌ Often uncomfortable
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❗ Easy to procrastinate
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🎯 High impact if done
🧒 For Kids: Homework Frogs
Scenario:
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Frog 1: Math worksheet (20 mins)
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Frog 2: Learn 5 spellings (10 mins)
✅ Eat the bigger frog first: Do math, then spellings.
Why?
Your brain is fresh early. Once math is done, spellings feel light.
🎓 For Students: Study Frogs
Scenario:
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Frog 1: Revise Physics derivations
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Frog 2: Watch a recorded chemistry lecture
✅ Eat Physics first. It’s deeper, tougher.
Once done, you can watch Chemistry while relaxing.
💻 For Engineers: Learning Frogs
Scenario:
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Frog 1: Do 1 LeetCode hard problem
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Frog 2: Read 1 System Design blog
✅ Start with LeetCode. It needs focus and mental energy.
Once you're in the zone, system design will flow naturally.
🧑💼 For Principal Engineers: Decision Frogs
Scenario:
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Frog 1: Deep-dive on Kafka message guarantees
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Frog 2: Review a pull request
✅ Pick the design deep-dive first. PRs can be done with lower energy.
🎨 Daily Life Frogs
| Life Area | Frog 1 | Frog 2 | Eat First |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitness | 30-min strength workout | 15-min walk | Workout |
| Career | Resume writing | Email follow-up | Resume |
| Finance | Budget planning | Pay bills | Budget |
| Content | Script YouTube video | Design thumbnail | Script |
📊 What Happens When You Eat the Big Frog First?
Before:
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“I’ll do it later.”
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“Let me just clear small stuff first.”
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Then: You feel drained and avoid the frog altogether.
After:
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You feel a dopamine boost from doing hard work.
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You gain momentum for the rest of the day.
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You free up mental space and guilt disappears.
🔁 Real-World Stack: For Learning Engineers
| Time | Frog |
|---|---|
| 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM | 🐸 LeetCode Medium/Hard |
| 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | 🐸 System Design read |
| 9:00 AM onwards | ✅ Meetings, PR reviews, admin work |
✍️ How to Start Eating Frogs (Daily Plan)
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List 3 tasks for tomorrow tonight
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Identify the "biggest frog" – which task matters most?
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Schedule it for first thing in the morning
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Use the 25-minute timer rule to start
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Celebrate when done 🎉
💬 Final Words
Life gets busy. We get distracted. But here’s the secret:
You don’t need to be perfect.
You just need to eat your frog.
And if there are two?
Eat the biggest frog first. Then the second one’s easy.
One day. One frog. Every morning.
That’s how focus builds. That’s how growth happens.
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