My father passed away this past year at the ripe old age of 96. One of his famous sayings was, “plan your work and work your plan.”

He lived by that motto by keeping a yellow pad close by so he could write his “to do” list each day and cross them off as he accomplished each task.

It was his equivalent to the Franklin Planner & Task List before there was a Franklin Planner or Task List.

If you want to improve your performance, make a list either very early in the morning or late in the evening for the upcoming day, and make sure you note the “Frogs” on that list.

Mark Twain had a saying “if it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

One of the best ways to ramp up your performance is to get the most difficult issues off your plate first thing in the morning.

Often there are things you don’t want to do because they are messy and uncomfortable such as a customer complaint, employee issue, screwed up paperwork, or a decision on a used car that you know is going to cost you money.

The sooner you do it, the more productive your day will be.

I’ve got some frogs to eat. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs