Todoist makes the world’s #1 task manager to organize your work and life. Tell me more
Todoist 打造了全球排名第一的任务管理器，助您高效管理工作与生活。了解更多

“Most people overestimate what they can get done in a year and underestimate what they can do in a decade.”
“大多数人高估了他们一年内能完成的事情，却低估了他们十年内能取得的成就。”

This famous piece of wisdom (most commonly attributed to Bill Gates) holds true over shorter time spans, too. We tend to overestimate what we can get done in a day and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.
这句著名的智慧箴言（通常归功于比尔·盖茨）在较短的时间跨度内同样适用。我们往往高估了自己一天内能完成的事情，却低估了一年里能够取得的成就。

How do we get around this quirk of human psychology? How do we make consistent progress toward our biggest goals without drowning day-to-day in our overly optimistic to-do lists? How do we overcome the mental resistance that comes with big goals and just get started?
我们如何绕过人类心理的这一怪癖？如何在不被过度乐观的待办事项清单淹没的情况下，朝着我们最大的目标持续前进？如何克服伴随大目标而来的心理阻力，直接开始行动？

The answer is a deceptively simple and memorably named productivity method called Eat The Frog.
答案是一个看似简单且名字令人难忘的生产力方法，叫做“吃掉那只青蛙”。

We’ve made a companion video for Eat the Frog because everyone learns differently, and we know some of you prefer to watch instead of read. Check out that video below, or continue reading for a deeper dive.
我们为《吃掉那只青蛙》制作了一个配套视频，因为每个人的学习方式不同，我们知道有些人更喜欢观看而不是阅读。请查看下面的视频，或者继续阅读以深入了解。

Eat The Frog is perfect for anyone who:
“吃青蛙”非常适合以下人群：

• Struggles with procrastination
  拖延症的困扰

• Gets a lot done but isn’t making progress on the important stuff
  做了很多事，但在重要事项上没有进展

• Has a hard time sticking to a productivity system
  难以坚持使用生产力系统

• Has trouble deciding what to work on at any given time
  难以决定在特定时间该做什么工作

• Feels overwhelmed by their to-do list
  被待办事项清单压得喘不过气

What is Eat The Frog?
什么是“吃青蛙”？

Eat the Frog is a productivity method in which you identify your most important task for the day — the one you’re likely to procrastinate on — and complete it first. We love this method because it:
“吃青蛙”是一种生产力方法，即你确定当天最重要的任务——那个你可能会拖延的任务——并首先完成它。我们喜欢这种方法，因为它：

• Beats procrastination  战胜拖延症

• Prioritizes high-impact tasks
  优先处理高影响力任务

• Boosts your sense of accomplishment
  提升你的成就感

• Sets a positive tone for the rest of the day
  为接下来的日子定下积极的基调

• Builds momentum to tackle other tasks
  为处理其他任务积累动力

The Eat the Frog method was made well-known by productivity consultant Brian Tracy in his book Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. But the main concept is attributed to Mark Twain because of the quote:
“吃青蛙”方法由生产力顾问布莱恩·特雷西在其著作《吃掉那只青蛙！：21 个停止拖延并在更短时间内完成更多工作的绝妙方法》中广为人知。但这一核心理念归功于马克·吐温，源于他的名言：

“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.”
“如果你的工作是吃掉一只青蛙，最好在早晨第一件事就完成它。而如果你的工作是吃掉两只青蛙，最好先吃掉最大的那只。”

At this point, you may be thinking, “ONE TASK? ARE YOU INSANE? I HAVE DOZENS OF THINGS I HAVE TO GET DONE EVERY DAY. I CAN’T POSSIBLY DO JUST ONE THING!”
此时，你可能会想：“一项任务？你疯了吗？我每天都有几十件事要做。我怎么可能只做一件事！”

But bear with me.   但请耐心听我说。

If you feel pulled in a million directions and overwhelmed by the number of tasks on your plate each day, so much that you don’t even know where to start, eating your frog first removes the one task that requires your most energy and focus. Then, you can keep working on your less important but more urgent tasks that usually get in the way of your goals.
如果你感到被无数方向拉扯，每天面对的任务数量让你不堪重负，以至于甚至不知道从何开始，那么先“吃掉那只青蛙”就能消除最耗费精力和注意力的一项任务。之后，你就可以继续处理那些不那么重要但更紧急的任务，这些任务通常会阻碍你实现目标。

Of course, you can always experiment to find out the exact number of tasks you can complete in a day and produce the most impact. For example, Doist’s founder and CEO, Amir Salihefendić, routinely checks off between 15 and 25 tasks in a day thanks to the Systemist method. However, he aims to complete at least one high-impact task daily. Agile Results call for three tasks a day, and the Ivy Lee method calls for six.
当然，你总可以通过实验来找出一天内能完成的任务数量，并产生最大的影响。例如，Doist 的创始人兼首席执行官 Amir Salihefendić，得益于 Systemist 方法，每天通常能完成 15 到 25 个任务。然而，他的目标是每天至少完成一项高影响力的任务。敏捷结果法要求每天完成三项任务，而艾维·李法则要求完成六项。

I’d encourage you to try out the most extreme — or simple — version first. There’s something about hyper-focusing on just one task that I’ve found makes this method particularly effective.
我鼓励你先尝试最极端——或最简单的版本。我发现，专注于单一任务的方法特别有效。

Why Eat The Frog works
为什么“吃青蛙”方法有效

The Eat the Frog technique should be in everyone’s productivity arsenal, even if you already use another method like time blocking or the Pomodoro technique. Here are some reasons why Eat The Frog can make your days more intentional.
“吃青蛙”技巧应该成为每个人提高生产力的利器，即使你已经在使用时间块法或番茄工作法等其他方法。以下是一些原因，说明为什么“吃青蛙”能让你的日子更有目的性。

It promotes a deep work habit
它促进深度工作习惯

The most valuable work in today’s knowledge economy is almost invariably work that requires all your mental resources to be focused on one thing — think cognitively demanding tasks like coding, designing, writing, strategizing, and problem-solving.
在当今的知识经济中，最有价值的工作几乎总是需要你将所有心智资源集中在一件事上——比如需要高度认知的任务，如编码、设计、写作、制定策略和解决问题。

Yet, according to productivity expert Cal Newport, the modern workplace isn’t set up to support that kind of distraction-free “deep work”. We’re distracted by so many emails, meetings, chat messages, and requests for input that we don’t have the time or space to focus on our highest-impact tasks.
然而，根据生产力专家卡尔·纽波特的说法，现代职场并未为支持那种无干扰的“深度工作”而设计。我们被如此多的电子邮件、会议、聊天消息和征求意见的请求所分心，以至于没有时间和空间专注于我们最具影响力的任务。

Eat The Frog requires us to push back against all of those distractions — both external (others interrupting us) and internal (us interrupting ourselves) — and prioritize the actions that will actually bring us closer to our goals.
吃青蛙要求我们抵制所有那些干扰——无论是外部的（他人打断我们）还是内部的（我们自己打断自己）——并优先考虑那些真正能让我们更接近目标的行动。

It ensures you’re setting your own agenda
它确保你能够设定自己的议程

All too often, the first thing we do when we sit down to work is check our email and incoming messages. Email and instant messaging tools put you in reactive mode — as soon as you start responding, you’ve ceded your time and attention to what other people want or need you to do.
我们坐下来工作时，第一件事往往是查看电子邮件和收到的消息。电子邮件和即时通讯工具让你处于被动应对的状态——一旦开始回复，你就把自己的时间和注意力交给了别人想要或需要你做的事情。

This kind of reactive prioritization can quickly take over your workday. In contrast, Eat The Frog helps your time management efforts and asks you to put your agenda first before any other requests come in to derail your day.
这种反应式的优先级排序可能会迅速占据你的工作日。相比之下，“吃青蛙”法则有助于你的时间管理，要求你在其他请求打乱你的一天之前，优先处理自己的日程安排。

It sets you up to win
它让你立于不败之地

As we discussed at the start of this guide, it’s human nature to overestimate what we can get done in a day, even when we know we’re likely to overestimate. That’s why productivity systems often make us feel like we’re constantly behind and failing to keep up.
正如我们在本指南开头所讨论的那样，高估一天内能完成的工作量是人之常情，即使我们明知自己可能会高估。这就是为什么生产力系统常常让我们感觉总是落后，难以跟上进度。

When we feel bad, we’re more likely to avoid what’s making us feel bad in favor of things that boost our mood at the moment (i.e., procrastination). In contrast, Eat The Frog forces you to focus on less, even when you know you can do more. Any day that you eat your frog is a good day.
当我们感到不适时，我们更倾向于避开那些让我们感觉糟糕的事情，转而去做能即时提升心情的事情（即拖延）。相反，“吃掉那只青蛙”法则迫使你专注于更少的事情，即使你知道自己还能做更多。任何一天，只要你“吃掉了青蛙”，那就是美好的一天。

According to Brian Tracy, when explaining the truth about frogs:
根据布莱恩·特雷西的说法，在解释关于青蛙的真相时：

“You will, at an unconscious level, begin to organize your life in such a way that you are continually starting and completing ever more important tasks and projects. You will actually become addicted, in a very positive sense, to success and contribution, helping you, ‘eat that frog,’ in the most pleasant way possible.”
你会在无意识中开始以某种方式组织你的生活，使你不断启动并完成越来越重要的任务和项目。实际上，你会以一种非常积极的方式对成功和贡献上瘾，帮助你以最愉快的方式“吃掉那只青蛙”。

We feel good when we follow through on the things we intend to do, which, in turn, makes it easier to continue doing them. When you experience a win first thing in the morning, you’re more likely to build momentum and good vibes to carry you through the rest of your workday.
当我们坚持完成计划中的事情时，会感到心情愉悦，这反过来又使得继续做这些事变得更加容易。如果你在早晨第一件事就体验到成功，那么你更有可能建立起动力和积极情绪，从而顺利度过接下来的工作日。

It takes full advantage of your best work hours
它充分利用了您的最佳工作时间

We all know intuitively that not all work hours are created equal. The first hour of the morning, when your energy and willpower are high, is a helluva lot more productive than the hour after lunch, when all you want to do is curl up and take a nap.
我们都直观地知道，并非所有的工作时间都是平等的。早晨的第一个小时，当你的精力和意志力都处于高峰时，其生产力远高于午餐后的那个小时，那时你只想蜷缩起来打个盹。

Eat the Frog ensures that you’re using your best hours to do your most mentally taxing work and leaves less important tasks for times when you’ve already exhausted your brain power for the day.
“吃青蛙”法则确保你将最佳时段用于完成最耗费脑力的工作，而将不那么重要的任务留到一天中脑力已经耗尽的时候。

It’s dead simple and infinitely flexible
它极其简单且无限灵活

While there are benefits to more complex and all-encompassing methods like Getting Things Done, maintaining them can often become just another task on your to-do list that you’re not getting to.
虽然像“搞定一切”这样更复杂和全面的方法有其好处，但维护它们往往会变成你待办事项清单上另一项无法完成的任务。

Eat The Frog is a simple method anyone can fall back on at any time with very little time or mental resources required. And it’s almost universally applicable. No matter your job, goals, or circumstances, we all have to contend with our limited time and energy.
“吃青蛙”是一种简单的方法，任何人都可以在任何时候轻松采用，几乎不需要花费太多时间或脑力资源。而且它几乎适用于所有情况。无论你的工作、目标或环境如何，我们都必须面对有限的时间和精力。

Eat The Frog is a simple yet effective way to ensure that you’re making progress on something meaningful each day.
吃青蛙是一种简单而有效的方法，确保你每天都能在重要的事情上取得进展。

Tips for eating your frogs
吃青蛙的技巧

How to eat a frog is simple, but there are a few tips that will help you apply the method consistently and successfully.
如何吃掉一只青蛙很简单，但有一些技巧可以帮助你持续且成功地应用这个方法。

1. Decide on your frog
1. 确定你的“青蛙”

Also known as your Most Important Task (MIT), it falls in the category of important but not urgent in the Eisenhower Matrix. It’s the task that makes you feel a sense of dread or reluctance because of its complexity or significance. Whether it’s creating a report, calling your insurance, or making a tough decision. You already know what task I’m talking about.
也被称为你的最重要任务（MIT），它属于艾森豪威尔矩阵中重要但不紧急的类别。这项任务因其复杂性或重要性让你感到恐惧或犹豫。无论是撰写报告、联系保险公司，还是做出艰难的决定。你已经知道我在谈论哪项任务了。

2. Pick something you'll be able to complete in 1-4 hours
2. 选择一些你可以在 1-4 小时内完成的任务

Your frog should take 1-4 hours or half a day of work (at most) to make it manageable. When tasks take too long or the goal isn’t clear enough, you can feel overwhelmed and fall into procrastination.
你的“青蛙”应该花费 1-4 小时或最多半天的工作时间来完成，使其变得可控。当任务耗时过长或目标不够明确时，你可能会感到不堪重负，从而陷入拖延。

But when a task takes half a day or less, it becomes less daunting. With the end in sight, it’s easier for you to stay motivated and push through the task, helping you avoid distractions and improve focus.
但当一项任务只需半天或更短时间时，它就显得不那么令人生畏了。眼看终点在望，你更容易保持动力并坚持完成任务，从而帮助你避免分心，提高专注力。

Once you check off the frog from your list before lunch, you’ll get an early win along with an endorphin boost that will make you feel more energized and positive, helping you build momentum and carry that motivation for the rest of the day.
一旦你在午餐前从清单上划掉那只“青蛙”，你就会获得一个早期的胜利，同时内啡肽的提升会让你感到更加充满活力和积极，帮助你建立动力，并将这种动力延续到一天中的其余时间。

3. Break it down into smaller steps if needed
3. 如果需要，将其分解为更小的步骤

If your frog is going to take more than half a day, break it down into smaller steps that will take 4 hours or less. Your new frog will be the first concrete step on that list.
如果你的任务需要超过半天时间，将其分解为更小的步骤，每个步骤不超过 4 小时。你的新任务将是该列表中的第一个具体步骤。

For example, to complete a robust task like “Create a business plan,” you’ll have to break it into clear, manageable steps:
例如，要完成“创建商业计划”这样复杂的任务，你需要将其分解为清晰、可管理的步骤：

• Complete competitive market research
  完成竞争市场调研

• Define your mission and vision
  定义你的使命和愿景

• Outline your products or services
  概述您的产品或服务

• Craft a marketing and sales strategy
  制定营销和销售策略

• Write executive summary  撰写执行摘要

Your frog for today might be the first step “Complete competitive market research.”
今天的任务可能是第一步“完成竞争市场调研。”

4. Resist the temptation to plan ahead
4. 抵制提前规划的诱惑

Once you start breaking your big tasks down, you may be tempted to schedule your frogs for the whole week or several weeks to come.
一旦你开始分解大任务，可能会忍不住想把“青蛙”安排到整个星期或接下来的几周。

DON’T DO IT!   不要这样做！

Accurately forecasting tasks into the future is nearly impossible and will only set you up for getting behind quickly and falling into the planning fallacy. One of the benefits of Eat The Frog is that you get to start fresh with a singular focus each morning. Identify and tackle your frogs one day at a time.
准确预测未来的任务几乎是不可能的，只会让你迅速落后并陷入计划谬误。吃青蛙的好处之一是，你每天早上都可以以单一焦点重新开始。一天一天地识别并处理你的青蛙。

5. Prepare your frog the night before
5. 前一天晚上准备好你的青蛙

Okay, you do need to plan a little bit ahead, specifically the night before your day. At this time, you’re close enough to be able to plan accurately, but still far enough that you won’t feel your mental resistance start to kick in.
好的，你确实需要提前做一些计划，特别是在前一天晚上。这个时候，你离得足够近，可以准确地规划，但又足够远，不会感到心理上的抵触开始出现。

Lifehacker founder and serial entrepreneur Gina Trapani sets the day’s pace by completing a list of high-impact tasks and when she finishes her day, she creates a new list for the next day.
Lifehacker 创始人兼连续创业者吉娜·特拉帕尼通过完成一系列高影响力任务来设定一天的节奏，并在一天结束时为第二天创建新的任务清单。

For example, yesterday, at the end of my workday, I closed all of my computer tabs and apps but left my research and outline for this Eat the Frog guide open and in full-screen “Focus” mode. My frog today was to finish the first draft of this guide, so when I saw the outline this morning, I sat down to work on it.
例如，昨天工作结束时，我关闭了所有电脑标签页和应用程序，但将这份“吃青蛙”指南的研究和提纲保持打开状态，并置于全屏“专注”模式。今天我的“青蛙”任务是完成这份指南的初稿，因此今早看到提纲时，我便坐下来着手撰写。

It’s not a fool-proof method of staying on track, but it does provide a powerful reminder of what you’re supposed to be working on and decreases the chances you’ll get distracted looking for the right app, email, document, website, or whatever else you need to get started.
这并不是一种万无一失的保持进度的方法，但它确实能有力地提醒你应该专注于什么，并减少你在寻找合适的应用程序、电子邮件、文档、网站或其他启动所需内容时分心的可能性。

6. Eat your frog first thing
6. 先吃掉那只青蛙

Eat the frog first thing in the morning when you sit down to work. If possible, don’t schedule meetings, check emails, browse the internet, or give in to the impulse of checking Instagram or TikTok — even if you think it will only take a minute.
早晨坐下来工作时，先做最困难的事情。如果可能的话，不要安排会议、查看电子邮件、浏览互联网或屈服于查看 Instagram 或 TikTok 的冲动——即使你认为这只会花一分钟。

Focus all of your mental energy on your frog and only your frog. When you block both external and internal distractions, your mind is less cluttered with minor issues, which can aid your focus and decision-making.
将你所有的精神能量都集中在你的“青蛙”上，且仅此一项。当你屏蔽了外界的干扰和内心的杂念时，你的思维就不会被琐事所困扰，这有助于提升你的专注力和决策能力。

Not a morning person? No problem! The same principles of hyper-prioritization can be applied to any time of day that you feel the most energized, focused, and productive. The point is to take full advantage of your best work hours, whether that’s 8 am or 8 pm. When that time comes around each day, do your most important task first.
不是早起的人？没问题！超级优先原则同样适用于一天中你感觉精力最充沛、注意力最集中、效率最高的任何时段。关键在于充分利用你的最佳工作时间，无论是早上 8 点还是晚上 8 点。每天到了那个时间，先做最重要的任务。

How to eat your frogs with Todoist
如何使用 Todoist 吃掉你的青蛙

Implementing Eat the Frog in Todoist is simple – just import the Eat the Frog Setup. You can do this through the template gallery, or in-app.
在 Todoist 中实现“吃青蛙”方法很简单——只需导入“吃青蛙”设置。你可以通过模板库或在应用内完成此操作。

Once you add this template, you’ll have two filters pinned as favorites on the left-hand navigation menu.
添加此模板后，您将在左侧导航菜单中固定两个筛选器作为收藏。

• “Next Actions - Work” is for the tasks you’ll have to work on next but don’t have a fixed due date.
  “下一步行动 - 工作”用于那些你接下来需要处理但没有固定截止日期的任务。

• “Today’s Frog🐸” is, you guessed it, the frog you have to eat today.
  “今日之蛙🐸”，正如你所猜，是你今天必须吃掉的青蛙。

This template includes a “frog” label that you can use to identify your frogs. Whenever you create a new task (and it’s a frog), type “@frog” next to the task name field. When you’re ready to schedule your frog for the next day, you can see a list of your frogs under Filters & Labels.
此模板包含一个“青蛙”标签，可用于标识您的青蛙任务。每当创建新任务（且为青蛙任务）时，请在任务名称字段旁输入“@frog”。当您准备为第二天安排青蛙任务时，可以在“过滤器与标签”下查看您的青蛙任务列表。

You can also add the label “@high_impact” to important tasks and check them to pick your next frog or view other relevant tasks.
你也可以为重要任务添加“@high_impact”标签，并通过检查它们来选择你的下一个“青蛙”或查看其他相关任务。

If you want to see your frog first thing in the morning, you can set your Today’s Frog🐸 filter as your Start View in the General tab of your Todoist Settings. With your frog being the first and only thing you’re faced with, you won’t end up falling into the trap of checking just one email or doing something else that seems more urgent.
如果你想在早晨第一眼就看到你的青蛙任务，可以在 Todoist 设置的“常规”选项卡中，将“今日青蛙🐸”过滤器设为起始视图。这样，你的青蛙任务将成为你首先且唯一面对的事项，从而避免陷入只查看一封邮件或处理其他看似更紧急事务的陷阱。

When it comes to productivity methods, it’s tempting to go for the more complex workflows and overlook the simple ones. However, the most effective methods are the ones we can stick to when we’re low on energy and fall back on when we find ourselves reverting to bad habits.
在讨论生产力方法时，人们往往倾向于选择更复杂的工作流程，而忽视了简单的方法。然而，最有效的方法往往是那些在我们精力不足时仍能坚持使用，并在我们发现自己重拾坏习惯时可以依赖的方法。

Whether you’re looking to overcome procrastination or bring more focus and intention to your workday, Eat The Frog is a deceptively simple yet powerful tool to help you get there.
无论你是想克服拖延症，还是希望在工作日中更加专注和有意向，Eat The Frog 都是一个看似简单却非常强大的工具，能助你达成目标。