When you look at your list of the things you have to do for the day, your natural instinct might be to do the simple things first. However, as entrepreneur Scott Crockett of Everest Business Funding says, it never pays off to procrastinate in this way.

Instead, the secret to continued success is to tackle your hardest task first and then proceed to everything else you have on your plate. Putting off the most difficult tasks for later in the day can be detrimental to your overall productivity.

Here are some benefits of prioritizing and the potential pitfalls of procrastination.

Some people believe that knocking out a few simple tasks first will allow you to achieve multiple "wins" early in your day, which gives you extra motivation to achieve the hardest task of the day.

Unfortunately, research has indicated that this isn't what happens. Instead, putting off the most challenging task ends up causing stress.

As you continue to refer to your To-Do List throughout the day, you'll see that the difficult task still hasn't been crossed off. The stress involved with knowing you have that task in front of you then causes you to become less productive.

You may find it harder to stay focused, or you may find yourself making mistakes on what should be simple tasks. In other words, doing the simple tasks first ends up doing the exact opposite thing that you might think.

Taking on your most challenging task at the start of your day might seem daunting, but it'll also challenge you right away.

Some people have trouble feeling productive in the morning because they aren't as awake or alert as in other parts of the day. To solve this, they turn to caffeine to give them a jolt.

However, a more natural way to do so is to challenge your brain. When you challenge your brain by asking it to think creatively and constructively, you're increasing your energy level and awareness. This will carry over to the rest of your day after you finish the big task.

At the same time, when you finish that hardest task first, you'll feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. As Scott Crockett explains, once you have completed this difficult task, you'll look at what's left on your slate for the rest of the day in a whole new light.

That long list may seem a lot shorter since the individual tasks you still have to complete will pale in comparison to the hardest task you have already accomplished. You may also get an extra sense of reward if you finished that one hard task a lot quicker than you had anticipated. 

So, instead of putting off your most challenging task until later in the day, prioritize this task as the first thing on your list. It will pay off by making you more productive, efficient, and effective.