Whatever your thoughts on BBC TV show The Apprentice, candidates invariably fail to follow one key piece of advice. Tackle the more difficult challenges first.  

In every series, there’s a task where the candidates receive a list of items. They must find these items and then negotiate the best price. Points are added for missing items.  Sounds simple.

The thing that trips them up every time though is ignoring the items that they don’t recognise. If they're not sure what an item is they ignore it! Instead, they go for the easy items first. Unfortunately, it’s human nature. 

Our brains push us towards what’s easy and comfortable. Tackling the tricky stuff requires more effort. Therefore, we avoid or defer decisions that need more thought and effort. And it happens all the time in real life.  

It’s often around financial tasks, exercise, health, studying or self-improvement. All aspects that can have a significant impact on our lifestyle – yet feel challenging to get started on. 

There are feelings of being overwhelmed. The fear of failure. The desire for perfectionism. Or lack of motivation if there’s no immediate reward. 

Yet by putting in a bit of time early on, and by asking questions when we don’t know, we can avoid a last-minute panic or not being able to achieve our goals.  

Back to The Apprentice and it’s the ‘unknown’ item that always trips them up. It’s the one that they return without (or turn up with the wrong item) and get penalised for. It’s only as the deadline approaches that they realise that they are out of time and resources.  

Remember the search for an Octopus with a 40-inch hose? And in case you are wondering, it’s a piece of diving equipment, not a live octopus!