Productivity Quotes

...the most unproductive thing of all is to make more efficient what should not be done at all.

The idea of making the bed is the sense that you're going to get up and do something, but it's an easy task to undertake. It's not just about kind of throwing the covers over the pillow. It's about making your bed right and walking away and going, "OK, that's good. I'm proud of this little task I did." And that is really what I think sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Productive achievement is a consequence and an expression of healthy self-esteem, not its cause.

I realized the more fun I had, the more relaxed I was working, the better I worked.

If you're not always moving forwards then you're always moving backwards relatively.

A little less conversation, a little more action please.

The person who sets your media/incoming queue owns your best work. There goes another an hour. An hour of responding to incoming from people I can't help, looking at stats that don't matter, thinking about problems that aren't the ones I set out to solve, and waiting for a response when I should be creating instead. Choose wisely. It's perhaps the most important decision we make, every day.

Don’t be upset by the results you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do.

"It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?"

Where you'll be tomorrow is decided by what you do today.

If you don't have experience, find creativity.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

To abstain from the enjoyment which is in our power, or to seek distant rather than immediate results, are among the most painful exertions of the human will.

An inch of time cannot be bought with an inch of gold.

Baby steps count, as long as you are going forward. You add them all up, and one day you look back and you'll be surprised at where you might get to.

You know how mountains get moved? Everyone who can move a couple, move a couple. Those who can move rocks, move rocks. Those who can move boulders, move boulders. That's how mountains get moved. If every one of us did everything we could, I believe we would be in a different world.

Be short. Be bold. Get it done.

Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?'

Just get started. There are some days when you don’t feel like heading out the door for a run, or figuring out your budget, or whatever it is you’re supposed to do that day for your goal. Well, instead of thinking about how hard it is, and how long it will take, tell yourself that you just have to start.

Rise early. Work late. Strike oil.