Productivity quotes are all over the internet. But they need to be actionable too. So, I picked out the best advice and put it all in one place. Here are some lessons that will make you a more productive person and how to apply them to your work.
Be willing to work
You need goals, and you have to be willing to do the work.
Take a risk
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
- Muhammad Ali
Motivation doesn’t last long, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily
Keep your goals nearby, on display – remind yourself what outcomes you are working toward and why.
- You’ll be way more productive with daily doses of motivation
- Remember your goals, and look at them daily.
Do not do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results
Daily effort is how great success is achieved.
Reach your deadlines as a habit, not an ideal
You have to accomplish things when your schedule says.
- No room to wait for magical forces like inspiration if you are to be productive
- Write 2000 words a day, no matter what
- The goal is the same whether you’re motivated or not
Stop procrastinating
Just do something – build habits and systems habits for making progress today.
Work gives you meaning and purpose
If work is what gives your life meaning, and it’s a great opportunity, then do work you like. It should enrich your time, and be something you’re glad to have done.
What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do
If something is scary or stressful, that’s probably because it’s important
Productivity is earned
There is no shortcut to success, it takes focus and effort
- You want to be satisfied by doing great work
- Commit to things you will be glad to have done
- Do work that you love doing, even if it doesn’t work out
Surfaces are not for storage, they are for activity
It’s easy to slip into bad habits in your workspace
- Avoid clutter at all costs
- The point is to have the space to spread your work out as you need
- Your space is for the activities, so make room for them
Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them
Record your tasks externally so that they don’t weigh you down
Prioritize your priorities
If you schedule without proper thought, you will end up prioritizing the wrong things
Commitment
You don’t need a new plan for next year. You need a commitment.”
- Seth Godin
- Aim for goals you are confident in working toward and stick at them.
- Sustaining effort is at least as important as the plans you make.
Results are better when we specialize
Do the things you are best at and do them better than anyone else. Use your talents and your experience.
- Trust other people to do the same. When we combine these efforts, quality, productivity, and enjoyment all go up.
Productivity seems very personal
Remember other people are involved
- Be open to others
- Listen to what they say, help with their needs
- Receive instruction and advice
- Give positive attention
- Take an interest and proactively engage with them
- You’ll receive better information, be more effective, and improve everyone’s results
Never mistake motion for action
Look at the outcomes you achieve.
Spend too much time thinking about something, you won’t get it done
Just do it!
While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior
Hesitation is the enemy of productivity.
- People are separated based on their ability to dive in and try
- Celebrate mistakes
- Successful people make mistakes
Life is too complicated not to be orderly
Our brains like order.
Mistakes happen
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
- Albert Einstein
5 Habits of Highly Effective People
Persistence
Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly
Real productivity is achieved when you review your systems regularly
- Identify what has and hasn’t worked, and make plans to improve results
- Weekly review
- Look at what you got done the week before, personal goals, career goals, and check that things you’re working on are your priorities
- Schedule tasks for the next week
Effort
Regardless of the result, your effort should be the same
- Judging yourself on effort focuses on things you can control rather than outcomes you can’t
- This is a huge step toward resilience and consistency
- You won’t be affected by bad outcomes if you take this approach
Stop talking, and start doing
Talking about doing work is not the same as getting it done
Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable
Don’t presume success is inevitable.
- Sure, you’ll run into setbacks. But one day it will all work out if you keep doing the right things.
- Placing limits on your own potential is crazy.
“Drive thy business or it will drive thee.”
Benjamin Franklin
- If you let it, trying to be productive will consume your entire life.
Focus on one thing at a time
Give a task your full attention and effort until it’s done. Don’t multitask or compromise yourself. This is how you unlock deep work.
“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
Theodore Roosevelt
- If doing work seems like punishment, you’ll resent it and achieve less
- Look at your mindset
- You are lucky to get to choose what you work on
- Celebrate the opportunity
Productivity is worth investing in
Gradual and consistent improvement leads to new possibilities.
- Through consistent productivity, outcomes that you once couldn’t have imagined come true.
- Simple acts become huge gains.- Franz Kafka, ‘Doing things you were never able to do,’ sounds far more exciting.
Use time instead of just spending it
You need to have a mindset of getting more value when you leverage time.
Focus on projects you’re suited to
Run in your lane
Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment.
Success comes from converting opportunities when they arise
- Work on your talent and be ready to execute when the opportunity comes
- Don’t dwell on lost chances, or waiting for a miracle
Simplicity boils down to two steps: identify the essential, eliminate the rest
Think about the goals that are the reason you want to be productive.
- What tasks and work are necessary for you to reach your goals?
- Which tasks have the biggest impact on achieving your goal? What can’t be avoided or delayed?
Productivity is never an accident
It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort
- Productivity doesn’t magically happen
- You have to show intent to do great work, develop a plan, and execute
- Goal setting, scheduling, good habits, and effective time management
You can do anything, but not everything
There isn’t enough time to do everything you want
- You just have to choose
- By choosing what to focus on, you increase your ability to get that work done
- Your efficiency will go up, and you will leave distractions behind
The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings
They have more time to fill in the gaps
- Don’t be the person that causes unproductive meetings.
- Value your time and your own productivity. Guard it fiercely.
Key Lessons From Productivity Quotes
Focus on work that is relevant and important to reaching your goals
- Prioritize above everything else
- Avoid the distraction of everything that doesn’t move you closer to your goal
- You have to focus on fewer things to be more productive
- It’s easier to be productive if you work on things you enjoy
- Learn to manage your time
- Defeat procrastination by deciding not to delay or over-prepare
- No single productivity quote can fix all of your problems
The true price of anything you do is the amount of time you exchange for it
Make sure your time expenses are worthwhile
- Understand how much time they cost and therefore, you will be better able to chose what you work on, and what should be avoided or delegated.
“Action is the foundational key to all success.”
Pablo Picasso
- The foundational key is action – it’s not abstract thinking or fishing for inspiration. It’s not even thinking about abstract ideas. Picasso believed action was the most important factor in his artistic success.
Time management is not a peripheral activity or skill. It is the core skill upon which everything else in life depends.
You need to have a system because if you fail this, you fail everything
Simplify
Eliminate unnecessary, inefficient, low priority work.
Divide big projects into small jobs
This will make them easier to tackle and make you more productive.
- You’ll make more progress, and you’ll see progress in other areas of your life, too, because you’ll be working on smaller, easily achievable projects.
