Productivity

41 Productivity Quotes That Will Make You More Effective

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

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.

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