111 quotes to improve your productivity

Learn all sorts of strategies to boost your productivity with these 111 quotes!

Improving your productivity will leave you with more time to do what you please, focus on what truly counts and gives you the best results. At work and in your personal life, these quotes about productivity will motivate you and give you the keys to achieve and accomplish your tasks and projects more quickly.

Quotes to improve your productivity by doing less, but doing it better

“Less is more” – do less, but do it better – is an essential part of productivity. To achieve it, the golden rule is to simplify. Use Pareto’s Law, also known as the 80/20 principle.

“There are two synergistic approaches for increasing productivity that are inversions of each other: limit tasks to the important to shorten work time (80/20) and shorten work time to limit tasks to the important (Parkinson’s Law)”. Tim Ferriss
“Productivity involves searching for the most ingenious work methods in order to be effective and efficient. The idea is to do less, but better, to optimise every effort and focus on the important tasks. The more productive you are, the more quickly you can finish your work and have more time to devote to doing what is closest to your heart” Onur Karapinar
“Good productivity means choosing your battles, not trying to do everything and focussing on the areas in which you excel. To become more efficient, delegating some of your tasks and weaknesses to other people is essential.” Onur Karapinar
“Productivity does not mean doing lots of things, it means choosing your battles based on the goals you set for yourself.” Guillaume Declair, Bao Dinh, Jérôme Dumont
“The ultimate goal of productivity is not to do more, but to have less to do.” Onur Karapinar
“Productivity is not just the quantity of work you do. It is also a question of quality.” Kenneth Hartley Blanchard
“Focus on being productive instead of busy.” Tim Ferriss

Quotes to boost your productivity by optimising your organisation

Organising your tasks and efficiently managing your time generates balance in your personal and professional life. This balance has a direct influence on your level of productivity.

“Some people think that productivity consists of doing more. In reality, productivity is a state of mind that consists of working more intelligently and managing your time, your attention and your energy in a balanced way. If you lack time, you will do things poorly in a hurry. If you lack energy, you will be too weak to work and you won’t accomplish much. And if you lack focus, you will make poor use of the other two resources by chasing distractions. Onur Karapinar
“Getting up early is an oasis of calm in the middle of the frenzy of life […]. This proactive time is perfect for preparing your day, exercising, reading, writing or meditating.” Onur Karapinar
“Alternating between tasks is one of the worst enemies of productivity. It even has a name, Carlson’s law […]: a task performed without stopping requires less time and energy than a task performed in several parts. In other words, it will always be faster to do A, then B, than to do A and B at the same time.” Guillaume Declair, Bao Dinh, Jérôme Dumont
“You can improve your productivity, your performance, your results and your revenue spectacularly, by organising your life and your work.” Brian Tracy
“Categorising your time spending is just as important as the list of ingredients on a box of biscuits. The ingredients are what they are, but you will be the one to decide how many biscuits you eat with full knowledge.” Fabien Olicard
“You must always start with the difficult tasks if you want to have time.” Fabien Olicard

Quotes to become more productive by setting priorities

Knowing how to define your priorities and commit to achieving them is a basic principle you need to apply to increase productivity.

“Remember that if you don’t prioritise your life someone else will.” Greg McKeown
“Never let what counts the least overtake what counts the most.” Robin S. Sharma
“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smiling, nonapoloegetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.” Stephen Covey
“Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important? He eliminated all of the activities he used as crutches and began to focus on demonstrating results instead of showing dedication.” Tim Ferriss
“If you don’t have time, the truth is, you don’t have priorities. Think harder; don’t work harder”. Tim Ferriss
“What you do is infinitely more important that how you do it. Efficiency is still important, but is useless unless applied to the right things.” Tim Ferriss
“Your ability to select your most important task at each moment, and then to get started on that task and to get it done both quickly and well, will probably have more of an impact on your success than any other quality or skill you can develop.” Brian Tracy

Quotes to boost your productivity by working intelligently

Understanding where to aim for performance, seeking to improve, becoming aware of your responsibilities, thinking about the repercussions of your acts, deciding serenely and communicating intelligently are all paths that lead to a productive and winning attitude.

“Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be a more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.” Warren Buffet
“When you are clear about your short, medium and long term intentions, decisions will be simpler, your contribution has meaning and this facilitates the expression of productive work.” Onur Karapinar
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.” R.L. Stevenson
“The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.” Warren Buffet
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” Peter Drucker
“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein
“Constantly think about the best way to do things and ask yourself the right questions.” Elon Musk
“If you sit down with an orangutan and carefully explain to it one of your cherished ideas, you may leave behind a puzzled primate, but will yourself exit thinking more clearly.” Warren Buffet
“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.” Elon Musk
“Make it so easy you can’t say no.” Leo Babauta
“The ultimate enemy of productivity is of course synchronous communication.” Guillaume Declair, Bao Dinh, Jérôme Dumont

Quotes to improve productivity through focus

Focussing on the essential, on chosen and efficient actions will significantly increase your productivity and your chances of success.

“By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and more enjoyable.” Tim Ferriss
“If you have a clear goal and a plan to achieve it, your focus is fixed on a set course of action. Instead of becoming sidetracked by distractions and diversions.” Brian Tracy
“…your brain must engage on some consistent basis with all your commitments and activities. You must be assured that you’re doing what you need to be doing, and that it’s OK to be not doing what you’re not doing.” David Allen
“Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant. Being selective – doing less – is the path of the productive. Focus on the important few and forget the rest.” Tim Ferriss
“Set your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass.” Napoleon Hill
“Slowing down doesn’t mean accomplishing less; it means cutting out counterproductive distractions and the perception of being rushed.” Tim Ferriss
“Forget fast results, focus first on the identity you want and then on the system to put in place and the results will appear naturally sooner or later.” Onur Karapinar
“Always aim for achievement and forget about success.” Helen Hayes
“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” Steve Jobs

Quotes to boost your productivity through effort and perseverance

A sense of effort, work, regular and patient practice are the keys that will, in the long term, pay with results and better productivity.

“I will burn all bridges behind me, and stake my entire future on my ability to get what I want.” Napoleon Hill
“One is bigger than zero” Work doesn’t always pay, but the volume of work always pays something.” Fabien Olicard
“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” Winston Churchill
“Spend one hour per day doing these 5 things and your life will change forever!” Jack Ma
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply – we must do. Thought without action is useless” “Knowing is not enough, we must apply – we must do. Thought without action is useless” Bruce Lee
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good and go for the great.” Steve Prefontaine
“Anything is possible if you dream, dare, work and never give up.” Xavier Dolan
“Perseverance is what makes the impossible possible, the possible probable and the probable accomplished.” Léon Trotsky
“Don’t give up. Normally it is the last key on the ring which opens the door.” Paulo Coelho
“When you want to give up, remember why you began.” Anonymous
“It is perseverance, not strength, that makes great works.” Samuel Johnson
“When you are swimming against the current and you swim fast, you go backwards more slowly than the others.” Bernard Tapie
“A man […] can make one stroke of a pickaxe every day in the same direction, without letting himself get distracted or delayed. If he pursues his efforts every day, without missing one, his eyes set on a single star, if he makes one stroke of his pickaxe every day, even if the ground is made of rock or clay, he will always end up creating a path.” Raoul Follereau

Quotes to boost your productivity through self-discipline

Practice self-discipline, stop procrastinating and avoid temptations. This will contribute to optimal productivity and your success.

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.” Jim Rohn
“Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” Lao Tseu
“Winners find a way, losers find excuses.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” Mark Victor Hansen
“Disciplined people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self-control. In other words, they spend less time in tempting situations.” James Clear
“The hardest thing about being productive is not the work, but the split second it takes to decide to take control.” David Allen
“If you can’t excel with talent, triumph with effort.” Dave Weinbaum
“What is the good in improving your productivity if you end up working more? From that point of view, the best rule is: learn to say no!” Brian Tracy
“Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power.” Clint Eastwood
“Apply the best idea you have now instead of waiting for the great idea.” David Laroche

Quotes to improve your productivity by dreaming and setting yourself goals

Listing your dreams can help you to set goals: it is a key step when it comes to maintaining your capacity to be productive in achieving your projects.

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Walt Disney
“You can achieve anything you want in life if you have the courage to dream it, the intelligence to make a realistic plan, and the will to see the plan through to the end.” Sidney A. Friedman
“Doing the unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic.” Tim Ferriss
“Not writing down your goals is like trying to build a house without a blueprint.” David Laroche
“Set a goal and write it down. Whatever the goal, the important thing is that you set it, so you’ve got something for which to aim – and that you write it down. There is something magical about writing things down.” Robert Cialdini
“Every time the end goal has not been clearly fixed, the mission fails.” General Leclerc
“A well defined objective is halfway to being achieved.” Abraham Lincoln
“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” Henry Ford
“To achieve great things, we must first dream.” Coco Chanel
“If you don’t have goals, you have no chance of ever reaching them.” Sun Tzu

Quotes to improve your productivity with the contribution of others

Taking example, surrounding yourself with the right people, being part of a team and observing other people’s mistakes are factors for productivity that depend on the people around you every day.

“Be deaf to those who love you most of all; they pray for bad things with good intentions. ” Seneca
“The true secret of productivity is not how you work, but how you lead people. If you are a manager, you have to think about your team first when you arrive at the office every morning.” Guillaume Declair, Bao Dinh, Jérôme Dumont
“Don’t follow a model that doesn’t work. If the recipe sucks, it doesn’t matter how good a cook you are.” Tim Ferriss
“I not only use the brains I have – I use all the brains I can borrow.” Woodrow Wilson
“When two forces unite, their efficiency double.” Isaac Newton
“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” Steve Jobs
“When you make a difference in other people’s lives, you make a different in your own life.” David Laroche
“Study the biographies of people who succeeded.” David Laroche

Quotes to develop your productivity through good habits

Get into good habits and set up routines using the “baby steps” method. These can be powerful sources of change towards more productivity and efficiency.

“The true power of habits is that they help you achieve the identity you want to become the best version of yourself and release your potential.” Onur Karapinar
“Success is the product of daily habits not once-in-a-lifetime transformation.” James Clear
“Simple works, complex fails. Don’t suffer fools or you’ll become one. Keep it simple. Complicated answers are rarely the right answers.” Tim Ferriss
“Good habits are hard to develop, but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to develop, but hard to live with.” Brian Tracy
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Aristotle
“Without good productive habits, you will always find it difficult to manage your time, focus and be efficient.” Onur Karapinar
“95% of everything you think, feel, do and achieve is the result of habits. The secret consists of adopting good habits and letting them regulate your life.” Brian Tracy

Quotes to increase your productivity by stepping outside your comfort zone

Pencil drawing as illustraion of risks and challenges inbusiness

Overcoming fear, facing change and stepping outside your comfort zone awakens your potential and goes on to develop your productivity.

“All growth starts at the end of your comfort zone.” Anthony Robbins
“The most important actions are never comfortable.” Tim Ferriss
“If you never push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you will never improve.” Anders Ericsson
“If you can push through that feeling of being scared, that feeling of taking a risk, really amazing things can happen.” Marissa Mayer
“Before anything great is really achieved, your comfort zone must be disturbed.” Ray Lewis
“Anything you to do to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone will ultimately enable you to take larger risks and grow.” Leslie Evans
“Doing the difficult things that you’ve never done awakens the talents you never knew you had.” Robin Sharma
“Most everything that you want is just outside your comfort zone.” Jack Canfield
“Don’t be afraid to ask, not in order to get something, but to become someone who can get results.” David Laroche
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” Rosa Parks
“I am always doing that which I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.” Pablo Picasso
“Everything is hard until it becomes easy.” Thomas Fuller
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” Anthony Robbins

Quotes to improve your productivity and enjoy it

Enjoy what you do, do what you love, with passion and enthusiasm. Giving meaning to or optimising your working conditions makes you more productive and you do a better job.

“If you feel that you are doing something against your will, it is the best way to spend three hours on a task that would usually only take one hour.” Fabien Olicard
“Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax.” David Allen
“Don’t do things to get results, do them simply so you can feel proud of yourself.” David Laroche
“The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind.” Napoleon Hill
“When you know why you are doing things, you will always feel motivated.” David Laroche
“A boss once told me that he built a swimming pool for his workers to bathe in during their work. Productivity increased.” Vladimir Boukovski
“Putting off a necessary break reduces the efficiency of any time that comes before it. Listen to your own rhythm and organise your breaks so that you are always in full possession of your capacities.” Fabien Olicard
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work” Aristotle
“Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars.” Henry Ford
“Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life” Confuscius
“There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions – in a way that serves the world and you.” Richard Branson
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs
“Nothing great has been and nothing great can be accomplished without passion.” Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

What about you? Do you have any quotes that help you to be more productive? Why not tell us about them by sharing them in the comments.

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