20 Most Popular Productivity Quotes to Inspire Your Day

This post was originally published in FocusMe.

Do you need a bit of inspiration to work on boosting your productivity? Famous quotes containing a bit of wisdom can help you change your mindset and unleash your full potential.

The following collection contains some of the most popular and powerful productivity quotes out there. We’ll also try to analyze the meaning and help you learn from some of the brightest minds in the history of mankind.

1.  All things will be produced in superior quantity and quality, and with greater ease, when each man works at a single occupation, in accordance with his natural gifts, and at the right moment, without meddling with anything else ~ Plato

This famous Plato quote pinpoints one of the main principles of productivity – refrain from multitasking and focus on what you’re capable of doing best.

If you have a talent or a passion, you should pursue it. This will definitely have a positive effect on your productivity level.

2.  Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new ~ Albert Einstein

Einstein is telling you that it’s ok to make mistakes. If you don’t, you’ll never learn and come up with ways to do a better job in the future.

3.  Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own ~ – Bruce Lee

Don’t be afraid to do things your own way.

As you can see, some of the brightest and most distinctive people in history haven’t been afraid of learning from others while also giving the process their own twist. You should try to do the same.

4.  Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves ~ Dale Carnegie

The importance of prioritizing tasks is one of the keys to a higher level of productivity.

You should certainly jump into a challenge instead of feeling threatened by it. The moment you’re done with a hard task, you’ll enjoy a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that will keep you going throughout the day.

5.  The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing ~ Walt Disney

How many excuses do you have for not doing something? How much time do you use to justify your inactivity instead of just going out there and making change happen?

You should learn from those who have accomplished a lot in their lives and Walt Disney is a bright example. Refrain from focusing on what you can’t accomplish and stop talking about your plans. Just find the courage to make the first step.

6.  It’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less ~ Nathan W. Morris

Multi-tasking? Forget about it! If you want to be productive, you have to give yourself a chance to prioritize a few key tasks and to handle those in the best possible manner.

7.  Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before ~ Franz Kafka

What’s your limit? The answer is that you don’t have one! Try something new and you’ll certainly see yourself accomplishing something you never believed that you could.

8.  The purpose of life is not to be happy—but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you lived at all ~ Leo Rosten

If you want to examine productivity in a more philosophical context, this quote is the right one for you.

The more you get done, the bigger your impact on the world is going to be. Even if the change affects solely your coworkers or the people that you love, you will still experience a massive sense of fulfillment.

9.  Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade! ~ Tony Robbins

Time is a relative concept. When you have a lot to finish, it seems to go by faster. When you’re bored, it slows down. Once you understand the passage of time and your own capabilities, you’ll become much more capable of managing the work that you do and the things you intend to accomplish.

And here are a few additional quotes that don’t really need an explanation.

10.  It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom ~ Aristotle

11.  The true price of anything you do is the amount of time you exchange for it ~ Henry David Thoreau

12.  There's a tendency to mistake preparation for productivity. You can prepare all you want, but if you never roll the dice you'll never be successful ~ Shia LaBeouf

13.  Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it ~ Steve Jobs

14.  There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction ~ John F. Kennedy

15.  Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work ~ Stephen King

16.  Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you ~Oprah Winfrey

17.  He that rises late must trot all day ~ Benjamin Franklin

18.  If you are interested in balancing work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable ~ Donald Trump

19.  It's hard to beat a person who never gives up ~ Babe Ruth

20.  Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night ~ Michael Jordan

Hopefully, these quotes will make your day, give you the strength and the energy that you’ll need to succeed. Don’t hesitate to explore new opportunities, to grow and become a better person. A higher level of productivity is often hidden in the little details.