100 Motivational Productivity Quotes to Get Things Done at Work
If you're a manager, business owner, or entrepreneur, you know how important it is to get the job done efficiently and effectively. But sometimes, staying motivated and focused on the task at hand can be difficult.
That's where these inspirational and motivational productivity quotes for work come in.
In this post, we've compiled a list of 100 motivational quotes from successful people, including entrepreneurs, athletes, and authors, to give you the motivation and inspiration you need to tackle your work with determination and focus.
So let's get started! Here are 100 motivational to help you get things done efficiently and effectively.
100 inspirational and motivational productivity quotes
Whether you're looking for a little bit of encouragement to get through a tough day or seek out some wisdom to guide you on your journey, we hope these productive motivational quotes will provide the motivation you need to achieve your goals.
So sit back, take a deep breath, and see what some of our history's greats have to say about work efficiency, productivity, and getting things done.
General success quotes for work
Work is often challenging. Everyone has good and bad days, but the bad days are the ones that often discourage us from our dreams and doing our best at work. On such days, inspirational productivity quotes can be a great source of motivation.
Reading work success quotes from someone who has achieved great things in their field can help you believe you can achieve your goals, too. In this section, we’ll see what some of the most successful business leaders, motivational speakers, and even well-known authors and philosophers have to say about achieving success.
Ordinary people think merely of spending time; great people think of using it. - Arthur Schopenhauer
Being relaxed, at peace with yourself, confident, emotionally neutral, loose, and free-floating – these are the keys to successful performance in almost everything. - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. - Charles Darwin
Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning. - Denis Waitley
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. - Thomas Jefferson
What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds. - Wayne Dyer
Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream. - Lao Tzu
The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye. . . . The hand is the cutting edge of the mind. - J. Bronowski
It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do. - Elbert Hubbard
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. - Mark Twain
You’ve got to think about the big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction. - Alvin Toffler
Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen. - Leonardo da Vinci
Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible. - Saint Francis of Assisi
I have always thought that one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes, and accomplish great affairs among mankind, if he first forms a good plan, and, cutting off all amusements or other employments that would divert his attention, make the execution of that same plan his sole study and business. - Benjamin Franklin
Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses… on your powers, instead of your problems. - Paul J. Meyer
In the world of business, the people who are most successful are those who are doing what they love. - Warren Buffett
Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable. - Coco Chanel
My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do. - Francine Jay
If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. - Jim Rohn
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher. - Oprah Winfrey
Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. - Pablo Picasso
How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable? - Seth Godin
One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose, and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there, and don't throw it away. - Stephen Hawking
When one door closes, another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us. - Alexander Graham Bell
Consider everything an experiment. - Corita Kent
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. - John F. Kennedy
Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt
The potential of controlling and living a successful life according to your terms depends on how you think. Your perception is your world. You can create the life you want and, in fact, you can even shape it the way you want it. - Dee Dee Artner
When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there. - Zig Ziglar
Quotes for efficiency
This section will explore some of the most inspiring and thought-provoking quotes about efficiency and productivity.
You'll find efficiency quotes from business leaders, entrepreneurs, and historical figures, some of which speak to us from the past.
Whether you're looking for motivation to boost your efficiency or simply want to learn more about how others view the concept of efficiency, this section will surely have something for you.
Efficiency is doing better what is already being done. - Peter Drucker
There’s a way to do it better. Find it! - Thomas Edison
If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster. - Stephen Covey
Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed. - Peter Drucker
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. - Peter Drucker
Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something. - Robert A. Heinlein
You cannot increase the quality or quantity of your achievement or performance except to the degree in which you increase your ability to use your time effectively. - Brian Tracy
It's not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about? - Henry David Thoreau
Efficiency is intelligent laziness. - David Dunham
If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four hours sharpening the axe. - Abraham Lincoln
A sense of the value of time – that is, of the best way to divide one’s time into one’s various activities – is an essential preliminary to efficient work; it is the only method of avoiding hurry. - Arnold Bennett
Obviously, the highest type of efficiency is that which can utilize existing material to the best advantage. - Jawaharlal Nehru
Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials. - Lin Yutang
By concentrating our efforts upon a few major goals, our efficiency soars, our projects are completed, we are going somewhere. - Michael Korda
The combination of hard work and smart work is efficient work. - Robert Half
Organizations cannot make a genius out of an incompetent. On the other hand, disorganization can scarcely fail to result in efficiency. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Secrecy is the enemy of efficiency, but don’t let anyone know it. - Ric Ocasek
Efficiency is doing things – not wishing you could do them, dreaming about them, or wondering if you can do them. - Frank Crane
If you want to develop your creativity, establish regular work habits. Allow time for the incubation of ideas, and adhere to your individual rhythm. Violations of this rhythm can retard your creative efficiency. - Eugene Raudsepp
Work quality quotes
In today's fast-paced and competitive world, it's more important than ever to be at the top of your game when it comes to your work.
Whether you're an entrepreneur looking to grow your business, a team leader striving to drive results, or an individual contributor looking to advance your career, improving your work performance is key.
In this section, we've compiled a collection of quotes on improving performance from successful business leaders, motivational speakers, and other experts who shared their thoughts on how to improve your work performance.
From boosting productivity to cultivating a growth mindset, these quotes offer practical tips and insights that you can apply to your own work life.
Don’t lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. - Ralph Marston
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking. - Henry Ford
Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. - Steve Jobs
The starting point of all achievement is desire. - Napoleon Hill
Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems that we created with our current patterns of thought. - Albert Einstein
Quality is not an act; it is a habit. - Aristotle
Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort. - John Ruskin
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives, the cumulative experience of many masters of craftsmanship. - William A. Foster
Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles. - Steve Jobs
Focus on being productive instead of busy. - Tim Ferriss
Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie
It’s not always that we need to do more, but rather that we need to focus on less. - Nathan W. Morris
Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest. - Leo Babauta
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
It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer. - Albert Einstein
The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself. - Oscar Wilde
Why do anything unless it is going to be great? - Peter Block
Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior. - Dee Hock
Quality needs to be constantly improved, but it is just as necessary to make sure that quality never deteriorates. - Shigeru Mizuno
Work productivity quotes for employees
As a manager, you know that motivated and productive employees are key to the success of your team or organization. But sometimes, even the most dedicated employees need a little extra motivation to stay focused and get work done.
That's where these work improvement quotes come in.
Whether you're looking to motivate your team during a busy period or you're just looking for new ideas on how to encourage productivity, share these quotes with your employees and keep them inspired at work.
Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before. - Franz Kafka
If there are nine rabbits on the ground, if you want to catch one, just focus on one. - Jack Ma
Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night. - Michael Jordan
If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. - Bruce Lee
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. - Walt Disney
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. - Muhammad Ali
Action is the foundational key to all success. - Pablo Picasso
Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work. - Stephen King
Focus on being productive instead of busy. - Tim Ferriss
Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. - Tony Robbins
Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. - Paul J. Meyer
Don’t say, ‘If I could, I would.’ Say, ‘If I can, I will. - Jim Rohn
Your "I CAN" is more important than your IQ. - Robin Sharma
The best way out is always through. - Robert Frost
There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction. - John F. Kennedy
He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't. This is an inexorable, indisputable law. - Pablo Picasso
Getting things done quotes
If you're a productivity enthusiast, chances are you've heard about the “Getting Things Done” method, developed and explained by David Allen in the book that carries the same name.
In short, the GTD method is designed to help individuals and organizations increase their effectiveness and achieve their goals through better attention, energy, and time management.
The method is based on the idea that by capturing and organizing tasks, ideas, and information, and then setting priorities and making decisions about them, individuals can reduce stress, increase productivity, and improve the quality of their work and their lives.
In the following section, we'll be sharing some of our favorite quotes about getting things done that capture the essence of the GTD method and offer valuable insights on how to do things more efficiently.
Whether you're new to the GTD method or you're an experienced practitioner, we hope these quotes will inspire and guide you as you work to increase your productivity and achieve your goals.
Getting things done requires two basic components: defining (1) what “done” means (outcome) and (2) what “doing” looks like (action). - David Allen, Getting Things Done
If you don't pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
You don't actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it. When enough of the right action steps have been taken, some situation will have been created that matches your initial picture of the outcome closely enough that you can call it "done.” - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Much of the stress that people feel doesn't come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they've started. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Most people feel best about their work the week before their vacation, but it's not because of the vacation itself. What do you do the last week before you leave on a big trip? You clean up, close up, clarify, and renegotiate all your agreements with yourself and others. I just suggest that you do this weekly instead of yearly. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Use your mind to think about things, rather than think of them. You want to be adding value as you think about projects and people, not simply reminding yourself they exist. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Suffice it to say that something automatic and extraordinary happens in your mind when you create and focus on a clear picture of what you want. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
The beginning is half of every action. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
You are the captain of your own ship; the more you act from that perspective, the better things will go for you. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Welcome to the real-life experience of “knowledge work,” and a profound operational principle: you have to think about your stuff more than you realize but not as much as you’re afraid you might. As Peter Drucker wrote: “In knowledge work . . . the task is not given; it has to be determined. ‘What are the expected results from this work?’ is . . . the key question in making knowledge workers productive. And it is a question that demands risky decisions. There is usually no right answer; there are choices instead. And results have to be clearly specified, if productivity is to be achieved. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Your life and work are made up of outcomes and actions. When your operational behavior is grooved to organize everything that comes your way, at all levels, based upon those dynamics, a deep alignment occurs, and wondrous things emerge. You become highly productive. You make things up, and you make them happen. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
THE PURPOSE OF this whole method of workflow management is not to let your brain become lax, but rather to enable it to move toward more elegant and productive activity. In order to earn that freedom, however, 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, Getting Things Done
Anything that causes you to overreact or underreact can control you, and often does. Responding inappropriately to your e-mail, your thoughts about what you need to do, your children, or your boss will lead to less effective results than you’d like. Most people give either more or less attention to things than they deserve, simply because they don’t operate with a mind like water. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Complaining is a sign that someone isn’t willing to risk moving on a changeable situation, or won’t consider the immutable circumstance in his or her plans. - David Allen, Getting Things Done
You can try it for yourself right now, if you like. Choose one project that is new or stuck or that could simply use some improvement. Think of your purpose. Think of what a successful outcome would look like: where would you be physically, financially, in terms of reputation, or whatever? Brainstorm potential steps. Organize your ideas. Decide on the next actions. Are you any clearer about where you want to go and how to get there? - David Allen, Getting Things Done
Final points on using these productive quotes for work
Good work on reaching the end of the post!
Hopefully, the quotes we gathered gave you a wealth of wisdom and inspiration on staying motivated, overcoming challenges, and getting things done effectively.
And if you're a manager, you can even share these positive productive quotes with your employees to help them stay motivated and productive and avoid procrastination.
So, next time you're looking for a boost to improve your work, refer to these motivational productivity quotes and get back on track.
P.S. Combining these quotes for motivation and the best productivity apps will improve your work performance significantly! Make sure to test this method out and watch your productivity skyrocket.
