Productive. It’s a word we use often. We may say, “I wasn’t very productive this weekend” or “the team needs to be more productive in order to hit our quarterly numbers.” But what exactly is productivity? It can look different for everyone. The productivity quotes we’ll explore below help us to examine the word from all angles, from personal productivity to productivity at work.
You may find fancy terms like inputs and outputs embedded in most formal definitions. But productivity is really just about using your time and resources as efficiently as possible so that you can accomplish everything you want or need to with less stress. It helps fill the gap between where you are and where you want to be. This is not just in the context of weekly to-do lists, but also when it comes to your long-term goals and dreams.
Of course, being consistently productive comes with its challenges (we’re looking at you, procrastination). Yet this list of productivity quotes–coupled with a few quick tips–can inspire you to get more done by working smarter, not harder. With this knowledge, perhaps you can even help others do the same.
Get Things Done With These Motivational Productivity Quotes
As many of us know all too well, there are a few common barriers to productivity. These include things like:
If you’re experiencing any of these or are currently going through a lull, get-stuff-done quotes can get you back on track. The pieces of advice below, from accomplished figures like Paul J. Meyer—founder of the Success Motivation Institute—highlight the power of intention, patience and habit-building to help you stay productive.
- “To spend time is to pass it in a specified manner. To waste time is to expend it thoughtlessly or carelessly. “ —Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living
- “If you’re not making the progress you want to make in life, and are capable of making, it is simply because your goals are not clearly defined.” —Paul J. Meyer
- “Productivity is the deliberate, strategic investment of your time, talent, intelligence, energy, resources, and opportunities in a manner calculated to move you measurably closer to meaningful goals.” —Dan Kennedy, No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs
- “The sofa is the enemy of productivity.” —Demetri Martin
- “No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time.” —Warren Buffett, The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America
- “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” —Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living
- “Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the point?” —Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life
- “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” —Jim Ryun
- “Each minute is a little thing and yet, with respect to our personal productivity, to manage the minute is the secret of success.” —Joseph B. Wirthlin
- “On every level of life, from housework to heights of prayer, in all judgment and efforts to get things done, hurry and impatience are sure marks of the amateur.” —Evelyn Underhill
Related: 12 Productivity Tools and Strategies to Help You Seize the Day
Inspirational Productivity Quotes to Get More Done at Work
In a work environment, productivity is generally directly tied to company profitability, competitiveness and success. As an individual employee or business owner, greater productivity can also help you feel more fulfilled in your professional life and lead to career growth. Continually staying on top of your workload and hitting milestones can give you greater incentive to keep going and achieve even more.
Therefore, mastering skills like task prioritization and time management can help you get more done. In addition, optimizing your environment and steering clear of multitasking can help you be more efficient. Productivity quotes for work can also give you an added boost of motivation.
- “Productivity isn’t magic. It’s discipline.” —Darren Hardy, The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster
- “The goal of this grand human adventure is productivity, pursuing the full development of all your potential. To see all that you can become with all you’ve been given.” —Jim Rohn
- “The path to success is to take massive, determined action.” —Tony Robbins
- “You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” —Jim Rohn
- “Clarity is everything. To perform at your very best and double your productivity, you must be absolutely clear about what you want to accomplish.” —Brian Tracy, Focal Point
- “If you don’t have daily objectives, you qualify as a dreamer.” —Zig Ziglar, See You at the Top
- “Productivity starts with doing the right things.” —Bill Bapodagli
- “When you have a natural talent or aptitude, coupled with desire and experience, the result is productivity plus.” —Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace Revisited
- “What we truly most need to do is often what we most feel like avoiding.” —David Allen, Ready for Anything
- “Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality.” —Cal Newport, Slow Productivity
Related: 120 Motivational Quotes to Inspire You to Be Successful
Short Quotes That Make Perfect Captions for a Productive Day
What does a productive day look like for you? Maybe it’s getting up early, crossing a few major projects off your to-do list at the office, and still making it home in time for dinner. Or, maybe it’s something simpler, like getting in a workout and spending time with family. Whatever your version of a productive day looks like, it’s worth celebrating. Give yourself credit when you’re on a roll.
But, just as importantly, give yourself grace on the days when motivation feels harder to come by. That balance between drive and cutting yourself some slack is the real key to sustainable productivity.
When you’re looking for an extra jolt of inspiration–for you and your followers–enlist the help of these productive day quotes. These short productivity captions, written by SUCCESS® team members, make for great social media captions to share.
- “A productive day starts with intention and a large coffee.”
- “Taking time to recharge doesn’t kill productivity; it promotes it.”
- “You’ll notice a difference when you start measuring productivity by quality rather than quantity.”
- “Make your time and money work for you, not the other way around.”
- “A lack of productivity doesn’t mean you need to work harder. It means you need to refocus your energy.”
- “Stop making excuses and start ticking things off your to-do list.”
- “You can’t be productive until you start turning thoughts into actions.”
- “We all have 24 hours in the day. Laziness and misdirection tell you it’s not enough, while productivity shows you how to make every minute count.”
- “Don’t mistake a calendar full of time wasters for a productive lifestyle.”
- “Productivity is all about momentum. Set the tone as soon as you wake up in the morning.”
Powerful Sayings to Inspire You to Be Productive
“Being productive” quotes help us to think about productivity differently. Yes, the concept revolves around completing tasks at work in a timely manner and crossing household chores off your list. However, it’s also about cultivating an entirely new mindset.
A positive mentality that views challenges as opportunities and adapts well to change is powerful. Allowing time to rest and reflect also makes a world of difference. The following quotes dive even deeper into this kind of productive frame of mind.
- “Thought is useful when it motivates action and a hindrance when it substitutes for action.” —David Allen, Getting Things Done
- “Doubt is a virus that attacks our self-esteem, productivity, and confidence. Faith that you and your life is perfectly unfolding is the strongest vaccine.” —Sean Stephenson
- “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, Awaken the Giant Within
- “Being lazy does not mean that you do not create. In fact, lying around doing nothing is an important, nay crucial, part of the creative process. It is meaningless bustle that actually gets in the way of productivity. All we are really saying is, give peace a chance.” —Tom Hodgkinson
- “I always had the uncomfortable feeling that if I wasn’t sitting in front of a computer typing, I was wasting my time— but I pushed myself to take a wider view of what was “productive.” Time spent with my family and friends was never wasted.” —Gretchen Rubin, Happier at Home
- “Productive work is the process by which man’s consciousness controls his existence, a constant process of acquiring knowledge and shaping matter to lit one’s purpose.” —Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
- “Productivity is less about what you do with your time, and more about how you run your mind.” —Robin Sharma
- “The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day.” —Henry Ward Beecher, Life Thoughts
- “Attitude, generates the power, skill, and energy needed to do.” —David Joseph Schwartz, The Magic of Thinking Big
- “Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness. “ —Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Work Week
Productivity Quotes to Help Teams Move the Needle
As a manager or leader at your company or organization, you can help your team reach its full potential. This tends not to come from micromanaging or setting challenging deadlines. Instead, it can be realized by creating a culture of support, open communication and work-life balance.
Additionally, leading by example is essential. Set boundaries and clear expectations. Delegate effectively. Be organized. Welcome feedback and, most importantly, be a constant cheerleader for your team.
Furthermore, you can use these motivational quotes to get things done and rally the troops. You can also use them to remind you where true employee productivity stems from.
- “Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work.” —Chuck Close
- “You cannot mandate productivity, you must provide the tools to let people become their best.” —Steve Jobs
- “Focus on people; you get productivity automatically.” —W. Edwards Deming
- “Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person—not just an employee—are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” —Anne Mulcahy
- “Productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.” —Peter Drucker, Managing in Turbulent Times
- “The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings.” —Thomas Sowell, Controversial Essays
- “An organization cannot increase its productivity—but people can! The asset that truly appreciates within any organization is people.” —John C. Maxwell, The Complete 101 Collection
- “Connectivity is productivity. It’s true for a modern office, and also for any place.” —Iqbal Quadir
- “Gratitude drives happiness. Happiness boosts productivity. Productivity reveals mastery. And mastery inspires the world.” —Robin Sharma
- “Activity is often unrelated to productivity, and busyness rarely takes care of business.” —Gary Keller, The One Thing
Productivity Quotes Push You In the Right Direction
In today’s world, where our self-worth is often mistakenly tied to the amount of work we churn out, it’s easy to get caught up in the more draining side of productivity. Yes, it’s important to do the dishes, pick up the groceries and continue to bring in a paycheck. But we have to remember that productivity is also holistic.
It’s all about creating value—around us but also for ourselves. It means spending our time on the things that align with our goals and make us feel energized by adopting a new mindset and allowing time in our schedules for rest and reflection. This applies to every area of our lives, but especially the workplace, where employee well-being and fulfillment inevitably lead to shared success. So, while feel-good productivity quotes encourage us to do even more, they also show us what productivity looks like at its highest order.
Photo from Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com
