40 One-Sentence Productivity Tips

It doesn’t matter how much you get done — it matters what you get done.

Here are a collection of concepts to help you figure out how to make the most of your time, effort, and resources.


1. A finish is more valuable than 100 starts.

2. Successful and unsuccessful people have the same amount of time in the day.

3. Work expands to fill the time you give it.

4. Perfection is productivity’s nemesis.

5. If you’re not doing it, it’s not a priority.

6. The most valuable to-do list is a done list.

7. It’s easier to do something every day than once in a while.

8. Half the items on your to-do list shouldn’t be there.

9. The more time your productivity system takes to manage, the less productive it makes you.

10. The secret to productivity? Do what you avoid.

11. Self-doubt doubles the time it takes to get something done.

(Btw, For The Interested will help speed up your progress.)

12. You can only be productive if you’re clear on the result you hope to produce.

13. Productivity is the art of subtraction.

14. Productivity requires opposite skills: The ability to pay attention and ignore.

15. The more decisions you remove, the more progress you make.

16. The more you do what you want, the more productive you’ll become.

17. The goal isn’t to do everything — it’s to do things that align with your goal.

18. The goal isn’t more, it’s more impact.

19. Group decisions destroy productivity.

20. No one can make you do anything but yourself.

21. You can’t make something better until you’ve made it.

22. Every person who does great things started as a person who did things.

23. Productive people value what they want tomorrow more than what they want today.

24. Every moment is an opportunity to quit. Or not.

25. The best productivity system is to do the work.

26. To be productive you’ve got to overcome the fear of how what you produce will be received.

27. If you’re not going after the thing you want, you don’t actually want it.

28. Busy is not productive.

29. The 100th time you do something will be more productive than the first.

30. As the saying goes, “You can do anything you want — you just can’t do everything you want.”

31. Fun is productive.

32. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel — you can learn from the person who did.

33. The most important relationship in your life is the one you have with time.

34. The most effective productivity hack: Say no.

35. The length of a meeting doesn’t need to match your calendar’s default setting.

36. You’ll never run out of things to do (if you’re lucky).

37. It’s YOUR calendar.

38. People who do the most rarely do the best.

39. You don’t manage your time, you spend it. Invest wisely.

40. Reading this wasn’t productive…unless you act on it.

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