Quotes About Focus

There are four-letter words you should never use in business. They're not fuck or shit. They're need, must, can't, easy, just, only, and fast.

It's the stuff you leave out that matters. So constantly look for things to remove, simplify, and streamline. Be a curator. Stick to what's truly essential.

Esta adicción no sólo es innecesaria, también es estúpida. Trabajar más horas no implica que estés más involucrado o que seas más productivo. Simplemente implica trabajar más horas.

Get the chisel out and start making something real. Anything else is just a distraction.

Give up on the guesswork. Decide what you're going to do this week, not this year. Figure out the next most important thing and do that. Make decisions right before you do something, not far in advance. It's OK to wing it. Just get on the plane and go. You can pick up a nicer shirt, shaving cream, and a toothbrush once you get there.

The answer isn't more hours, it's less bullshit.

el auténtico enemigo en un ambiente de trabajo a distancia de éxito es el exceso, no el déficit de trabajo.

the number one counter to distractions is interesting, fulfilling work.

Break that long list down into a bunch of smaller lists. For example, break a single list of a hundred items into ten lists of ten items. That means when you finish an item on a list, you've completed 10 percent of that list, instead of 1 percent. Yes, you still have the same amount of stuff left to do. But now you can look at the small picture and find satisfaction, motivation, and progress. That's a lot better than staring at the huge picture and being terrified and demoralized.

What do you gain if you ban employees from, say, visiting a social-networking site or watching YouTube while at work? You gain nothing. That time doesn't magically convert to work. They'll just find some other diversion.

And when you're writing, don't think about all the people who may read your words. Think of one person. Then write for that one person. Writing for a mob leads to generalities and awkwardness. When you write to a specific target, you're a lot more likely to hit the mark.

Release yourself from the 9am-to-5pm mentality. It might take a bit of time and practice to get the hang of working asynchronously with your team, but soon you'll see that it's the work—not the clock—that matters.

So do less. Your project won't suffer nearly as much as you fear. In fact, there's a good chance it'll end up even better. You'll be forced to make tough calls and sort out what truly matters.

In the end, it's not worth paying much attention to the competition anyway. Why not? Because worrying about the competition quickly turns into an obsession.

For 37signals, things like speed, simplicity, ease of use, and clarity are our focus. Those are timeless desires. People aren't going to wake up in ten years and say, "Man, I wish software was harder to use." They won't say, "I wish this application was slower.

Ben Saunders explicaba que durante su travesía en solitario por el Polo Norte (treinta y un maratones seguidos, setenta y dos días) la «gran decisión» se le presentaba como algo tan imponente que en su día a día se limitaba a decisiones del tipo: «Llegar a aquel trozo de hielo que está a unos metros».

It's so easy to say yes. Yes to another feature, yes to an overly optimistic deadline, yes to a mediocre design. Soon, the stack of things you've said yes to grows so tall you can't even see the things you should really be doing. Start getting into the habit of saying no—even to many of your best ideas. Use the power of no to get your priorities straight. You rarely regret saying no. But you often wind up regretting saying yes.

Companies need to be true to a type of customer more than a specific individual customer with changing needs.

when you're writing, don't think about all the people who may read your words. Think of one person.

Cut your ambition in half. You're better off with a kick-ass half than a half-assed whole.

Don't shy away from the fact that your product or service does less. Highlight it. Be proud of it. Sell it as aggressively as competitors sell their extensive feature lists.

Do less than your competitors to beat them. Solve the simple problems and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to the competition. Instead of one-upping, try one-downing. Instead of outdoing, try underdoing.

Pass on hiring people you don't need, even if you think that person's a great catch. You'll be doing your company more harm than good if you bring in talented people who have nothing important to do.

If you work on A, can you still do B and C before April? If not, would you rather have B and C instead of A? If you're stuck on something for a long period of time, that means there are other things you're not getting done.