Quotes About Productivity

Why would we ever tolerate multitasking when we're doing our most important work?

The ONE Thing sits at the heart of success and is the starting point for achieving extraordinary results.

At home or at work, distractions lead to poor choices, painful mistakes, and unnecessary stress.

When you try to do too much at once, you can end up doing nothing well.

In order to be able to put the principle of The ONE Thing to work, you can't buy into the lie that trying to do two things at once is a good idea. Though multitasking is sometimes possible, it's never possible to do it effectively

So, if you want to get the most out of your day, do your most important work—your ONE Thing—early

aquello que podrías hacer y dedicarte a hacer aquello que debes hacer. Consiste en reconocer que no todas las cosas importan igual y en encontrar aquello que más importa. Es una manera de vincular más estrechamente lo que uno hace con lo que uno desea. Se basa en darse cuenta de que obtener resultados extraordinarios viene determinado directamente

As Henry David Thoreau said, "It's not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?

priority. FIG. 23 In business, profit and productivity are also driven by priority and purpose. Personal productivity is the building block of all business profit. The two are inseparable. A business can't have unproductive people yet magically still have an immensely

put up a sheet of paper that said, "Until My ONE Thing Is Done—Everything Else Is A Distraction!

The Focusing Question. Mark Twain agreed with Carnegie and described it this way: The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.

While to-dos serve as a useful collection of our best intentions, they also tyrannize us with trivial, unimportant stuff that we feel obligated to get done—because it's on our list. Which is why most of us have a love-hate relationship with our to-dos.

Achievers operate differently. They have an eye for the essential.

The Focusing Question collapses all possible questions into one: "What's the ONE Thing I can do / such that by doing it / everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

If everyone has the same number of hours in a day, why do some people seem to get so much more done than others? How do they do more, achieve more, earn more, have more? If time is the currency of achievement, then why are some able to cash in their allotment for more chips than others? The answer is they make getting to the heart of things the heart of their approach. They go small.

Most people struggle to comprehend how many things don't need to be done, if they would just start by doing the right thing.

hours spent checking off a to-do list and ending the day with a full trash can and a clean desk are not virtuous and have nothing to do with success.

Whenever the outcome absolutely matters, I ask it. I ask it when I wake up and start my day. I ask it when I get to work, and again when I get home. What's the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

Take time off. Block out long weekends and long vacations, then take them. You'll be more rested, more relaxed, and more productive afterward. Everything needs rest to function better, and you're no different.

Every minute of every day, the question is never will we be doing something, but rather what that something is we'll be doing.

So how do you make The ONE Thing part of your daily routine? How do you make it strong enough to get extraordinary results at work and in the other areas of your life?

The Focusing Question helps you identify your ONE Thing in any situation. It will clarify what you want in the big areas of your life and then drill down to what you must do to get them. It's really a simple process: You ask a great question, then you seek out a great answer. As simple as two steps, it's the ultimate Success Habit.

Start each day by asking, "What's the ONE Thing I can do today for [whatever you want] such that by doing it everything else will be easier or even unnecessary?" When you do this, your direction will become clear.

make doing what matters most a priority when your willpower is its highest.